Authors Note: Sorry for the delay guys. I had no internet service for that
last month cuz we moved (see Peridos's review). We sorta have it now, but I
can't get on as much for the time being. Anyway, first thing I did was
upload this chapter. More to come as soon as possible! Please be patient!
And thank you to all my wonderful reviewers!!!!!!!!
Chapter 5: Getting to Know Old Acquaintances
"The diversion lost us little my lord and we now have the dementors on our side" said Lucius Malfoy.
"I am aware of that Lucius. Where are they now?" replied Voldemort.
"They sensed the presence of our captives. They are in the dungeons now feeding upon their suffering."
"Good. Let them gather their strength. They will need it if they are to play their role correctly" said Voldemort. He thought a moment, and then yelled, "Wormtail!"
The cowardly death eater rushed to kneel before his master.
"Yes m-my lord?" he stuttered.
"What of the giants?"
"Th-they will n-not join you, my lord. But they have not yet joined with Dumbledore either. Th-they seemed to be w-waiting for something" replied Wormtail.
"Why will they not join me? I have offered them everything!"
Wormtail began to shake as he said, "B-b-because Hagrid is there m-my lord. He has them turned against you. N-n-nothing I could do would sway their judgment. They fought back our group easily, and only a few survived."
"Hagrid.I remember. Take another three groups of deatheaters with you and attack the entire village. If the giants will not join me, then they will simply die. I can not risk them joining sides with that muggle loving fool Dumbledore" hissed Voldemort.
"Y-y-yes m-my lord, of course my lord." Wormtail stood up quickly and began to leave the throne room.
"Oh, and Wormtail, don't EVER fail me again. Crucio!!"
Wormtail howled in agony as he crumpled to floor. His screams sent shivers down even the most ruthless of the deatheaters, while Voldemort merely laughed.
*********************************************************************
"Harry! Harry! Harry, please wake up!"
Harry jumped up quickly from his position on the floor. But the moment he did, his body seemed to remember how weak he was and he collapsed once again.
He groaned and held his hand to his scar tightly, trying to alleviate the pain.
Ginny rushed over to him. "Harry! What happened? What's wrong with your scar?"
"Voldemort...warn.Dumbledore." Harry only managed to gasp out these words. The pain was terrible.
Ginny quickly pulled his hand away and almost screamed when she saw his scar. It was a deep red color, and more prominent than ever.
Composing herself, Ginny laid her left hand on his scar, and with her right hand, grasped his hand tightly. She then closed her eyes, and concentrated. For a few moments, nothing happened. But then, a soft blue glow began to radiate from Ginny, and it soon spread to Harry. As it spread, the light grew stronger, and the pain from Harry's scar began to lessen, until finally it was gone.
Harry opened his eyes and saw Ginny hovering over him. She still had a faint blue glow around her, and even though she had a worried look on her face that did not suit her, Harry couldn't help but note how beautiful she looked.
"Harry, are you ok?" asked Ginny. "Yeah Gin, but how did you do that?" replied Harry. "To be honest, I don't know. I saw you in pain, and I just reacted. It was like, something inside me was guiding me, and it was telling me how to help you. I just listened. "Well, it certainly worked. The pain from my scar is completely gone. And I don't even feel all that weak anymore." "I woke up to you screaming. Harry what happened?" "I had a dream about Voldemort. Only, it wasn't actually a dream. They're more like visions. I can see exactly what he's doing and saying sometimes. When he's feeling particularly murderous, or he tortures one of his minions, my scar begins to hurt very badly." Harry looked at Ginny to see her reaction. But her face betrayed not emotion. "You think I'm crazy don't you?" asked Harry. Ginny giggled. "What's so funny?" "Harry," said Ginny, still giggling, "Earlier you told me that your soul was bonded to a race of people who lived on this planet millions of years ago."
Harry laughed. It was true; Ginny had found out some of the most outrageous things about him that day.
"But you do believe me, right?" he asked. "Of course I do Harry! You're my friend, and I have no reason not to."
Harry smiled and thanked her. He then looked up at the ceiling that was enchanted like the ceiling in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. He saw the sun was beginning to rise, and the few clouds still left in the sky from the previous night's storm began to fade away.
"C'mon Gin! I'll make you breakfast."
************************************************************************
"No sign of them Albus. We've looked everywhere" said Arthur Weasley. He was very worried about his daughter, and the boy he had come to think of as a son.
"Apparently not Arthur, or else we would have found them. We'll simply have to keep looking. I do not believe that Voldemort has them. If he did, he would be bragging about it to the entire magical world right now. No, they must be somewhere." Albus began to think hard on where the two children might be. He then had an idea.
"Arthur, try sending Hedwig to look for them. If anyone can find Harry and of course Ginny whom I am sure is with him, it is Hedwig."
"Yes sir. If there's nothing else, I'll be off."
"Actually there is. Did you ever get the chance to speak with Charlie?" asked Albus.
"Yes I did. But he sadly declined. He said that four new dragons had just hatched, and that he needed to stay and help raise them. He really did want to come and help sir" said Arthur.
"It's quite alright Arthur. I'm sure I can still find a replacement."
Just then, the fire burning in the fireplace crackled loudly and turned a deep green. Then, none other than Hagrid himself was seen. Of course, it was only his head.
"Good morning Professor Dumbledore sir!"
"Hello Hagrid. We were just talking about you."
"Nothing bad I hope" said Hagrid grinning.
"Of course not Hagrid; we merely were trying to figure out who your replacement should be this year" said Arthur.
"Afraid I can't help you there Professor. Anyway, we got the note you sent with Fawkes and when they came we were ready for them. I wish it could have been avoided sir, but many of the death eaters were killed, none captured alive."
"It's totally understandable Hagrid! Did you manage to get a look at the leader's face?" asked Albus.
"Afraid not sir, but he did have a silver arm. And he stuttered a bit. Come to think of it, he seemed a bit familiar. I just can't seem to place him."
Albus's eyes twinkled as he said "Don't worry Hagrid. I have a feeling we shall see him again. So, am I to understand the Giants have sided with us then?"
"Well, sir, no. You see, I managed to convince them not to join up with the Dark lord. But they refuse to join our side unless they have proof that we can defeat him" said Hagrid.
"How are we to prove that?" asked Arthur.
"They say they want to speak to Harry."
************************************************************************
"Where did you learn to cook like this!" asked Ginny
"After cooking the Dursleys' meals for the ten or so years, I've picked up a few things" said Harry chuckling.
"Well, it certainly is delicious."
Harry had regained his strength after Ginny had done whatever it was she had done to him. He had then seen fit to cook her a huge breakfast in the beautiful kitchen. He had made her scrambled eggs, waffles, bacon, fresh squeezed orange juice, and even served up a side a fruit.
"I'm glad you liked it" he said and then waved his hand and the dishes began to clean themselves.
"Your bond with the Akitians must be getting a lot stronger if you're able to do wandless magic" said Ginny.
"I guess so"
"What's it like? Being bonded with them I mean" Ginny asked.
"It's hard to describe. I mean, one minute, I feel perfectly normal, like there's nothing out of the ordinary. But then I can feel them. It's kind of like I'm standing next to another person, shoulder to shoulder. Only that person is slowly making their way inside me. It's strange, and yet.it feels so right to have them here with me."
"How else are you effected by their presence, other than your new look, which I must say suits you very nicely." Ginny grinned and Harry's cheeks turned an interesting shade of red.
"Well, I can talk to animals. The Akitians are bonded to magic, which in all reality is life itself. And life is of course a part of everything. Therefore, I can talk to both magical and non-magical creatures. But you know what Ginny? I get the feeling all animals are magical in some way. It's strange. Ever since we joined souls, I've been able to see things more clearly than ever before. I've had all these new thoughts and ideas. It's really.wonderful."
Ginny seemed thoughtful for a moment.
"Harry, didn't you say you had gone to your parents' vault before we met up?"
"Oh, I completely forgot!" cried Harry and he hurried over to the door that led to the space where all of his belongings were. He quickly summoned all of the boxes and chests and Ginny helped him put them on the round table in the middle of the room so that they could go through them.
"Aww! How cute!" giggled Ginny. She held up a green baby blanket with broom sticks zooming around on it.
"My baby blanket" said Harry slightly embarrassed.
"And all of your other baby things" Ginny laughed. She had certainly found the most incriminating box. In it were baby clothes, pacifiers, cups, toys, and even a stuffed lion.
Harry laughed as he picked up the lion and looked at it with delight.
Ginny then went to the next chest nearest her. It was smaller than the others had been, and black. She tried to open it but it wouldn't budge. She tried several different charms and still nothing.
"Harry, I can't get this one open" she said.
Harry came over and set the stuffed lion down.
"That must be the chest my mother was talking about in the letter" he replied quietly.
"Did she mention how to get it open?"
"No. But I'm sure we can figure out."
So Harry then tried all of the different charms he knew, and then they tried different words to see if you needed to say a password.
"I just don't get it. We've tried everything and still it doesn't open" said Ginny.
"Maybe there's something on the chest itself you have to touch, like a button or something." Harry then reached out and touched the chest and immediately it glowed brightly and opened.
"It must have been charmed to only open when you touch it. But I wonder why it didn't open when you touched it in Gringotts?" Ginny wondered.
"Charms like that don't work in Gringotts. Another safety precaution" replied Harry as he began to look in the chest. Inside he found his parents' wands, a deed to a large piece of land not all that far from Hogwarts, and lastly a small black, velvet box. In it held what was obviously his Mother's engagement ring. Beautiful wasn't enough to describe the ring. It wasn't the traditional gold, but instead a pure white gold. On the outside of the ring were four small sapphires. Each had its own section of the ring. On in the inside there was an engraving in light silver. It read: Tovis Fhete Falloa Le
"I don't recognize that language" said Ginny absently.
"Maybe it's not a different language. Maybe the letters are scrambled" replied Harry.
"Of course!" cried Ginny.
She quickly took the ring from Harry's hand and stared at it closely. Her brow furrowed in concentration. After a few minutes she laughed excitedly.
"I've got it! I always loved word games. It says 'Love is the fate of all'. How romantic!" said Ginny smiling.
"I guess now I know what my mum meant by choose wisely. She meant her engagement ring." Harry thought a moment and then noticed that there was a light tapping sound coming from above. Looking up, he realized it was coming from the lid. Grabbing his wand, Harry hurried over to the ladder and climbed up to the top. Looking down, he saw Ginny also had her wand and was ready to back him up if needed.
Taking a deep breath, Harry opened the trunk in one swift movement. Looking around, he was surprised to see no one.
*Hello Harry* said Hedwig pleasantly as she sat upon a branch in a tall tree right above the trunk.
"Hedwig! I sure am glad to see you! Hey Ginny! It's ok, it's just Hedwig. And it looks like she's got something for us"
Harry climbed out of trunk and Hedwig landed on his outstretched arm she was carrying an old plastic coke bottle with a note attached.
'Just say: Keonis'
"A port key" said Ginny as she walked up next to Harry.
"They must have sent Hedwig to look for us" said Harry as he went over and shrunk his trunk and placed it in his pocket.
"Ready Gin?"
Dumbledore sat at his desk absently stroking Fawkes when he heard the knock on his door.
"Come in."
The door opened and a stranger walked in. The person was cloaked completely in black, and their face was completely covered, making it impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman.
"Hello sir" said the stranger/
"Ah! I've been expecting you. How was your trip?" asked Dumbledore.
"Long and tiring sir. But definitely worth it."
"I can't tell you how much I appreciate you coming here, and especially on such short notice" said Dumbledore.
"I wouldn't do it for anyone else. Under the circumstances however, I was surprised you asked me."
"It was because of those circumstances that I chose you" said Dumbledore.
The stranger sighed.
"It's been many years. What did he say when you told him?"
"I didn't. The only thing he knows is that I have brought in a replacement for him for the year. But he does not know who, nor will he ask."
"I suppose that's for the best then. I will go and prepare."
"Can you get there without being seen?" asked Dumbledore. "Of course, sir."
************************************************************************
"They're ok, right Dad?" asked Ron.
"Of course, son! We both know Harry is both powerful and resourceful. He'll take care of Ginny just fine" replied Arthur Weasley.
"Actually, Ginny took care of me Mr. Weasley" said Harry as he got his barings.
"It was mutual really" added Ginny.
"You're alright! We were so worried!" squealed Molly Weasley as she ran to hug her daughter, and then Harry.
"What happened?" asked Ron as he hugged his sister tightly.
"It's a long story." Ginny and Harry said together.
Chapter 5: Getting to Know Old Acquaintances
"The diversion lost us little my lord and we now have the dementors on our side" said Lucius Malfoy.
"I am aware of that Lucius. Where are they now?" replied Voldemort.
"They sensed the presence of our captives. They are in the dungeons now feeding upon their suffering."
"Good. Let them gather their strength. They will need it if they are to play their role correctly" said Voldemort. He thought a moment, and then yelled, "Wormtail!"
The cowardly death eater rushed to kneel before his master.
"Yes m-my lord?" he stuttered.
"What of the giants?"
"Th-they will n-not join you, my lord. But they have not yet joined with Dumbledore either. Th-they seemed to be w-waiting for something" replied Wormtail.
"Why will they not join me? I have offered them everything!"
Wormtail began to shake as he said, "B-b-because Hagrid is there m-my lord. He has them turned against you. N-n-nothing I could do would sway their judgment. They fought back our group easily, and only a few survived."
"Hagrid.I remember. Take another three groups of deatheaters with you and attack the entire village. If the giants will not join me, then they will simply die. I can not risk them joining sides with that muggle loving fool Dumbledore" hissed Voldemort.
"Y-y-yes m-my lord, of course my lord." Wormtail stood up quickly and began to leave the throne room.
"Oh, and Wormtail, don't EVER fail me again. Crucio!!"
Wormtail howled in agony as he crumpled to floor. His screams sent shivers down even the most ruthless of the deatheaters, while Voldemort merely laughed.
*********************************************************************
"Harry! Harry! Harry, please wake up!"
Harry jumped up quickly from his position on the floor. But the moment he did, his body seemed to remember how weak he was and he collapsed once again.
He groaned and held his hand to his scar tightly, trying to alleviate the pain.
Ginny rushed over to him. "Harry! What happened? What's wrong with your scar?"
"Voldemort...warn.Dumbledore." Harry only managed to gasp out these words. The pain was terrible.
Ginny quickly pulled his hand away and almost screamed when she saw his scar. It was a deep red color, and more prominent than ever.
Composing herself, Ginny laid her left hand on his scar, and with her right hand, grasped his hand tightly. She then closed her eyes, and concentrated. For a few moments, nothing happened. But then, a soft blue glow began to radiate from Ginny, and it soon spread to Harry. As it spread, the light grew stronger, and the pain from Harry's scar began to lessen, until finally it was gone.
Harry opened his eyes and saw Ginny hovering over him. She still had a faint blue glow around her, and even though she had a worried look on her face that did not suit her, Harry couldn't help but note how beautiful she looked.
"Harry, are you ok?" asked Ginny. "Yeah Gin, but how did you do that?" replied Harry. "To be honest, I don't know. I saw you in pain, and I just reacted. It was like, something inside me was guiding me, and it was telling me how to help you. I just listened. "Well, it certainly worked. The pain from my scar is completely gone. And I don't even feel all that weak anymore." "I woke up to you screaming. Harry what happened?" "I had a dream about Voldemort. Only, it wasn't actually a dream. They're more like visions. I can see exactly what he's doing and saying sometimes. When he's feeling particularly murderous, or he tortures one of his minions, my scar begins to hurt very badly." Harry looked at Ginny to see her reaction. But her face betrayed not emotion. "You think I'm crazy don't you?" asked Harry. Ginny giggled. "What's so funny?" "Harry," said Ginny, still giggling, "Earlier you told me that your soul was bonded to a race of people who lived on this planet millions of years ago."
Harry laughed. It was true; Ginny had found out some of the most outrageous things about him that day.
"But you do believe me, right?" he asked. "Of course I do Harry! You're my friend, and I have no reason not to."
Harry smiled and thanked her. He then looked up at the ceiling that was enchanted like the ceiling in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. He saw the sun was beginning to rise, and the few clouds still left in the sky from the previous night's storm began to fade away.
"C'mon Gin! I'll make you breakfast."
************************************************************************
"No sign of them Albus. We've looked everywhere" said Arthur Weasley. He was very worried about his daughter, and the boy he had come to think of as a son.
"Apparently not Arthur, or else we would have found them. We'll simply have to keep looking. I do not believe that Voldemort has them. If he did, he would be bragging about it to the entire magical world right now. No, they must be somewhere." Albus began to think hard on where the two children might be. He then had an idea.
"Arthur, try sending Hedwig to look for them. If anyone can find Harry and of course Ginny whom I am sure is with him, it is Hedwig."
"Yes sir. If there's nothing else, I'll be off."
"Actually there is. Did you ever get the chance to speak with Charlie?" asked Albus.
"Yes I did. But he sadly declined. He said that four new dragons had just hatched, and that he needed to stay and help raise them. He really did want to come and help sir" said Arthur.
"It's quite alright Arthur. I'm sure I can still find a replacement."
Just then, the fire burning in the fireplace crackled loudly and turned a deep green. Then, none other than Hagrid himself was seen. Of course, it was only his head.
"Good morning Professor Dumbledore sir!"
"Hello Hagrid. We were just talking about you."
"Nothing bad I hope" said Hagrid grinning.
"Of course not Hagrid; we merely were trying to figure out who your replacement should be this year" said Arthur.
"Afraid I can't help you there Professor. Anyway, we got the note you sent with Fawkes and when they came we were ready for them. I wish it could have been avoided sir, but many of the death eaters were killed, none captured alive."
"It's totally understandable Hagrid! Did you manage to get a look at the leader's face?" asked Albus.
"Afraid not sir, but he did have a silver arm. And he stuttered a bit. Come to think of it, he seemed a bit familiar. I just can't seem to place him."
Albus's eyes twinkled as he said "Don't worry Hagrid. I have a feeling we shall see him again. So, am I to understand the Giants have sided with us then?"
"Well, sir, no. You see, I managed to convince them not to join up with the Dark lord. But they refuse to join our side unless they have proof that we can defeat him" said Hagrid.
"How are we to prove that?" asked Arthur.
"They say they want to speak to Harry."
************************************************************************
"Where did you learn to cook like this!" asked Ginny
"After cooking the Dursleys' meals for the ten or so years, I've picked up a few things" said Harry chuckling.
"Well, it certainly is delicious."
Harry had regained his strength after Ginny had done whatever it was she had done to him. He had then seen fit to cook her a huge breakfast in the beautiful kitchen. He had made her scrambled eggs, waffles, bacon, fresh squeezed orange juice, and even served up a side a fruit.
"I'm glad you liked it" he said and then waved his hand and the dishes began to clean themselves.
"Your bond with the Akitians must be getting a lot stronger if you're able to do wandless magic" said Ginny.
"I guess so"
"What's it like? Being bonded with them I mean" Ginny asked.
"It's hard to describe. I mean, one minute, I feel perfectly normal, like there's nothing out of the ordinary. But then I can feel them. It's kind of like I'm standing next to another person, shoulder to shoulder. Only that person is slowly making their way inside me. It's strange, and yet.it feels so right to have them here with me."
"How else are you effected by their presence, other than your new look, which I must say suits you very nicely." Ginny grinned and Harry's cheeks turned an interesting shade of red.
"Well, I can talk to animals. The Akitians are bonded to magic, which in all reality is life itself. And life is of course a part of everything. Therefore, I can talk to both magical and non-magical creatures. But you know what Ginny? I get the feeling all animals are magical in some way. It's strange. Ever since we joined souls, I've been able to see things more clearly than ever before. I've had all these new thoughts and ideas. It's really.wonderful."
Ginny seemed thoughtful for a moment.
"Harry, didn't you say you had gone to your parents' vault before we met up?"
"Oh, I completely forgot!" cried Harry and he hurried over to the door that led to the space where all of his belongings were. He quickly summoned all of the boxes and chests and Ginny helped him put them on the round table in the middle of the room so that they could go through them.
"Aww! How cute!" giggled Ginny. She held up a green baby blanket with broom sticks zooming around on it.
"My baby blanket" said Harry slightly embarrassed.
"And all of your other baby things" Ginny laughed. She had certainly found the most incriminating box. In it were baby clothes, pacifiers, cups, toys, and even a stuffed lion.
Harry laughed as he picked up the lion and looked at it with delight.
Ginny then went to the next chest nearest her. It was smaller than the others had been, and black. She tried to open it but it wouldn't budge. She tried several different charms and still nothing.
"Harry, I can't get this one open" she said.
Harry came over and set the stuffed lion down.
"That must be the chest my mother was talking about in the letter" he replied quietly.
"Did she mention how to get it open?"
"No. But I'm sure we can figure out."
So Harry then tried all of the different charms he knew, and then they tried different words to see if you needed to say a password.
"I just don't get it. We've tried everything and still it doesn't open" said Ginny.
"Maybe there's something on the chest itself you have to touch, like a button or something." Harry then reached out and touched the chest and immediately it glowed brightly and opened.
"It must have been charmed to only open when you touch it. But I wonder why it didn't open when you touched it in Gringotts?" Ginny wondered.
"Charms like that don't work in Gringotts. Another safety precaution" replied Harry as he began to look in the chest. Inside he found his parents' wands, a deed to a large piece of land not all that far from Hogwarts, and lastly a small black, velvet box. In it held what was obviously his Mother's engagement ring. Beautiful wasn't enough to describe the ring. It wasn't the traditional gold, but instead a pure white gold. On the outside of the ring were four small sapphires. Each had its own section of the ring. On in the inside there was an engraving in light silver. It read: Tovis Fhete Falloa Le
"I don't recognize that language" said Ginny absently.
"Maybe it's not a different language. Maybe the letters are scrambled" replied Harry.
"Of course!" cried Ginny.
She quickly took the ring from Harry's hand and stared at it closely. Her brow furrowed in concentration. After a few minutes she laughed excitedly.
"I've got it! I always loved word games. It says 'Love is the fate of all'. How romantic!" said Ginny smiling.
"I guess now I know what my mum meant by choose wisely. She meant her engagement ring." Harry thought a moment and then noticed that there was a light tapping sound coming from above. Looking up, he realized it was coming from the lid. Grabbing his wand, Harry hurried over to the ladder and climbed up to the top. Looking down, he saw Ginny also had her wand and was ready to back him up if needed.
Taking a deep breath, Harry opened the trunk in one swift movement. Looking around, he was surprised to see no one.
*Hello Harry* said Hedwig pleasantly as she sat upon a branch in a tall tree right above the trunk.
"Hedwig! I sure am glad to see you! Hey Ginny! It's ok, it's just Hedwig. And it looks like she's got something for us"
Harry climbed out of trunk and Hedwig landed on his outstretched arm she was carrying an old plastic coke bottle with a note attached.
'Just say: Keonis'
"A port key" said Ginny as she walked up next to Harry.
"They must have sent Hedwig to look for us" said Harry as he went over and shrunk his trunk and placed it in his pocket.
"Ready Gin?"
Dumbledore sat at his desk absently stroking Fawkes when he heard the knock on his door.
"Come in."
The door opened and a stranger walked in. The person was cloaked completely in black, and their face was completely covered, making it impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman.
"Hello sir" said the stranger/
"Ah! I've been expecting you. How was your trip?" asked Dumbledore.
"Long and tiring sir. But definitely worth it."
"I can't tell you how much I appreciate you coming here, and especially on such short notice" said Dumbledore.
"I wouldn't do it for anyone else. Under the circumstances however, I was surprised you asked me."
"It was because of those circumstances that I chose you" said Dumbledore.
The stranger sighed.
"It's been many years. What did he say when you told him?"
"I didn't. The only thing he knows is that I have brought in a replacement for him for the year. But he does not know who, nor will he ask."
"I suppose that's for the best then. I will go and prepare."
"Can you get there without being seen?" asked Dumbledore. "Of course, sir."
************************************************************************
"They're ok, right Dad?" asked Ron.
"Of course, son! We both know Harry is both powerful and resourceful. He'll take care of Ginny just fine" replied Arthur Weasley.
"Actually, Ginny took care of me Mr. Weasley" said Harry as he got his barings.
"It was mutual really" added Ginny.
"You're alright! We were so worried!" squealed Molly Weasley as she ran to hug her daughter, and then Harry.
"What happened?" asked Ron as he hugged his sister tightly.
"It's a long story." Ginny and Harry said together.