His trainers, cloak, and pant legs were soaked and splattered with slimy, grayish brown mud as he continued purposely along the well-traveled road to Hogsmeade. Brushing back his drenched hair from off his forehead, only momentarily stemming the flow of water that ran down his face, Harry pushed against the cold wind and plummeting sheets of rain. He didn’t care that his hood had blown off, nor did he notice the ice-cold liquid shattering his warmth as it found its way down his neck and onto his back. Harry watched as Ginny, Dean, Lavender and Seamus ran for the cover of the Hogsmeade storefronts. Through the roar of the storm, he could hear the splashing footfalls of Ron, Hermione, Fred and George behind him.
“Over here!” Fred yelled out to the group, running to the opposite side of the street where Ginny stood, taking refuge under the awning of a vacant store. Reluctantly, Harry turned around in the middle of the empty street and retreated with Fred.
Gasping for breath and pulling off their hoods, Hermione, Ron, and George joined them.
“Lousy rain.” Ron muttered; shaking his mane vigorously from what water had seeped through.
“Here, let me get that.” Hermione used a drying spell to relieve Harry, Ron and herself from being completely waterlogged to just damp.
“Hermione!” Ron whispered after she’d finished, “You’re not supposed to use magic, we’re not at Hogwarts.”
“Honestly, Ron. I’m of age now, remember?” Hermione disappointedly looked up into his mud-flecked face, “Did you really forget my birthday?”
“No.” He answered back sheepishly, “I just forgot that it was your seventeenth.”
“Look, they’re going into the Three Broomsticks.” Harry interrupted them, his eyes regaining their mark.
“I’d fancy a nice cup tea about now, wouldn’t you Fred?” George smirked while watching the vapor rise off his arm as the drying charm took effect.
Fred stuck his hand out from under the awning, catching the rain as if fell, “Of course, tea would be quite nice on a day like this, warm us up a bit.” Harry thought he had agreed to more than just the tea.
Pulling up their hoods one more time, they sprinted across the street to the pub. Once inside the doorway, Hermione made them stop so that she could perform a quick scrubbing spell on their shoes so they wouldn’t traipse mud across the floor.
“Yes, Mum.” Fred and George rolled their eyes at her insistence but dutifully followed suit and let her do it anyway.
The pub was crowded with students, all of whom were drenched and covered with mud themselves. “And Hermione was worried about us?” Ron nudged him as they clamored from the entry.
Harry looked back to see if Ron had made it into the thick of students only to find him stalled not more than ten feet from the door. “I’ll wait for Hermione and Fred. Do you want tea?”
“Sure, whatever!” Harry called back distractedly as he followed after George who was weaving his way around tables and standing students, looking for Ginny.
“Oi Ginny!” George called out to a round wooden table in the far corner of the room as he approached it. “Fancy seeing you here.”
Harry stepped around the twin to see Ginny for himself; however, it was not a happy Ginny he was looking at. Sitting next to a surprised Dean and across from Seamus and Lavender, with her arms folded tightly across her chest, Ginny gave them a half-hearted smile.
“What do you two want?” She said smoothly in an obvious attempt to keep her temper in check.
“Well, we came in to warm up a bit and get out of the rain.” George spun around an extra chair at the table and straddled it, leaning his forearms against its back as Ginny’s scowl became more apparent.
“I’m on a date, George. We’re on a date,” She said smiling to Dean before fixing her eyes on George again, “and you aren’t invited.”
“Oh, we don’t mean to bother you,” George lowered his voice, furrowed his brow and leaned into the center of the table, tapping his forefinger gently on the scarred wood, “especially if this is a date.”
“You’re fine, mate.” Seamus interrupted, chuckling at his pretense. “We’re not planning on staying here the whole time, just until it blows over, so we might as well share a table.”
“In that case, have a seat, Harry.” George perked up considerably, “What are the four of you drinking?”
“We haven’t ordered yet.” Ginny sweetly grounded out, waving her hand at the empty table.
“Butterbeer, Tea, Hot Chocolate, Gillywater?” George asked, completely ignoring his sister’s disapproval.
Seamus and Lavender were the only ones who answered. George stood up on his chair and cupped his hands around his mouth and called across the sea of bobbing heads to the counter where Fred, Ron, and Hermione were placing their orders with Madam Rosemerta.
“Oi, Fred! Two Butterbeers, a hot chocolate, and a tea.” Placing orders for Dean and Ginny whether they wanted it or not, George hopped back down, “They’ll be here in a minute.”
Harry left the awkward situation George had invited them to and rummaged around to find extra chairs. He had to cross to the other side of the pub and around a corridor to what he assumed was a backroom to find that four were available, only because they were in a stack of abandoned defective furniture unfit for use. Some were missing large chunks from the seat; others had broken backs or missing legs or stretchers. Picking the best of the lot, he wrestled them through the horde and back to their pirated table.
When he returned; Seamus, George and Fred were in deep conversation about the newest gag they we’re inventing, a miniature swamp in a bottle.
“Oh, it won’t be as large as the one we set off last year-” Fred downplayed the achievement, “But it should be just as effective.” George winked and rubbed his hands fiendishly.
“Here, I brought some more chairs.” Harry mumbled, taking the wobbliest, half seated one for himself and placing it towards the back of the group next to Ron.
“So Dean, tell me, have you been hexed by your girlfriend yet?” Fred asked as easily as if it he were asking the time, clapping him on the back.
Dean’s mouth fell open in reply.
“Don’t answer them - it’s not worth your time.” Ginny smiled briefly before shooting her brothers a look that told them they would be the only ones getting hexed.
Harry watched as Dean leaned over and whispered into Ginny’s ear before getting up from and leaving the table.
“Didn’t mean to scare you off, mate!” George said as he brushed past, following him with his head. “We were only teasing.”
“He’s gone to the loo if you must know.” Ginny fired back when Dean was out of earshot, pulling her hands tightly through her hair, squeezing out the extra water onto the floor. “He’ll be back in a minute.”
The mullioned windows had steamed up with the number of damp bodies that had crammed into the pub, obscuring his view of the street outside. Instead, Harry kept silent watching the milk swirl in his tea as Ron joined in conversation with Seamus and the twins about Quidditch while Hermione chatted with a bored Lavender, leaving a fuming Ginny to herself. Harry thought that the more time they spent with the dating couples; the more Ginny would resent them. It was because of him, after all, that they had followed them in, all because of one stupid grin.
After ten minutes or so, Dean returned with a fresh cup of tea for himself and Ginny.
“Thanks, Dean.” Ginny smiled as she wrapped her fingers around the mug and breathed in the aroma before taking a sip.
“I supposed we’ve stayed long enough.” Hermione sighed as she scooted herself away from the table.
Harry looked up from his tea to Hermione who was pulling a less than graceful Ron up off of his rudimentary chair. Fred and George made to leave as well, but before Harry could finish the thought of them letting their sister off scot-free, it happened.
“Here,” Fred pulled four ivory colored toffees from his pocket and placed them in front of each couple, “Thanks for sharing your table with us, it’s on the house.”
Ginny eyed hers with caution, unwilling to even pick it up. “What is this, Fred?”
“Oh, it’s just our latest product; they’ll make your tongue flash in rainbow colors.” George answered.
“They’re perfectly harmless and no one needs to know unless you want them too. See?” Fred popped one from his pocket into his mouth, chewed briefly and swallowed, showing them his rainbow flashing tongue as it hung from his mouth. “Perfectly harmless.”
“Cool.” Seamus promptly chewed his and showed off his stoplight tongue to the group. “Thanks, guys.”
Lavender giggled at Seamus and did the same.
“Go on, Ginny, they make your tongue tingle all funny and it tastes great too.” Seamus turned to Fred, “What is that, pineapple?”
“Well call it Tropical Typhoon.” George answered for him since his brother was too busy entertaining the table on the left.
Still leery of what her brothers had given them, Ginny chewed the toffee, swallowed and showed everyone her brilliantly flashing tongue while stifling a giggle that began to grow; plainly amused by the sensation and the laughs she got from the rest of the table.
Dean shrugged and threw back the toffee. But instead of his tongue flashing colors, his face turned bright tomato red and then progressed to blue before flushing into yellow.
“You two!” Ginny shot up from her chair, “Fix him right now or I swear I’ll.... I’ll...”
“Whoa, take it easy.” George smiled and raised his hand in defense as the other tapped Fred who gave him another chew. “Look, he just needs to gnaw on this and he’ll be better in a few hours.”
“A few hours? A few hours!” Ginny seethed, now the entire pub had turned to watch Dean fade in and out of various colors. “Out! Right now, all of you.... OUT!”
“He’ll be fine in a few minutes, really. Sorry Ginny.” Fred apologized sincerely.
“It’s not me you should be apologizing to!” Her eyes welled with angry tears.
“Sorry Dean.” George took his queue.
“Yeah, sorry.” Fred reached out to shake Dean’s hand.
Dean took it briefly before pulling back, apparently unable to speak with his mouth still busy chewing the second toffee.
“I’ll try and keep them from bothering you again, Ginny.” Hermione said sympathetically before grabbing a snickering Ron’s hand and dragging him away. “See you later.”
The twins followed them out, leaving Harry standing in the background. Ginny had turned her attention to Dean who was currently a shade he could only describe as rusty purple. He watched her give him his tea, Dean’s hands wrapping momentarily around hers as the mug was pasted.
Feeling ashamed that they had ruined her first official date with Dean, he cast his gaze to the floor but not before receiving a dispirited glance from Ginny. Right there, in that moment- that instant, Harry realized that however close their relationship had been, for whatever reason he had connected with her, Ginny held a power over him that no one else had and it hurt.
Meeting up with the rest of the group, still huddled under the storefront as the rain had only let up a bit, Harry caught wind of Hermione telling off Fred and George for giving out those toffees and Ron for not stopping them.
“You could have stopped them.” Ron simply argued back, looking down at Hermione.
“They’re not my brothers!” Hermione steeled her position against the towering redhead.
Wanting to avoid being dragged into another row, Harry found Fred leaning against the side of the building doing exactly that.
“Fred, I need to go to the apothecary to pick up some supplies.” Harry said. He had just made up an imaginary list of needed ingredients.
“Sure, no problem.” He nodded, “Where are you guys going?” Fred snapped the two out of their odd reverie.
“Hermione and I want to go to the bookstore.” Ron said nervously, fearing another telling off from Hermione for being so brazen to answer for her.
“We’ll meet you there in what, Harry, an hour?” Fred looked to Harry for confirmation.
“Alright, see you two in an hour.” George waved them off as Harry and Fred pulled on their hoods and headed back out into the rain and up the street.
Harry’s feet squelched with every step he took, his head bowed against the rain and looking only few feet in front of him. He plowed through a large puddle sufficiently re-soaking every last bit of his trainers, trousers and the bottom of his cloak. His destination was only three blocks away but seemed too close as he quickly found himself at the threshold.
He entered the apothecary and an acrid smell met his stuffy nose, effectively yet unpleasantly clearing it. Harry gathered a few miscellaneous ingredients from the laden shelves before bringing them up to the counter. He paid for them, two sickles and a knut was the price of his excuse, the elderly wizarding storekeeper handed him his wrapped package. With a quick ‘thank-you’, he tucked it into his cloak and wretched the door open with a loud clank of the bell.
“Where to now?” Fred asked as he stood beside him in the doorway.
Harry immediately flipped through his memories of Hogsmeade before he replied, “Norham and Lowicks”
“That’s on the other side of town, what do you need there anyway?” Fred asked suspiciously, preparing to venture out into the deluge yet again.
“Nothing.” Harry threw on his hood and walked off before Fred could stop him.
He had made his way up around the corner and up two full blocks before Fred put a stop to it.
“Give it up, Harry.” Fred grabbed his elbow to stop him.
“Give what up?” Harry snapped back, still determined.
“Whatever it is you’re on about.” Fred returned, releasing his grip on Harry’s arm.
“I’m not on about anything.” Harry whirled around to face him.
“I disagree.” He said coolly taking him head on. Harry could see the resemblance of his mother.
“It’s nothing!” Harry said loudly as the wind picked back up again as his throat clenched unexpectedly.
“Harry, I know how you-“
Harry could barely see Fred looking back at him oddly through the wall of tears that was building up behind his eyes. He fell to his knees in the middle of the road, clasping his hands around his neck as if trying to remove an invisible chokehold.
“Harry, what’s wrong?” Fred’s voice shook slightly with panic as he brandished his wand.
He closed his eyes as he gasped for breath, suddenly he felt the grip relax and as he fell face first into the mud.
“Harry” Ginny’s voice whispered weakly in his head.
Fred picked him up off the ground and continued to hold him upright, unsure if he could stand without assistance. “Harry, what happened?”
“Ginny.” Harry breathed, taking a great swipe with the inside of his cloak in an attempt to clean off his face, a second later he jammed his mud-smeared glasses back on and took off down the street towards the Three Broomsticks, leaving a confused Fred with no choice but to follow.
“I’m coming, Ginny, hang on.”He thought, vainly willing her to hear him as he ran as fast as he could.
The wind and rain lashed out against him as if even the weather had taken Voldemort’s side. His heart was beating so rapidly in his chest that he thought it would give out at any moment. He rounded the corner, barely keeping upright as continued his mad dash through the bemired streets. Three, two, one block left. He dug his feet into the oozing clay in an attempt to stop in front of the Three Broomsticks, nearly loosing his footing he became tangled in his cloak; it was strangling him as he tried to kick it loose. He viciously pulled at the sliver clasp and threw off the sodden mess, freeing himself of its confines. He brought himself fully upright, standing in the eye of the storm, in the middle of the deserted road.
Not knowing where to go next he closed his eyes and held his breath, his lungs burned at the lack of oxygen, but his heart took priority. Desperate to connect with Ginny again, he cleared his mind, shutting out the sound of the beating rain and the rhythmic creaking of shop signs as they too gave way to the howling wind. She could tell him where she was.
“Harry!” Fred’s voice broke his concentration. “Where is she?”
“I’m trying to find that out!” He hollered back. “Find the others!”
“Ginny! Ginny! He screamed inside his mind, willing her to hear him. “Ginny you need to tell me where you are.... Where are you Ginny?”
Nothing.
Fighting the panic he swallowed hard, pushing it aside. This was not the time for it. This was not his dream- not now- not ever.
He cleared his mind again, this time he thought back to the times he and Ginny were connected. He had been asleep, he had been lying on the bench in the hollow, they embraced, and he had been asleep again.
“That’s it!” He yelled to himself, discovering a likely pattern if not the actual method.
Harry shut all the trunks of his mind one by one until he locked out everything around him, both visual and audible, embracing the silent darkness that filled his mind. Then he went back to the trunk that mattered most, the trunk where his memories of Ginny resided. He unlocked it and willingly allowed himself to relax. She was sitting on the settee, asleep on the couch at Grimmauld, cradling a periwinkle flower between her fingers in the garden, smiling at him in the hollow, blowing out their birthday candles. All these images of this summer flashed before his eyes in quick succession before resting on the moment when he felt her relax into him as they sped across the morning sky above Hogwarts.
His eyes flew open. “I know where she is.” He yelled to Fred, breaking into all out run as he pulled out his wand. “In the alley two blocks over to next to an abandoned building!”
The closer he got, the sicker he felt. He sidled up against the building before peeking around the corner. Taking a deep breath, he tilted his head over the edge, slowly revealing the scene before him.
Ginny was pinned to the wall by Dean, one hand wrapped around her throat while the other held his wand next to her chest. Her arms dangled at her sides, her wand lay in the mud not more than five feet away. Something silvery was shining in her unclenched fist as blood oozed out from beneath it. Harry could see her eyes scream with helpless fear.
“Expelliarmus!” Harry roared as he jumped out from the corner shooting the blue streak of light at Dean. The spell hit him with such force that his wand rocketed into the air and out of sight.
Surprised by the attack, Dean let go of Ginny, who slid limply to the ground as he ducked behind a wooden crate on the opposite wall.
“Reducto!” Harry yelled as he advanced on his housemate, roommate, and D.A. member, blowing the crate into thousands of slivers with the flick of his wrist.
Before Dean could run any further, Harry had hit him with a full body bind. Dean’s legs and arms snapped together and he fell face first into a puddle. With anger pulsing through him, he approached Dean, he had half a mind to leave him there and let him drown in the few inches of miry water. Deciding that he was no murderer, Harry jammed his foot underneath Dean’s chest and kicked him over.
“Incarcerate!” Ropes flew out of his wand, binding him further as he lay on the ground.
Keeping his foot firmly on his chest and leaning all his weight onto it, his wand sparked as he buried the tip into the fold of Dean’s neck just below his jawbone.
“Harry, get off of him.” A familiar voice reached through the gust of wind that whipped through the alley. “Get off right now.”
“No!” He shouted back, still bearing down on Dean’s chest, wand firmly jarred at his throat as the heavy rain beat down upon them.
“Harry, get off!” The voice said again as it moved closer through the splattering rain. “We’ve got it under control.”
“No!” He screamed again.
“Harry.” The voice was next to him, but he was unable to discern whose it was, he didn’t care and it didn’t matter.
“I won’t let him go! Not this time!” Harry screamed with building, blinding anger, further jamming his wand into Dean’s neck, making him convulse as the spidering light flashed underneath his skin. “I won’t let it happen again!”
“Let what happen again.” The voice asked calmly.
“I won’t let him get away.” Harry spat through the rain, pressing his foot even harder into Dean’s chest, feeling his ribs crack under the pressure.
“Harry, Ginny needs you.” The voice struck a cord deep inside, jolting him from his anger. “Ginny needs you now, go and help her.”
Harry released a pale Dean of his weight and removed his wand from his neck, letting it fall from his grip to the ground as he blindly turned toward Ginny who was leaning back against the wall behind him, nursing her bleeding hand. Quickening his step, he rushed to her side and knelt down onto the ground.
She was covered in thick mud and dripping wet. Her dark, red hair clung to her head and clumped together with gobs of the wet earth. The left side of her face was scratched, bruising was already visible on her cheek and around her throat. His eyes continued to check for visible injuries, he had remembered seeing blood dripping from her hand. Following the curve of her shoulder and the lengths of her arm, his sight rested on her hand as another freckled pair wrapped bandages around the wound. For the first time he realized that he wasn’t alone with Ginny.
“She’ll be alright, Harry.” Fred spoke as Harry’s mouth fell slack.
“I’m okay, Harry.” Ginny’s hoarse voice softly scratched out before he found himself embracing her, she had pulled herself out from the wall and up into his arms.
“It’s okay, Ginny.” He whispered as he continued to hold her, tears breaking through and mixing with the rain as his fear and anger gave way. Gently pulling her head against his chest, brushing her caked hair off her face and shielding her from the torrent he whispered into her forehead. “It’s okay.”
With every passing second that he held her close, Harry could feel himself melting into her, surrendering his guard completely. If there had been any other time in his life that he shared so much of himself, it was only a fraction to what he now openly poured into Ginny, letting her take his strength while taking upon her fear and pain. He could feel her accept him as she relaxed in his arms. Nothing mattered; no one else existed as long as they were together. Harry could no longer feel the biting rain or wind as a warm, comforting sensation enveloped and radiated between them.
“Harry?” The voice interrupted him again. “Harry, we need to take you and Ginny back to Hogwarts.”
“Harry, can you hear us?” Another voice asked.
‘Go away.’ He thought, not wanting to break away from Ginny.
“Harry, let go of Ginny so we can help her.” Yet another voice requested.
Feeling Ginny’s consent, he opened his eyes and lifted his head upward. Suddenly he felt the chill in the air and the rain falling against his face. Ginny shivered involuntarily as he continued to hold her, the warmth they felt just moments ago had vanished.
Two sets of drenched arms reached out for Ginny, following them up to reveal their owners, Harry realized that it was Fred and George who pulled her unconscious body away. He watched as Fred lifted her into his arms while George brandished a chocolate bar just before they vanished into a whirl of color.
“Let’s get you up.” This time he recognized the voice of his best mate, Ron. Harry gazed at him oddly, he too was soaked head to toe and looked as pale as Ginny had. “Give me a hand, will you Hermione?”
“Oh, yes of course.” She answered as if joining the situation.
Ron tucked himself around his left shoulder while Hermione gripped his right. “One the count of three, then?”
“One, two, three.”
Harry felt his body rise and his legs fold out below him as a rush of blood pulsed through them. Regaining his balance with Ron and Hermione’s help, they turned away from the wall to face the alley.
“How are you doing?” The first voice that he had heard belonged to Lupin.
“I’m fine.” Harry replied, completely unconcerned about his own well being.
“You don’t look so good.” Lupin replied, purposely blocking the view of the rest of the alley. “Let’s get you back to Hogwarts too.”
“No, I want to stay.” He was not about to take orders. In an effort to show just how fine he was, Harry pulled himself out of Ron and Hermione’s grip, stumbling slightly under his weaken legs.
“Moody took him back to Hogwarts. There are things you don’t know, Harry.” Lupin said, finally stepping aside to reveal the empty alley.
“I know plenty.” Again, Harry kept his voice oddly sedated.
“Harry, it’ll do no good to stay out in this weather.” Hermione joined Professor Lupin’s persuasion by using the one thing to calm him down. “Ginny will need you when she wakes up.”
“Harry, I think you’d better sit back down.” Ron grabbed his shoulder again, trying to steady his wavering friend who’s color was fading fast.
A searing pain shot through him, causing Harry to collapse despite Ron, Hermione, and Lupin’s attempt to keep him upright. Pressing his palm madly against his mordacious scar, Harry fought through the scream that was leaving his own mouth and the intruder into his mind.
“NO!” He exploded before embracing the darkness once again in his mind, shutting out the world completely.