Harry slowly drifted back to consciousness on the morning before winter term started. At first he wondered where he was as he opened his eyes and didn't recognise the familiar crimson of his bed hangings. Then he noticed a warm weight nestled against him and remembered…

Ginny had been released from the hospital wing the day before. "About time," she had grumbled at Madam Pomfrey. They'd sat up late in the common room last night, making up for lost time, as Ginny had put it. The temptation of moving things up to Ginny's empty dormitory room had been all too real, but something had stopped Harry short of actually suggesting it. The fear that she might slap him, combined with the fear that she might actually agree, might have had something to do with it. It had been pleasant enough to kiss her until they were both flushed and breathless. When it seemed as if stopping might be a good idea, neither had said a word, nor had they moved from the sofa. They'd simply lain down, snuggled together, and Ginny had fallen asleep. It had taken Harry a while longer before he'd succumbed at last, lulled by her even breathing.

Harry could see it was early. Ginny was still sleeping quietly, lying with her back to his chest. Harry's arm was tucked about her waist, and he tightened it around her, leaning forward to kiss the side of her neck. He'd discovered last night that if he nipped at that exact spot, she'd shiver and make the most delicious sound. He thought he could definitely get used to waking up with her.

But this was going to be their last chance for a while. The other students would be coming back to school today. So would the staff members who hadn't stayed on for the holiday. The Weasleys had returned home, as well, and Harry was relieved not to have Mrs Weasley casting so many knowing glances in his direction. They'd spent Christmas day at Hogwarts, attending the feast in the Great Hall. Madam Pomfrey had even got into the spirit, given Ginny a reprieve and allowed her to eat Christmas dinner with her family, although it had tired her out and she'd had to return to the hospital wing afterwards.

Ginny stirred against him, and he kissed her again. They'd have to think about getting up soon, but he was reluctant for this closeness to end. She stirred again, and her hair fell across her face. Harry smoothed it back with his hand, marvelling at its silkiness.

"Mmmm…." Ginny sighed, and her eyes fluttered open.

"Morning," Harry whispered against her ear. She jumped a bit, and he thought he felt her quiver. She turned in his arms, slowly working her way around to face him.

"Harry… What time is it?"

"Still early."

"Why didn't you wake me up and make me go sleep in my dormitory last night?"

Harry shrugged, thinking that if he'd done that, it would have been too tempting to stay with her there. He wasn't sure he wanted to admit that to her, and in the end they had spent the night together, even if quarters were more cramped here on the sofa than they would have been in her bed. "You were sleeping too peacefully, and I didn't want to bother you. Besides, it's nice like this, isn't it? Just the two of us?"

"We would have been more comfortable in my bed."

Harry's jaw dropped. Was she saying what he thought she was saying? She couldn't be, could she? No, she must have just meant exactly what she'd said and wasn't trying to insinuate anything beyond that. And yet there was something in the way she was looking at him… Her eyes seemed to be going darker. It was almost as if they were melting into him. He couldn't look away. Then it was as if an electric current passed through him, and he felt his body begin to respond. This was almost frightening in its intensity, but he didn't want to do anything to stop whatever it was.

Ginny was looking at him, bemused. Almost absently she touched his cheek with her fingertips. "You look so different without your glasses," she murmured, as if noticing for the first time. She was leaning closer. In the instant before their lips touched, Harry felt a tremor of pleasure pass through him. Then she was kissing him deeply, pressing herself against him, drawing him down to lie over her…

The sound of someone clearing his throat gave Harry a nasty shock, and he toppled onto the floor. Heart pounding, he looked up to see a blur that looked suspiciously like Ron standing in the stairwell. Harry flushed a dull red, as he realised Ron must have seen him stretched out over his sister, snogging her senseless.

"Have the two of you been going at it all night, then?"

Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Ginny cut him off. "Oh, and you're a fine one to talk, coming down the girls' stairs."

Harry reached for his glasses, which he'd left lying on an end table last night. By the time he'd put them on, Ron's ears had gone red, and he was standing rooted in place, his mouth working, but no sound coming out. "Just be careful, all right?" he managed at last, as he headed for his own dormitory.

"As careful as you're being then?" Ginny shot after him. He didn't reply to that; he simply continued up his own stairs. "Honestly, why does he have to be such a git about this?" she asked, turning to Harry, who was still sitting on the floor.

Harry shrugged. "Suppose he's not used to the idea yet."

"It's been almost four months! How long did it take for you to get used to the idea when he and Hermione got together?"

"I guess he's just got a thicker head than I do. To be honest, it was weird at first when they started going out, but with them, I think we all saw it coming, didn't we? Ron was the last one to work it out, but once he did… Anyway, it wasn't my place to say anything, was it?"

"It's not his, either."

"He is your brother."

"Exactly, he's my brother. He's not my mum!"

Harry stood up. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Up to your room."

"Harry!" He thought her outrage was just a bit exaggerated.

"Not like that! I thought we could have a last look around for that note."

"Oh." She definitely sounded disappointed. Damn, why did he have to pick up on that? It wasn't doing anything for his heart-rate at the moment. "You know it's useless."

Harry reckoned she was right. He'd turned her dormitory upside down--more or less; there were certain places he didn't dare go through--looking for the note she'd been sent. "I thought you could check some of the places I didn't want to."

"Like what?"

"Well, some of the other girls left… their personal things lying about, and…"

"And you didn't want to snoop through their underwear?" she asked, raising a brow. She was enjoying this a bit too much, he thought.

"Would you rather I had?" he countered.

"Let's go. Not that we'll find anything," she added. "It's not as if I'm in the habit of leaving my notes lying about my classmates' lingerie, but if it'll set your mind at ease…"

And she was right. After they'd been though everything, there was still no sign of the note. "I suppose the house-elves threw it out when they came in to clean," Ginny sighed.

Harry couldn't help but agree that further search would be fruitless. It was frustrating though. How were they going to discover who had set her up with no clues to go on?

*

The Great Hall was full once again when Harry went down to breakfast on Monday morning. As he sat down at the Gryffindor table, flanked by Ron, Hermione and Ginny, he wondered how quickly news of their holiday adventures would make the rounds. The story wasn't anything he particularly wanted broadcast about, especially since Ginny wouldn't be happy about everyone knowing the reason behind her kidnapping. Her parents knew now, obviously, but the matter of her talent hadn't been discussed, at least not in his hearing, and he reckoned that if she were coming to terms with it, it was grudgingly so at best.

Then there was Draco Malfoy. Harry looked over to the Slytherin table where he could see his nemesis smirking at Pansy Parkinson. The father had been involved but had the son been as well? Harry didn't know. In the past he, Ron and Hermione had always been quick to lay blame at the Slytherin's feet, but they'd not always been right. Draco had certainly seen the talisman, but so had half the school. There was just no way of telling whether he'd been the one to lure Ginny into Hogsmeade. He hadn't been at Carreg Cennen, either, that Harry had seen, but that didn't mean anything. Even if he hadn't been directly involved, he might know something. But how much did he know, and would he be likely to spread rumours about the school? Harry supposed he would if he thought Ginny wouldn't like it, but then he wouldn't want to connect himself or his father with Voldemort, either. Malfoy looked over then, caught Harry's eye and sneered.

"What have we got to look forward to this morning?" Ron was asking Hermione.

"Honestly, Ron, you ought to know the time table by now," she replied, rolling her eyes.

Harry was sure Ron knew perfectly well they had Charms this morning, and he was merely needling Hermione.

"What about you, Ginny?" Harry asked, but Ginny didn't answer him. She was staring up towards the staff table, and Harry wasn't sure he liked the expression on her face. She was looking at someone with a mixture of fear and distaste, but from this distance, he couldn't tell who it was.

He nudged her. "Ginny, what's wrong?"

She jumped and seemed to come back to herself. "Oh, nothing, Harry," she replied, reddening.

Harry opened his mouth to say something more, but Ron interrupted him. "Come on, Harry, we're going to be late." He and Hermione were already standing, ready to head off to Charms. Harry looked from Ron back to Ginny.

"Go on, Harry, you don't want to be late," Ginny said, and she got up as well.

"I'll see you at lunch then," he called after her retreating back.

As he left the hall, he looked up towards the staff table, wondering which of the teachers had distracted her so. He felt as if he was missing something, something obvious, but it just wouldn't click in his mind. The teachers were rising to go to their first class, and Harry caught a glimpse of tiny Professor Flitwick before he disappeared behind the lager figures of Professor Grubbly-Plank and Viktor Krum.

"Harry, come on," Ron called again.

"All right, no reason to panic. Professor Flitwick hasn't even left for class yet."

But he still hurried to catch his friends up, putting Ginny's behaviour out of his mind for the moment.

*

Harry didn't see Ginny again that day until it was almost supper time. When he asked her where she'd been at lunch, she mumbled some excuse about the library. She didn't meet his gaze as she said it, but before he could question her further, she was tugging at his hand. "Come on, I'm starved. I missed lunch, you know." And he had no choice but to follow her.

But when they arrived in the Entrance Hall, the doors to the Great Hall were closed. They were too early for supper. A few other students, mostly first years, were milling about waiting for the doors to open. They descended the marble staircase to wait with the others, and Harry wondered once more at Ginny's behaviour. Something was going on with her, and he wanted to ask her what it was, but not in front of the other students. He thought it might be worth a visit to the fourth floor storage room so they could have a talk.

"Miss Weasley," a voice called.

Harry felt Ginny shrink behind him, as if she were trying to hide. Looking around, he saw Viktor Krum trying to get her attention. Why would she hide from their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher? Then it clicked. He remembered her strange behaviour back in September when she'd said Krum was creepy and later denied having a problem with him. Something had changed today. Had something happened in Ginny's Defence Against the Dark Arts class? No, that wasn't right. She'd been acting oddly at breakfast, too, before she'd ever been in class. She'd been staring at Krum this morning.

"Miss Weasley." He'd come over to her now. "I believe this belongs to you." He was holding out a battered copy of The Dark Forces: a Guide to Self Protection. "You left class in such a hurry today you forgot your book."

When Ginny didn't react, Harry was obliged to take the book for her. "Thanks," he said, hoping Krum would move on.

"Is everything all right, Miss Weasley?" Krum asked, and he sounded genuinely concerned. "Do you need to go see Madam Pomfrey?"

Harry turned and was alarmed to see she'd gone white as a sheet. He thought she might be trembling. The hand he was holding had gone clammy and was gripping him quite hard.

"She'll be fine," Harry answered for her, although it was a blatant lie, and Krum didn't seem to buy it.

The doors to the Great Hall opened just then, and Harry was relieved when Krum moved on with the other students going in to supper. Harry pulled Ginny into a corner.

"What's got into you?" he hissed.

"Nothing," she replied, but it wasn't convincing. He'd noticed how she'd relaxed as soon as Krum moved on.

"Let's go," Harry said, and stared towards the marble staircase.

"No. I told you, I missed lunch. I'm starved."

"We'll nick something from the kitchens later. Right now, we're going somewhere for a private talk."

He dragged a protesting Ginny back up the stairs against the current of students coming down for supper. He heard Ron and Hermione call after him, but he ignored them. He didn't stop until they were standing outside the storage room. Ginny did not look pleased, but there was nothing he could do about that now.

"Just what do you think you're doing, dragging me through half the school like that?" she demanded as soon as they were inside.

Harry wasn't going to let her intimidate him. "There's something up with you and Krum, and I want to know what it is."

Her chin went up a notch. "Jealous?"

"Don't be ridiculous! You were scared to death of him down there, and I want to know why."

"Now who's being ridiculous? I wasn't scared."

Harry couldn't believe she would tell him such an obvious lie. She was staring daggers at him, daring him to call her on it. "Why won't you tell me? Come on, Ginny, it could be important."

"Because I don't know why, okay?" she practically wailed. "He just creeps me out, but I don't know why!"

"This isn't the first time you've said something like this," Harry said quietly. "Do you remember, back at the beginning of last term? After your first class with him?"

Ginny sank down on one of the broken sofas and nodded. "Yeah, I remember. Now." All the fight had gone out of her. "But I don't know why. It doesn't make sense. I just noticed him this morning at breakfast, and I felt, I dunno, weird. And up until then, I was fine."

"Do you remember when I asked you about what happened with Krum later that same day?" She thought for a moment, her brow furrowed. "You asked me to meet you in the common room," he prompted. "It was late."

"Yeah, and I told you nothing happened, didn't I? And nothing had…"

"You were convinced of it, you weren't lying like you did just now."

"But something did happen. I just don't know what he did."

She was massaging her temples, as if this would somehow get her brain to co-operate. Harry thought he'd worked out what happened now, at least in part. He sat down next to her and put an arm around her. She laid her head on his shoulder, and he kissed the top of it. "Tell me what happened in class that day. Everything you can remember."

"That's just it, Harry. Nothing out of the ordinary happened really. It was just a regular Defence Against the Darks Arts class. Well, we went over something ridiculously easy, but it was the first week of term. And then at the end of class, he said he needed to ask me something, except he never did. He just looked at me funny."

"What?" This didn't make sense. How could a look provoke such an extreme reaction?

Ginny crossed her arms over her chest and seemed to hug herself. Harry felt her shiver. "That's what I mean. I don't know what he did, but it was as if he were looking right through me. Like he could see everything. It was really odd…"

"And that was right at the end of class… And then later in the same day, you didn't remember it anymore. But now you do. Did you tell Dumbledore about this?"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"For one thing, it's only all coming back to me now, and for another, I didn't know it was important."

"Don't you see, Ginny? Krum must have done something to you, and then you were memory charmed."

"Yes, and now that Dumbledore lifted all those memory charms, I can recall it all now. But… I can remember Lucius Malfoy putting memory charms on me at that castle. I don't have any recollection of someone doing it back in September."

"Maybe whoever did it, did it on the sly somehow. But whatever Krum did to you has to be important. Why else would they have memory charmed you?"

"Yes, but what did he do?"

"I think we should go to Dumbledore with this."

"Why?"

"Because maybe he can tell us what's up with Krum. Maybe Krum is the spy…"

"It's not much to go on. It's a look really. Besides, why would Dumbledore hire Viktor Krum if he didn't trust him?"

"I'm not saying Dumbledore doesn't trust him. If he's the spy, he needs to keep Dumbledore's trust. You remember what happened my fourth year, don't you? Dumbledore thought he could trust Mad-Eye Moody, but it didn't turn out that he could."

"Only because it wasn't the real Mad-Eye Moody."

"Yes, and if there had been something to tip us off to that fact, a lot of things would be different. Voldemort might not have come back. A lot of people might still be alive. Cedric Diggory…" His voice had gone very quiet on this last, trailing off into silence. "So we have to say something," he began again after a moment. "We can't just sit on this information. It might be important. I've learned my lesson about overlooking things like this. I could have told him about that necklace a lot sooner than I did, too, because it was preventing me from feeling any pain in my scar."

"But nothing bad came of that."

"No, thank goodness, but it might have." Harry suddenly put his hand to his chest. "I've still got it on! I completely forgot to take it off when we came back from Wales!"

"What?"

"I put it on before we left, as an added protection. Dumbledore mentioned it might be a good idea to wear it outside Hogwarts, and since I reckoned we'd be meeting up with Death Eaters… Well, I suppose I got used to it, and I've still got on!" He reached up and took the talisman off. It had been so light on his neck that he barely noticed the difference with it gone.

Ginny looked at him, alarmed. "Do you think…"

"I don't know, but I'm going to have to tell Dumbledore about this. We might as well tell him all of it."

"All right, then. Let's get it over with."

The left Dumbledore's office a good while later. He'd listened to all they had to say, but offered little comment. He'd certainly been glad that Harry had told him about the necklace this time, but there had been little discernible reaction to their news about Viktor Krum. He'd simply run his fingers along the bridge of his nose under his glasses and said, "I see." When they'd finished, he'd thanked them, and they'd been dismissed.

"You'd think he'd have been happier about us coming to him with all that," Ginny commented dryly as they emerged from behind the stone gargoyle.

Harry hardly knew what to think. He suspected Dumbledore would be making use of his Pensieve as he tried to work out what was going on. Harry felt as if he could use a Pensieve of his own to get rid of some of the excess thoughts stampeding through his head. His head was beginning to pound with them, as a headache threatened.

"I just need something to eat," he told himself. He turned to Ginny, and asked, "Are you still hungry? We can go down to the kitchens."

Dobby squealed loudly when he saw Harry and Ginny come into the kitchens. There were still a good many of the other house-elves about busily cleaning up after supper, but it wasn't very long before Dobby had them both seated at the end of one of the long tables and had served them a feast. While Harry and Ginny were eating, Dobby hovered about, plainly itching to say something. Harry was on the verge of telling him to come out with it, when Dobby finally looked about furtively and said in a loud stage whisper, "I sees you got your Wheezy back."

Ginny giggled, while Harry replied, "Erm, yeah."

"Dobby was a good elf. Dobby didn't tell a soul, he didn't." Harry was reminded of a puppy just begging for praise.

"Good, Dobby. Well done."

"How is it you even know about what happened?" Ginny asked.

"Harry Potter is a great wizard, Miss. He comes to see Dobby before Christmas, and asks for food. But Dobby sees he's very worried." Dobby nodded solemnly. "So Dobby asks him what's the matter. And he tells Dobby he has to go find you, Miss, but not to tell anybody. And Dobby didn't breathe a word to anyone." He looked very proud of himself.

Ginny smiled at him, and he practically blushed. "Thank you, Dobby."

Dobby sidled closer to Harry. "If Dobby sees Harry Potter with this Wheezy in a supplies closet, Dobby won't say a word," he whispered conspiratorially.

"Dobby!" Harry cried, wishing they'd gone to supper after all and waited to see Dumbledore. "You're never going to catch me and Ginny in a supplies closet!"

"Why not?"

Ginny was trying very hard to contain her laughter, and her eyes were glinting impishly. "Yes, Harry, why not?"

"Because there's better places!" Harry grated, while Ginny continued to laugh. "Come on, I've got to get a start on my homework," Harry said, getting up.

"Harry Potter will bring his Wheezy to see Dobby any time."

"Uh, sure, Dobby," Harry replied, while thinking to himself, "Not bloody likely."

"Goodbye, Dobby," said Ginny.

When they were on their way back to Gryffindor Tower, Ginny asked, "What was all that about a supplies closet?" So Harry told her that when he went down to the kitchen for food the night she'd turned up missing, Dobby had recounted to him that he'd found Ron and Hermione snogging in a supplies closet.

"Honestly, sometimes I wonder what Hermione sees in my prat of a brother. Supplies closet…"

They gave the Fat Lady the password ("Semprini!") and climbed through the portrait hole. The common room was filled with the usual buzz of students laughing together and playing games. Some of them were even doing homework, although being the beginning of a new term, their numbers were small. Hermione and Ron were nowhere to be seen. Harry and Ginny both came to that conclusion together, for they looked at each other and said, "Supplies closet!" at the same time.

They found an unoccupied table in a relatively secluded corner of the common room. Harry began to take his books out of his bag, thinking with distaste that he'd have Divination the next day as he came across his copy of Unfogging the Future. Even minus the constant predictions of his untimely demise, Harry could have lived without Professor Trelawney's misty voice or Lavender and Parvati giggling over the tarot card reading they'd done for him. He couldn't believe they were still going on about it.

He shook himself as he realised that certain things that had happened over the Christmas holiday had been predicted by the cards. The Tower had turned up, and Ginny had been literally been found in a tower. The Lover's card--and he'd told her he was in love with her… What other cards had come up? He struggled to remember for a moment, but then he caught himself. It was all a load of bullocks.

"What are you thinking about?" Ginny had caught him seemingly staring into space and not starting his homework. She'd already filled several inches of parchment with a load of strange symbols.

"Nothing," he hedged, taking out his Charms homework.

They worked for a while in silence until Ron and Hermione came into the common room and plunked themselves down at the table with them.

"Why weren't you at supper?" Hermione asked immediately.

Harry exchanged a look with Ginny. If anyone was going to tell Ron and Hermione about Viktor Krum, Harry reckoned it was Ginny's place to do so. Ginny looked at Hermione uncomfortably, but she was saved from replying when Ron snorted. "Come on, Hermione, why do you think?"

Hermione and Ginny both rolled their eyes at him, and Ginny said, "I suppose I could ask you where you've been just now."

Hermione immediately started taking her books out. Harry wondered if he ought to say something. Hermione wasn't going to like the idea that Viktor Krum might be a spy, but then how much proof did they really have? It all seemed to hinge on a tenuous look that had made Ginny uncomfortable… That and a memory charm.

As he watched, he saw Hermione take out one particular book and set it closer to Ginny. It was the book she'd tried to get Ginny to read last autumn, the one about rare magical talents. He looked over at Ginny and got the impression she was pointedly ignoring it. He sighed. Some day she was going to have to come to terms with what she was. But then she was a Weasley, and that meant she was hard-headed. He put a hand in his pocket and felt for the talisman. He'd put it there earlier when he'd taken it off. Maybe he ought to have a look at that book. Maybe if he learned more about it, he could help her out. Somehow.

He reached for Rare Magical Talents and began paging through it. He could feel Ginny's eyes on him and imagined she was probably glaring, but he paid her no mind. He turned a few more pages, looking for the section on Jewel-wrights, but then he saw something that made him pause. The words Soul Searcher leapt off the page at him. He remembered Hermione explaining what that was, and suddenly he knew what Viktor Krum had done to Ginny. He'd been able to see into her heart, and that's how he'd learned she was a Jewel-wright.