AN: You guys have been so patient with me and more importantly, with the mods. This is the longest it's taken for a chapter to be up and I give out a big thank you to all those who are still with me!
I wish I was JKR but then, I'd have to face some big time editing and I really don't think I could handle that trauma! So, lucky for me, I just get to write off of what she does.
As Harry walked to the Great Hall, Dobby ran towards him, trying to get his attention.
“Mr. Potter! Mr. Potter!” he called. Harry stopped and waited for the house elf to catch up to him.
“You is needed, sir!” the tiny elf squeaked breathlessly, when he finally came close enough. “In Professor Dumbledore’s office, sir!”
Harry turned quickly and without a word, he rushed away.
“The password is Fizzing Whizbee, sir!” Dobby called after him.
Arriving at the gargoyle statue moments later, Harry uttered the password and ran into the office. Ginny was seated in front of the desk, her eyes wide, and Dumbledore stood with his back to them. Several portraits waved at Harry and called out his name, but he ignored them and swiftly went to Ginny’s side.
“What’s wrong?” he asked anxiously. “What happened?”
Dumbledore turned. “Remus and Tonks have disappeared. They were due to arrive in New Zealand on December the 27th. They never reached their destination.”
“What?” Harry gasped, sinking into a chair. “Are you sure?”
Dumbledore nodded to Ginny who spoke up quietly.
“I was up all night,” she said, her voice shaking. “I Saw…things. There was a werewolf and a woman and coming towards them, a silver hand…the wolf fought to protect her and-“ tears started to flow down her cheeks and she could not finish.
An awful feeling of foreboding sank into the pit of Harry’s stomach.
“You have to find them!” he yelled. “Something’s going to happen to them, something awful!”
“We’ve had members of the Order out looking for weeks,” Dumbledore explained calmly. “We’re using every resource that we have to spare but combing the world for two people isn’t easy.” Harry felt dissatisfied with this answer.
“I’ll go look for them myself if I have to!” he cried heatedly, rising from his seat.
“You will not leave this school!” barked Dumbledore sternly. Harry stopped, stricken at the look on the Headmaster’s face. In six years, Dumbledore had never yelled at him. Ginny caught Harry’s hand up in hers and slowly; he sank into his chair again.
“You must try to understand, Harry, the seriousness of this. Remus and Tonks could be in trouble at this very moment. Two members of the Order are missing, putting the Order in very great danger. If the wrong people find out that you two know about it, many questions could arise on how two mere students could have learned something of this magnitude. It would put you in danger, for you are in league with our secret organization. I need your promise,” he said, kneeling down to their eye level, “That you will stay here and tell no one what you know. It will only compromise Remus and Tonks’ situation and cause it to become far more precarious for them.”
Harry nodded silently. Tears formed in his eyes but he swallowed them back and squeezed the still crying Ginny’s hand.
“Go on back to your common room,” Dumbledore said gently, putting his hand on Harry’s shoulder. “You need not go back to class today. I will inform your teachers that I have dismissed you from your afternoon classes.” He smiled kindly at the two of them.
“We’ll work this out,” he said. “Don’t worry.”
Ginny and Harry rose and without another word, they left the office.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“How can this have happened?” Hermione said, after Harry and Ginny had explained what Ginny had Seen.
“And, you say you Saw all this?” Ron asked Ginny. “Is there no chance that you could have made a mistake?”
“I-I don’t think so,” said Ginny shakily. “I mean, it coincides with Harry’s scar hurting and they did go missing awhile back. And Harry’s scar has been aching for weeks, hasn’t it?”
They all looked over at Harry who thus far, had been silent.
“Er-yeah,” he said awkwardly. “It all fits in, doesn’t it?”
“What are you going to do about it, then,” Hermione asked, her eyes round.
“What can I do?” Harry said. “Dumbledore told me not to leave.”
“But they’re in danger,” Ron protested. “You can’t just sit here and not help them!”
“I can,” Harry said dejectedly, “and I must. Think about it. If I hadn’t gone to the Ministry last year, Sirius might still be alive. For once, I’m going to do what they tell me to do. I have no choice.”
Ginny squeezed his hand. “Harry’s right,” she said. “Even if we did leave, there’s nothing we can do for them. We don’t even know where they are.”
Ron sighed. “I guess you’re right.” He stretched out and yawned. “Hermione, we need to go patrol.”
“What?” Harry said. “I thought that was the Head’s job. Why are you two doing it?”
Hermione shrugged, looking slightly flustered. “They delegated us to do it tonight. We’ll see you later.” She and Ron rose to leave. Hermione winked at Ginny as they exited the portrait hole.
“Those two,” Ginny said in exasperation once they’d gone. “I’ll bet that they don’t even have to patrol tonight. They’re probably just looking for a private place to snog.”
Harry was looking at Ginny through subdued eyes. “Does it hurt you?” he asked quietly.
She turned, looking at him as if he’d grown a third head. “Snogging?” she asked, bewildered.
Harry smiled a little. “No, I meant having a vision. Was it terrible?”
Ginny looked down at her hands.
“You don’t have to answer,” Harry said quickly.
“No, that’s okay,” Ginny said. “Yes, it hurts. Dumbledore said that it was a lot like your scar. The intensity of the pain depends on what’s happening and what I See. But it’s far more psychological than physical.”
And…last night?”
Ginny looked up at him, tears pooling in her brown eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” Harry said, wrapping her in his arms, letting her cry against his shoulder.
“I was so scared,” she sobbed. “It was horrible!”
“It’s okay,” Harry soothed. “I’m here for you, Gin. We’ll get through this together.”
Moments later, she pulled away with a choked laugh.
“We’re so terrible,” she said. “Every time we talk, one of us ends up crying all over the other.”
Harry pulled her close to whisper in her ear, “Ginny, I will always be here to catch your tears.”
“Just hold me,” she said softly. “Hold me.”
I hope you enjoy this chapter. Like I've said, I write for me, I publish for you. I write what makes me happy and I just hope you feel the same way about it. You do...don't you? Well for goodness sakes, please tell me!
Here's your spoiler.
"They've eloped!" Ginny laughed, wiping tears from her eyes.
*CONTEST* I am going to change the title of my story. I never was good with titles, as you can probably tell. I would like my reviewers to rename it for me. Just post a suitable title in your review and I will judge it and pick my favorite. By the time chapter 28 is posted, I hope to have found a new title. The winner will be credited as the author of the title. Good Luck!