Author's notes:

Standard disclaimer. It all belongs to JKR. Thank you for letting us play with your toys.

I will continue to use the occasional song lyric in the story and will give credit at the time when needed.

This is the seventh book in my Slytherin Harry series and covers Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts.

Book 1: Harry Potter and the Muggle's Daughter

Book 2: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Book 3: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Book 4: Harry Potter and the Blood Traitor's Daughter

Book 5: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Book 6: Harry Potter; Flesh, Blood and Bone

Book 7: Harry Potter and the Lady of the Lake

If you haven't read books 1-6 you won't know what's going on. But the bonus is you've got six completed books before you even get to this one!

Fair warning, this story will continue to be dark and have mature language and situations in it.

Harry Potter and the Lady of the Lake

Chapter I

Leaving

Ginny sat with her eyes closed, gently kneading Harry's shaking hand. It was the second morning they'd been back at the Briar Patch and she wasn't quite sure what to do other than continue.

Rage.

Herself, Lily, Remus, Andi, Mali, David, Hermione, Luna, Daphne, Neville; Harry, the list went on and on. They all, every last one of them carried one emotion. Rage. Filthy, ugly, it permeated the house, the barn, even the gardens like an ominous fog; creeping, seeping, sliding, encroaching till they could barely stand to be in the same room with each other.

How? How had this happened?

Honestly, that was easy, someone had gotten in the school, into the Slytherin common room, and into the suite of rooms she, Harry and Daphne shared. Getting in the suite was easy. Harry and Daphne were prefects. The small sitting room they shared opened to the main Slytherin common room. It was accessible by any student with a mere knock. As it was very common for Harry or Daphne to be sought out, especially by a first-year, for help or guidance or just comfort for the homesick, it had to be. Oh, they could lock it from the inside. They even warded it when they went to sleep to prevent anyone but Professor Vector from entering. But for the most part it was wide open to anyone.

The assault had happened there.

"Harry?" Daphne called from the sitting room.

"I thought you had patrol?" Harry called back from his bedroom.

"I do. I've got a problem. Can you come help?"

"Yeah. Be right there," Harry answered. Harry hurried out of his bedroom, just catching someone pressed against the wall on his left as he exited. He'd been turning when the second person on the other side of the door he hadn't seen stunned him in the back.

Ginny couldn't bring herself to view the rest.

Of course she knew what happened. Supposition from when he'd woken and the words he'd overheard, told them they'd tried to portkey him away while he was unconscious. Mercifully Harry was wearing his boots. The Anchor Stone embedded in the heel had prevented the portkey from taking him. Though the school wards should have prevented it as well. So they'd been spared the horror of having him taken. But he'd been bound in magical restraints when he woke and the magic inhibitor cuffs on his wrists would have prevented him freeing himself even if his wands hadn't been taken. And the rest, well, it didn't need to be repeated.

But how? How had they gotten in the school? How had they gotten into the Slytherin common room? And how had they gotten hold of both hers and Daphne's hair for the Polyjuice?

They had no answers.

Though they knew why. At least they believed they did. Ginny forced that thought away. Being a victim of rape herself she wouldn't have wished it on her worst enemy. Perhaps her greatest fear was that it would happen to someone close to her. The horror, the revulsion, the self-loathing that went with recovering from it, she hadn't thought a worse crime could exist. But if it were true… No, she wasn't going to think about it. It was too much. Better a lifetime in the rage of what had happened to Harry than even one single second of that horror. Better the sick, sour feeling the sensation of touching him now brought than that.

"You don't have to do this anymore," Harry said. Jarring her out of her thoughts. Ginny opened her eyes and focused on him. Where the first twenty-four hours or so after Harry had broken the Memory Charms had seen him terrified she would hate him or that the strange bond they shared had been damaged by the assault he'd suffered, the last forty-eight had seen a different reality set in. Whenever he was with her, his eyes remained fixed somewhere over her shoulder. He wouldn't look at her. Not that she blamed him. Unlike everyone else, who wore their rage for everyone to see, Harry's only sparked when his eyes landed on her face. One glance at her and it was like a volcano was exploding, ejecting furious magma and raging flames in his emerald orbs before he would jerk his eyes away to focus on some point over her shoulder again.

Ginny stopped massaging but retained her grip on his hand. "This was never something I had to do," she said quietly. Harry's only response was a slight grimace before the mask of seeming indifference settled on his face again. Ginny drew a slow breath. "Do you need space?" she asked, somehow managing to do so without her voice cracking. Harry's cheek twitched a number of times. Ginny bit her lips, trying to keep her tears from falling. She knew he couldn't, wouldn't, ask it of her. But the fact remained; his rapist, wore his wife's face.

How could he not need space?

How could she not give it to him?

She gently set his hand on the bed, withdrawing hers. "However long you need," she whispered, unable to stop the single tear that slid down her face.

Harry finally looked at her. Over the course of what was only seconds, but felt like eons, the Harry she knew, the Harry who looked on her with nothing but love and desire warred with a Harry who looked moments from lashing out and striking her. His hand rose and she refused to flinch, keeping her eyes on his. His hand shook uncontrollably as it moved from the bed to her cheek, hovering. It seemed almost a superhuman effort of will on his part allowed him to touch her. With tenderness so gentle it hurt, his thumb dried her face. "I remember you," he whispered. He held her eyes for another second before he was up and out the door.

Striding down the hall he passed his mum's room. "Harry?" she called.

"She needs you," he answered without breaking stride. He was down the stairs and out the door on the porch moments later.

"Harry?" Sirius asked lurching to his feet from the chair he'd been sitting in. Harry didn't answer, only stopping in the middle of the porch to glare out on the front garden and drive. "Pup?" Sirius tried.

"I can't even fucking leave," Harry snarled.

Sirius stared at him. The kid was wound tighter than a two knut watch. Not that he blamed him. Frankly he didn't understand how he hadn't destroyed the barn or the house or, or, something. "Got your wands?" he asked. Harry looked at him sharply. Sirius tossed him something. Harry quickly snagged it out of the air. Focusing on it he frowned before looking up at Sirius. "Reckon you know the way to my place, yeah?"

Harry glanced at the keys in his hand. Almost involuntarily his eyes were drawn to the bike in the drive and he nearly started towards it before stopping himself. He'd ridden on it before. Sirius had even given him lessons on driving it. Of course he'd never done more than ride circles around Sirius' place in Boscastle. He'd looked ridiculous on it really, far too small for the big bike. Never mind the ground, his feet barely reached the foot pegs; Sirius had needed to put a charm on the thing to make it impossible for Harry to dump it. This was far different. Yeah, there were probably still dozens of safety charms on it; making it much safer than a normal motorbike. But that didn't mean he couldn't still get hurt or even kill himself if he lost control of the thing. And the bike was Sirius' most prized possession. Even if he lived through a crash Harry didn't doubt he could wreck the bike bad enough even magic wouldn't be able to fix it.

Wand in hand, Sirius stepped next to him. Harry was hit with a number of spells and he recognized the odd feeling of Glamour Charms settling over his face. He was pretty sure at least one Tracking Charm was placed on him as well. Before Harry knew it Sirius had looped an arm over his shoulder and was pulling him down to the bike. He took the keys from Harry, straddled the bike, stood it up, placed his foot on the kick-start and jumped up, driving his weight down on it. They bike roared to life, coughing and spluttering a bit till Sirius gave it some gas, smoothing it out. He ran the bike about twenty seconds before letting the gas off. The engine slowed, spluttering once before it settled into a steady rumble. Sirius dropped the kickstand, leaned the bike over and climbed off. He then grabbed the helmet off the ground and held it out to Harry. "Go on," he said.

Harry stared at him a second before glancing at the bike again. Big, black, gleaming polished-chrome, it beckoned to him. He grabbed the helmet from Sirius, pulled it over his head and secured the chinstrap. Swinging his leg over he was almost surprised to find his feet reached the ground easily. Still, it was a bit of a shock how much effort it took to actually stand it up, but once upright it was easy to keep balanced. Placing his hands on the grips it came back quickly enough. Left hand; clutch, right; gas and front brake, right foot; rear brake, left foot; shift – one down for first, up a half to neutral, and three up, second, third and fourth. Though Harry'd never had the bike out of first before.

"Set your mirrors," Sirius said. Harry glanced in them, quickly adjusting them as needed. "Ready?" Sirius asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah."

Sirius stepped back. "Go on then."

Harry held the older man's gaze a few moments, seeing something he thought he recognized in Sirius' eyes but not quite sure what exactly it was. Sirius gave him a nod. Harry tapped the face shield down and put his hands on the grips again. Squeezing the clutch in he stepped on the gear lever. The bike clunked and the engine noise changed. He glanced at Sirius. The older man gave him another nod. Harry took a breath and eased the clutch out. The bike jerked forward on him and he nearly dumped it before pulling the clutch in again and catching it. He risked another glance at Sirius but all he did was nod. Harry faced forward and ever so gently eased the clutch out again, adding a bit of throttle as he did. This time the bike moved with noticeably less of a jerk and after a second he was rolling down the drive. The road that fronted the property was lightly traveled on the busiest of days and Harry saw no cars coming so he rolled out onto the pavement and added throttle. Quickly the revs increased and some instinct Harry didn't know he had told him it was time to shift. Letting off the gas he squeezed the clutch, eased his toe under the gear lever and clicked it up one. The engine clunked into place and he rolled throttle back in as he let the clutch out again. Ten seconds later and he'd shifted into third and was breezing down the road.

Sirius remained in the drive, listening till the thunder of the bike's engine faded to silence before turning for the house. He stopped when he spotted Remus on the porch. The two just watched each other for a few moments before Sirius crossed the drive and climbed the steps to the porch. He turned and braced his arms on the rail, looking out over the yard.

Remus moved beside him, remaining silent for a number of minutes. "You're either the bravest man I've ever met, or the stupidest," Remus said.

"He needed out," Sirius answered. Silence. For near a minute.

"Where'd he go?"

"My place," Sirius said. "I think," he added.

"For your sake I hope so."

Sirius rocked his head back and forth. "Maybe." And again, silence. For much longer than a minute.

"Need a drink?" Remus asked.

"The fucking bottle," Sirius answered.

Ginny remained still after Harry's exit, unseeing of Lily entering the room not moments later and kneeling the floor in front of her. "Ginny?"

Ginny blinked a number of times. Each blink seeming to unleash another tear to slide down her cheek. "He left," she whispered. The mere words seemingly gave life to her new reality and Ginny folded over, her stomach to her thighs. Lily moved to the bed and pulled Ginny into her lap. Ginny's body shook and she broke into painful, body-wracking sobs. "How," she gasped.

"Shush," Lily soothed.

"S–she w–wore my–my f–face."

"He loves you," Lily answered.

"H–how c–can he–he ev–ever l–look at me–me?"

"He loves you," Lily said again. Ginny shook and clutched at her. Lily bent, burying her face in Ginny's hair. "He loves you," she soothed. "He loves you."

Ginny stilled then. "Harry did love her. She knew that. But she also knew she still loved her mother… and sometimes, well, love just wasn't enough, and no matter how much it hurt, she would never tell Lily that.

The tongue-lashing/ear-boxing had been going on for near ten minutes when Sirius decided he'd taken enough abuse. "Because you don't know what it's like," he cut Lily off quietly. "None of you do." He nearly added something about Ginny maybe understanding if they told her the truth but wisely held that in. He knew he was going to get it when he did it; there was no point in making things worse. And a comment about Ginny and the Projection linking her to Harry would do that in spades.

"What, what is like?" Lily hissed dangerously.

"Being in prison," Sirius answered. Lily frowned and he could see the others weren't following his line of thought any better than she was. "It may not be the hell I was in," he said, "but that boy's life has been nothing but a cage. Trelawney laid the foundation with that damn prophecy. Snape, Voldemort and Dumbledore built the walls when they acted on it. And all of us here but those five," he pointed at the youth brigade sitting on the couch, "have added bars and locks to it." He gestured at Andi. "Every moment you've spent in his mind, was another chain binding him to the wall." He indicated Bill, Remus, David, Anders and Adrianna, "every training session in the Room of Requirement where you taught him the tactics of guerrilla warfare was another lock you threw away the key for." They said nothing but he could see the comprehension dawning in their eyes. He went on, condemning himself. "Every time I've told him stories of his father and how he'd fought against the bastard and how proud James would be of him was another yoke added to his neck." He focused on Lily. "The prophecy you told him, don't even pretend the interpretations you presented, or the idea he ever had a choice that was his to make in regards to it ever existed. If the rest of us built the cage, you, more than anyone, closed the door and locked him in." Everyone present held his or her breath. They all knew every word he'd spoken was true, but truth and reason and rational behavior only ever rarely intersected. "None of you know what prison is like," Sirius said quietly, "and I'm damn sure not going to apologize for letting him out for a day or two."

Sirius and Lily continued to watch each other; his calm bracing her rage. "Get out," she said softly before turning and stalking out of the room. Seconds later her footsteps could be heard heading up the stairs. A muffled shriek followed the sound of the door slamming.

Sirius let out a slow breath. Without a word he moved to the door. "Sirius," Bill called.

"It's fine, Bill," Sirius answered. "I'll see you in around." He was out the door before anyone could stop him and had nearly reached the apparation point when Ginny called to him.

"Sirius." He stopped, not really wanting to face the wrath of yet another redhead. "Sirius, wait, please," she called again. Sighing he turned back. Ginny hurried up to him, coming to a halt a few feet away. Sirius said nothing. Awaiting her wrath, he was surprised a second later when she stepped forward wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you," she said.

Startled it took him a second to return her hug. "Anything for you, Red," he answered. He kissed her crown. "Anything for you."

Ginny just squeezed him tighter. "Love you, Mutt."

Sirius shuddered and crushed her against him. "Love you too, Red. Love you too."

With the departure of Lily, Sirius and Ginny those remaining seemed at a loss for words or really anything at all. Eventually Hermione couldn't take it any longer. "Someone say something," she said, plaintively. Everyone focused on her.

"What do you want us to say, Hermione?" Remus asked.

"I don't know," she snapped. "Maybe because you're the adults?"

Luna reached for her hand. "Love," she chastised gently.

"Well they are," Hermione said petulantly. "And we keep paying when they mess up."

"We all made the decision to go back to Hogwarts," Daphne said.

Hermione jumped to her feet. "Well maybe the decision should never have been ours to make," she screamed and ran from the room.

"Leave her," Luna said when Daphne and Mali went to follow.

"Excuse me?" Mali asked.

"The only person she'll listen to is Harry, and even then I don't know if she'll accept it."

"Accept what?" David asked.

"She blames herself," Luna said.

"For what happened to Harry?" Daphne asked.

Luna nodded. "She wanted to be a prefect as much as Ginny wanted to be captain. She thinks maybe if she hadn't wanted that so much Harry might have chosen not to go back."

"That's ridiculous," Neville blurted. "Harry'd have gone back for Ginny regardless of any of us being a prefect."

"Don't blame this on my sister," Bill said.

"I wasn't," Neville defended himself.

"Harry went back because he wanted to," Daphne said forcefully. "We know that. We talked about it with him when we went to see Cedric before school started last fall."

"I'm perfectly aware of that," Luna said. "Logic though, rarely has power over emotion, and Hermione is blaming herself for what happened."

"Well then why shouldn't I go and speak with her and convince her otherwise?" Mali asked.

"I'm sorry," Luna said. "I didn't mean that you weren't welcome to. I just rather doubt you'll do anything but upset her further."

Mali frowned at the girl. "I'll be the judge of that," she said and hurried up the stairs.

Silence settled on the room again till Neville suddenly lurched to his feet. "Fuck this, I need a drink."

"Neville!" Daphne cried.

He ignored her. Walking to the cabinet he grabbed the first bottle he could reach and turned to leave. "You two coming or not?" he asked.

"W–what?" Daphne stammered.

"I'm going to the barn," he answered. "Are you coming or not?" Daphne blinked back at him.

"Go on, Daphne," Luna urged. "It'll probably be good for the both of you. At least it seems most adults find it relieving. I don't know, but I suppose if ever a situation warranted it this would qualify."

"W–what about you?"

Mali came back down the stairs and into the room. "She won't open the door."

Luna climbed to her feet. "I'll try." She moved to the stairs. "You two go on ahead. I'll bring Hermione along in a bit." She disappeared up the stairs, leaving the others in painful silence.

Neville held his hand out to Daphne. "Coming?"

She quickly stood. "Yes, of course."

With their departure, Charlie slumped back in his chair. "Well, this just keeps getting better and better."

Harry pulled back on the motorway and opened the throttle. Getting petrol had been a bit embarrassing. He'd found some pound notes in one of the saddlebags, but apparently you needed to pay before dispensing if you weren't using a card at the pump. It was only after fifteen minutes fiddling with the machine and a clerk's voice blaring over the speaker telling him he needed to do just that before he noticed the little sign saying cash payments needed to be made in advance. But he had a full tank now, and the road flying underneath the wheels and the roaring of the engine in his ears was exactly what he needed to drive everything else from his mind.

Harry had always enjoyed when Sirius took him on the bike, but driving as opposed to riding was so much better. It was the rush of the air and the feel of the wheels on the pavement. It was the bruising sound of the engine as the revs wound higher and the power at your fingertips. It was the freedom; to point the bike in whatever direction he wanted and just go. No Voldemort. No dead father. No mother who had spent years in coma. No Dursleys, Dumbledore, Malfoy, professors with madmen sticking out of the back of their head, no hidden chambers under the school with snakes bigger than anything since the cretaceous period, no dead girls after a quidditch match, stupid tournaments with ridiculous magical contracts, dragons, krakens, or anything else.

Nothing.

Not even a wife you couldn't look at.

Harry swerved suddenly, very nearly wrecking the bike, some poor bloke in a Honda, and himself. Ok, maybe a wife you'd slit your own throat for still existed, he thought once he was sure he had the bike under control again and his heart had stopped pounding. The guy in the Honda pulled alongside him and Harry glanced over, giving an apologetic wave. The guy shook his head and blew out an exaggerated breath before stomping the gas and putting some distance between himself and what he thought was an obviously incompetent motorcyclist. Which, to be fair, wasn't really far from the truth at all.

Harry forced all thoughts from his mind and focused on the road. He couldn't figure a way back to Ginny if he didn't get where he was going alive in the first place.

Author's notes:

Yes, I know, you'll all be mad at me for putting Harry and Ginny through more torment. It has to be done though.

On another note, I'm going to post shorter chapters than previously stories but will do so on a weekly instead of bi-weekly basis.

And in the interest of tormenting my faithful readers, I'm going to give the title of the next chapter here in order to make you all stew a bit.

So… Chapter II, You're the Expert.

Last, the title for the story is only a working one right now. I'm not certain I'll keep it or not yet.

Till next week then. And please remember to review.

Sorcerer's Muse