Harry lost track of his surroundings as he concentrated his attention solely on kissing Ginny. He did not notice when Hermione opened the door to wake him up, though Ginny did. She pushed him off her with a force that sent him off the edge of the bed and hurtling to the ground. At first he feared that this was her reaction to his kiss. He was actually quite relieved when he saw a shocked Hermione standing in the doorframe. His relief quickly turned to embarrassment for having been caught in such a compromising situation.
“He’s not in here!” Hermione shouted the pitch of her voice higher than normal. Before Harry or Ginny had the chance to explain what was going on she backtracked out of the room. They heard her suggesting to Ron that they check the kitchen and were relieved to hear the distant sounds of the pair descending the stairs.
Harry looked at Ginny’s stunned face. “That was close,” he told her, beginning to see a bit of humor in the situation.
“I have to go,” Ginny announced to the room in general before sprinting out with all haste.
At first he felt let down by her abrupt departure, but soon he saw the wisdom of it. If Ron, or any Weasley for that matter, returned to check his room again…well, he definitely didn’t want them to find Ginny there in her nightgown. As he showered he relived his kiss with Ginny, savoring every last detail. The bar of soap flew out of his hand and hit his eyes when the sound of loud, angry knocks reached his ears. He wondered if whoever was outside the bathroom was simply trying to break the door down.
“Who is it?”
“Harry! I need to talk to you!” Hermione’s agitated voice came from behind the door.
“Be out in a minute,” he grumbled.
“What?”
“I said I’ll be out in a minute!”
“Well, make sure you are!”
Harry hurried through the rest of his shower and got dressed in a flash. His hair was still dripping and his eyes still stinging when he exited the bathroom. Hermione sat cross-legged on his bed wearing an expression of great hostility.
“Hi, there…” Harry said with great trepidation.
“I am very disappointed in you,” Hermione told him with a glare that suggested that he had better not feign ignorance as to why.
Harry took a seat at the edge of his bed. “Look, it’s not what you think, alright?”
“I think you kissed Ginny.”
“Erm…I guess it is what you think,” he gave her a charming smile.
“Don’t you feel bad?” Hermione gave him a piercing look.
Harry shrugged. “Actually, I’m feeling rather nice.”
Obviously this was not the answer she wanted to hear, for she narrowed her eyes menacingly. “I suppose you enjoy kissing girls who are already in a committed relationship?”
“What’s that Hermione? You want to have a go?” He responded in an off the cuff manner and was highly amused as Hermione’s face turned scarlet.
“It’s not funny!”
Harry thought it was rather funny and gave a bit of a chuckle at her reaction.
“What if it was Ron that had come to get you instead of me?”
That possibility quickly wiped the smirk from Harry’s face.
“Not so amusing now, is it?”
He could tell Hermione was baiting him, but didn’t know why.
“Do you think Ginny is better off with Dean?”
Hermione was not at all surprised by his question and immediately pounced. “Ginny is better off with a guy who will not break her heart!”
“I wouldn’t break her heart!” Harry felt himself getting extremely riled up by Hermione’s presumptuousness.
“Oh well then…I feel so much better,” Hermione bit back sarcastically.
“Why are you so mad?” Harry considered himself highly betrayed by Hermione. Why was she tearing him limb for limb? If anything, she should have been happy that he and Ginny were getting together. Hermione settled down upon sensing his bewilderment.
“Harry,” she began in a much more subdued tone. “You and Ron have always been my best friends. Ginny, she’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a female best friend. If you began to date her…and ended up breaking her heart…whose side would Ron take? Even I, well, you would be putting me between a rock and a very hard place…don’t you think?”
Harry wasn’t really concerned about her or Ron’s feelings; his only concern was why she was so certain he was going to break Ginny’s heart.
“Why would I want to hurt Ginny?”
“Oh Harry I didn’t mean it like that!” Hermione looked surprised by his conclusion. “It’s not that you want to hurt her…it’s that you most likely will.”
He didn’t really see the difference but signaled her to continue anyways.
“Harry, she told me what you think about her.” Hermione looked away in shame as she confessed this to him.
“What do I think?” Harry asked, sure that they were at last getting to the heart of the problem.
“You like her, but Voldemort is a higher priority.” Hermione looked solemnly at him.
“That’s what she told you?” Harry double-checked.
Hermione nodded a tinge of redness sneaking back into her face.
“Now you listen to me,” Harry looked Hermione straight in the eyes, “I am in love with Ginny Weasley.”
Hermione’s jaw dropped at the highly unexpected announcement. She blubbered for a moment, unable to get the words she wanted to say in order. Harry used this to his advantage and continued.
“Ginny is my highest priority. I stay away from her in the hope that Voldemort will do so as well.”
“He won’t!” Hermione shouted, suddenly getting the power of speech back. “Even in her first year, when you had no feelings for her whatsoever, he used and almost killed her! As for now, her family practically makes up the Order! She’ll never be safe from him! Besides that he has a history of hunting down and murdering Volcens! To say she’s safer without you…it’s crazy! You haven’t cut off your friendship with me or Ron on account of Voldemort, so why do that to Ginny?”
He considered how nice it had been for the one moment that Hermione had not been able to speak, than he considered her undeniable logic. Ginny was greatly at risk despite his presence in her life. Being with her would better enable him to protect her, and it would have its own rewards to boot. He grinned as he came to his final decision on the matter.
“I’m going to be with Ginny.”
Hermione’s eyes got watery and she wore a wide smile on her face. “Than you should know I’m going to stand by your side…there’s no way she’d be better off with Dean!”
Harry was pleasantly surprised when Hermione threw her arms around him for a hug. If she was on his side, it would be easy to persuade Ginny that he wanted to be with her. The sound of the door crashing open and the sight of Ron skidding into the room sent Harry to his feet. Through Ron’s heavy breathing Harry deciphered to words “Ginny” and “screaming”. He went running from the room with Ron and Hermione at his heels. The scene they arrived to was quite puzzling. Ginny stood, red-faced, with her wand pointed threateningly at the crowd trying to get near her. Harry noticed the amulet in her left hand seconds before she sent it crashing to the ground.
“I know you hear me Gaia and Voltara!!! When I find out which one of you did it…”
Ginny began to breathe heavily and Harry ran to grab a hold of her.
“I know you listening!” She continued to yell, though this time through her sobs.
“Ginny, what’s the matter?” Harry asked.
He was certain that she was purposefully refusing to look at him.
“Why would you do it? WHY!” She slowly slid to the ground as her anger and pain overtook her.
“What did they do Ginny?” Mrs. Weasley asked cautiously.
“They betrayed her,” Ginny answered through her sobs.
“Betrayed who?” Tonks ventured into the conversation.
Ginny shook her head adamantly, pressing her lips together. Harry didn’t feel that it was right to push her but Ron did so anyhow.
“Who did they betray Ginny? Just tell us,” he demanded from his sister. She refused to say a word, but the anguish on her face spoke volumes.
“What did they do?” Hermione asked, clearly trying to get answers from Ginny using a different technique.
“They betrayed her!” Ginny moaned.
“How did they betray her?” Hermione pressed her luck.
“They told him!”
“Who did they tell?” Fred asked.
“HIM!” Ginny yelled, as though who ‘he’ was should be perfectly apparent.
“What did they tell him?” Hermione cut Fred off before he could further anger Ginny.
Harry was certain that Ginny was not going to answer, but she did.
“That she was a Volcen,” Ginny whispered in the most hushed tone.
Harry could not take the third-degree that Ginny was getting from the crowd. He took her face into his hands and turned her so she looked him directly in his eyes. She tried to pull away but he held her firmly in his grip.
“Who was a Volcen?”
Ginny gave an audible sob but continued to look him straight in the eyes as she whispered, “Your mother.”
Harry was quite positive that his ears needed cleaning out, had she just said that his mother was a Volcen?
“She was,” Ginny whimpered, “believe me.”
“How do you know?” Harry couldn’t help but to ask the question on everyone’s mind.
“In the memory…” Ginny began.
“Yes?” Harry encouraged her to continue.
“…she fought them.”
“Who did she fight?” he asked, feeling highly perplexed.
“…the dementors.”
“Wha…?” Harry didn’t fully get the question out before Ginny jumped up.
“She fought the dementors! She vessel-voyaged into the dementor that had your grandmother’s soul and ripped it from him!”
“How can that…?”
Tonks seemed to grasp what Ginny was saying before anyone else. “You mean to say that Lily Potter was a Volcen and either Gaia or Voltara betrayed her to he-who-must-not-be-named?”
Ginny nodded her head so fast that it hurt Harry to look at her.
“Did you go into the memoirs with Harry?” Lupin asked.
“Yeah, she did,” Harry responded.
“I see,” Lupin said calmly. “I always wondered what happened that day. I’m pleased to know that Emma’s soul was not stolen away.”
Harry gaped at Lupin. Seeing this, Lupin smiled at him.
“Surely you noticed that your mother was being targeted by Voldemort’s minions?” When Harry shook his head Lupin persisted, “Didn’t you notice anything strange about the circumstances surrounding her? Every time there was danger she would become unconscious right away. I must say, that was a dead giveaway as far as I was concerned. Only a Volcen would abandon her body in a fight, choosing instead to utilize her abilities to her advantage.”
“You knew?” Harry said in an accusatory voice.
“How could I not?” Lupin returned the question. “I confess, I hoped you would share that particular memory with Ginny.”
“Why?” Harry asked in complete shock.
“She is the only one that could tell us for sure if Lily was, as I suspected, a Volcen.”
“That’s why you’ve had Tonks watching me,” Ginny accused Lupin, “You think I’m going to betray the Order!”
“NO!” Lupin yelled out earnestly. “I know you are completely loyal to the Order! When you told Tonks that Gaia contacted you I was seized by the same suspicions that you now have. I knew that either she or your Voltara had betrayed Lily. I worried that they would do the same to you.”
“But Gaia was an Order member!” Harry shouted, his mind quickly absorbing the information that Lupin was giving them.
“As was Wormtail!” Lupin retorted furiously. “Betrayal within the Order is not unheard of!”