A Past Reclaimed by nuw255
Chapter Notes: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny head back to Hogwarts, where at least one secret is revealed. Plus, I, as the author, will poke fun at a couple of clichés just because I can.
The Christmas holidays flew by, and before he knew it Harry was back at Hogwarts. He sat in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room on the night before classes were to begin, just staring into the dancing flames.
Neither can live while the other survives, he thought morosely. While at the Burrow, he had somehow managed to avoid thinking about the prophecy, but now that he was back at Hogwarts he knew he couldn’t avoid it any longer. It was something he would have to face sooner or later, and his friends deserved to know.
But you promised Dumbledore that you’d keep it to yourself, a little voice in his head reminded him.
I promised him I wouldn’t let anybody know about the wandless magic either, but my friends know about that, Harry argued with himself.
That was something you couldn’t help; you’re making a conscious choice to tell them about the prophecy. It’s totally different.
But Dumbledore isn’t always right, Harry shot back. If he hadn’t kept secrets from me, I never would’ve gone to the Ministry and Sirius would still be alive. My friends deserve to know what’s really going on - what they’re getting into by sticking with me. Making up his mind once and for all, Harry got to his feet and approached the table where Ron and Hermione were in the middle of a game of chess.
“About done there?” he asked casually.
Ron nodded without looking up from the board. “Pretty close, yeah. You want to play next?”
“No,” Harry answered, shaking his head. “I just need to talk to you two in private. I’ll go get Ginny and we’ll wait for you.”
“We’ll let you know as soon as we’re finished,” Hermione said, giving Harry a little wave as he started walking toward Ginny, who was sitting in a corner talking excitedly with some of her roommates. He let out a soft laugh as she made a wild sweeping gesture with her hands.
“Ginny?” he called softly as he approached. She looked up and smiled brilliantly at him.
“I was wondering when you’d find your way over here,” she said playfully. Her expression and voice softened as she added, “I thought about sitting with you, but you looked like you needed some time to sort through things. I know it’s probably still difficult dealing with everything.”
Harry shook his head. “It’s not what you think, honestly. But there is something I need to talk to you about as soon as Ron and Hermione are ready.”
“All right,” Ginny replied with a nod. “Want to sit with us while we wait?”
Harry smiled at her as he took a seat at the table. “Sounds good to me.” As the girls’ conversation resumed, his thoughts quickly returned to the prophecy that Professor Dumbledore had told him about at the end of his fifth year.
Power the Dark Lord knows not... neither can live while the other survives.... But what was this power he was supposed to have? Dumbledore had said it was love, but how could love defeat an evil wizard like Lord Voldemort? Could his power be his ability to do magic without a wand instead? He thought back to Dumbledore’s duel with Voldemort in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic and shuddered. He had no idea how to fight like that, and he couldn’t expect to dodge Voldemort’s curses for more than a few minutes before becoming exhausted and getting hit. And he was fairly certain that not even his wandless magic could block the Killing Curse - not that he was willing to risk testing that theory anyway.
“Harry?” Ginny snapped her fingers in front of his face, jerking him out of his thoughts.
“Huh? What?” he asked, looking around. Ron and Hermione were standing next to the table, waiting patiently for him to acknowledge their presence. “Oh, sorry. I was sort of out there, wasn’t I?”
Ron let out a little snort of laughter. “You could say that.”
“What did you need to talk to us about, Harry?” Hermione asked.
“It’s sort of... personal,” Harry answered evasively as he glanced around the room. “Could we maybe go someplace a little more private?”
Ron and Hermione glanced at each other for a moment, nodded, and then said in unison, “The Heads’ Room.”
“Okay, you two are spending way too much time together,” Ginny teased.
“Heads’ Room?” Harry questioned. “How come I’ve never heard of this before?”
Ron shrugged. “There was never a reason to talk about it, really. Come on.”
Ginny bade her friends goodbye, and she and Harry followed Ron and Hermione out of the common room through the portrait hole. They walked in silence down two flights of stairs and then down a long corridor until they finally reached a large portrait of a stern-looking witch. The witch glared at them with a grim expression on her face, but didn’t speak.
“Canons,” Ron said in a forceful voice. The witch narrowed her eyes for a moment before allowing her frame to swing forward, revealing the hidden entrance to the Heads’ Room.
“Welcome to our office,” Hermione said as they all stepped inside. The room was cozy but not overly small, with a fireplace, sofa, and two armchairs at one end and two large wooden desks at the other.
Harry looked around appraisingly, a slight smirk forming on his lips. “So is this where you two really go when you have ‘Head Duties’?” He raised his eyebrows suggestively.
“Of course,” Hermione answered, ignoring the innuendo. “We patrol the halls at times too, of course, but this is where we do all of our administrative work.”
Harry looked at Ginny, who was wearing a smirk almost identical to his own. “Heads’ Room sounds just a bit pompous, don’t you think?” he asked. “They ought to just drop the pretense and call it the Snogging Room.” Ginny giggled and Hermione rolled her eyes, but Ron just looked disgruntled.
“If only,” he muttered as the group sat down in the comfortable seats near the fire. “This room’s got loads of Propriety Charms on it. We knew about them, but I didn’t realize how bad it would be until I gave Hermione a peck on the cheek one day and the next thing I knew McGonagall was coming out of the fireplace.”
Harry and Ginny howled with laughter. “I’ll bet you couldn’t look her in the face for a week,” Harry said gleefully.
“More like two,” Ron corrected with a small chuckle of his own.
Hermione cleared her throat importantly. “Not that this isn’t an interesting topic of conversation, but I don’t think you came here to talk about Propriety Charms, Harry.”
The laughter died in Harry’s throat. Neither can live while the other survives. He had to tell them. They needed to know. Taking a deep breath, he nodded to himself and plunged ahead.
“Do you remember the prophecy I took from the Ministry at the end of fifth year?” he asked hesitantly. His friends nodded and he took another deep breath. Suddenly, looking them in the eye became an impossible task, and he turned to stare into the dancing flames in the fireplace. “I know what it said.” His voice was quiet, barely more than a whisper, but it sounded like a shout in the stillness of the room. Hermione made a small gasping sound, which she quickly stifled. Ron and Ginny remained silent.
After the silence had stretched on for about a minute, Hermione hesitantly asked, “How? I thought it was destroyed before anybody had a chance to hear it.”
Harry blew out a long breath before answering. “Dumbledore was there when it was made. He showed me the memory in his Pensieve right after we got back from the Ministry.”
“And you never told us?” Ron asked in surprise, the smallest hint of reproach finding its way into his voice.
Harry finally turned to face his friend just long enough to shoot him a withering look before returning his gaze to the fire. “I wasn’t really in the mood to talk at that point, remember? Plus, Dumbledore told me to keep it to myself. When I remembered on Christmas, I decided to wait to say anything until we were back at school because I didn’t want to ruin the holiday.”
“Why did Dumbledore change his mind?” Hermione asked.
Harry shook his head. “He didn’t,” he said simply. “Or if he did, he hasn’t told me. But in the end, this is my secret to tell if I want to, and I think you three have a right to know.” He fell silent again, and his friends waited with bated breath for him to continue.
After an almost intolerably long period of silence, Ginny laid a gentle hand on his arm and said, very softly, “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Harry nodded resolutely, but his eyes remained locked on the flames dancing inside the fireplace. “That prophecy was given a little while before I was born,” he said in a loud, hoarse whisper. “It’s the reason Voldemort attacked me as a baby; the reason he won’t leave me alone. I know it word-for-word. I can’t get it out of my head.”
Finally forcing himself to look around at his friends’ faces and seeing their expressions of mixed concern and terror, he plunged ahead. “It says, ‘The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies....’”
Silence reigned in the Heads’ Room for what seemed an eternity as Ron, Hermione, and Ginny slowly digested this information. Finally, just when Harry was beginning to think he couldn’t stand the silence any longer, Hermione spoke up.
“How can we be certain this prophecy is really talking about you?” she asked in an unusually subdued voice. “I mean, it doesn’t mention you by name, right?”
“There were two of us who it could have been talking about - two wizards born at the end of July to parents who had defied Voldemort three times. For whatever reason, Voldemort chose to go after me. He marked me.” Harry pointed to the lightning bolt scar on his forehead for emphasis. “I’m the one the prophecy is talking about.”
“So what, exactly, is the big deal?” Ron asked. Harry’s head swung around in a sharp motion to stare incredulously at him as he continued, “I mean, it’s not as if we didn’t already know You-Know-Who was out to get you, right?”
“That’s not the point, Ron!” Hermione scolded. “If this prophecy is true, then it means Harry will have to face him again.”
“I could have told you that, Hermione, and I got a ‘D’ on my Divination O.W.L.” Ron shot back.
“Ron’s right,” Ginny interrupted before Hermione had a chance to retort. “This is a good thing.” She turned slightly so that she was looking directly at Harry. “Harry, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve always known deep down that you’d have to face him again because he won’t rest as long as you’re still alive. The only thing this changes is that now we know for certain that you have a fighting chance. You have the power to defeat him.”
Harry stared at her in wonder as the truth of her words hit him full force, driving all argument from his mind. Ginny was right; the only thing this changed was that now he knew he at least had a chance of surviving his final encounter with Lord Voldemort.
“You’re right,” Hermione breathed, her eyes wide. “I hadn’t looked at it like that.” Turning to address Harry, she asked, “Do you have any idea what this power is that you have and he doesn’t?”
“I bet it’s the wandless magic,” Ron supplied. “I mean, that’s got to be dead useful in a duel.”
Harry shook his head. “That can’t be it. I saw Dumbledore and Voldemort dueling at the Ministry at the end of fifth year, and I promise you, no amount of wandless magic could save me in that sort of a duel.”
“Don’t you have any idea what it might be?” Hermione persisted.
“Love,” Harry said so softly that no one could hear him clearly. He cleared his throat and said, in a louder voice, “Dumbledore thinks it’s love. He said my mother’s love was what saved me when Voldemort attacked me as a baby, and love is the one thing Voldemort can’t understand.”
“Love?” Ron asked, pulling a face. “How can you use love to defeat a Dark wizard? Does Dumbledore expect you snog You-Know-Who to death, or something?”
Harry let out a mirthless laugh at his friend’s joke. “I have no idea, Ron,” he said quietly. “That’s part of the reason I needed to tell you about the prophecy - it says I have this power, but it doesn’t seem like it’s something I can actually use in a duel.” He looked at Hermione. “I could use some help figuring out how to use it.”
“Oh!” she exclaimed. “Of course! We’ll get right to work researching it in the library tomorrow, won’t we?”
“Thanks a lot, mate,” Ron muttered.
“Not a word of this to anyone, right?” Harry asked anxiously, signaling to the others that he was finished talking about the prophecy for tonight. His friends all agreed without hesitation, and he sank back into the sofa, finally allowing his body to relax.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you two,” Harry said after a moment, looking over at Ron and Hermione. “I hadn’t really thought about it before, since you were already dating when I, er, met you for the second time, but... how exactly did that happen?”
Ron and Hermione smiled at one another, and even in the dim light, Harry could see his best friend’s ears begin turning red.
“Well, er-” Ron stammered.
“It was so romantic,” Hermione sighed in a dreamy and thoroughly un-Hermione-ish voice. “Ron took me up to the Astronomy Tower one evening, and he had absolutely filled it with all sorts of beautiful flowers. Then we just lay there cuddling for a long time, watching the stars. After a while, he started reciting some poetry, and when he kissed me-” Ginny’s howl of laughter interrupted her story. A moment later, everyone else had joined in.
“You don’t actually expect me to believe all that rubbish, do you?” Harry laughed. “Poetry, Hermione? Come on, you know Ron better than that. He looked disgusted just from hearing you mention it.”
“Well, it’s not really my thing, is it?” Ron chuckled.
“So what really happened, then?” Harry asked a moment later.
“Ron clubbed her over the head and dragged her by the hair back to his cave,” Ginny answered as she wiped her eyes and tried to stop laughing. Ron’s frown sent her, Harry, and Hermione into a fresh set of giggles.
“Sorry, but I think that story’s a bit more plausible than the first one,” Harry chuckled.
“You know what? You’re right,” Ron replied as he joined in the laughter once more.
Several minutes later, after everyone had regained some measure of composure, Ron turned to Harry and said, “All right, here’s what really happened. Hermione and I spent pretty much all our time together last year, just the two of us. A lot of that time was spent worrying about you, mind - we even snuck off to look for you a couple of times. But we talked about other stuff too, you know? Anyway, we ended up going to Hogsmeade together just like always, only without you around, everybody thought we were there on a date. When we realized that was what everybody thought, we decided to play along, so we acted like we were dating. Then, when we came back to the castle, I-” He broke off abruptly and glanced away as the color began rising in his cheeks.
“When we got back, he kissed me,” Hermione continued for him.
Harry looked at his best friend in surprise, utterly shocked that Ron would be so bold.
“Well, I figured if she didn’t like it I could just say it was all part of the act, and there wouldn’t be any harm done,” Ron said sheepishly. “Thankfully, I didn’t have to use that excuse.”
Harry laughed and shook his head. “Well, no matter how it happened, I’m glad it did. Although now it looks like I’m not the only one who owes Umbridge a Thank You.”
“Can’t argue with you there,” Ron agreed with a snort of laughter as he got to his feet. “It’s getting late; we should get back to the common room.”
Harry stood and followed Ron and Hermione out of the Heads’ Room, taking Ginny by the hand and lacing their fingers together as they walked. Nothing more was said until they arrived in the deserted Gryffindor common room and the four friends bade each other goodnight. As Harry turned to follow Ron up the stairs to the boys’ dormitories, a small hand caught his elbow.
“Harry,” Ginny whispered as he turned around to face her. “I’m really proud of you.”
Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise. “What for?”
She smiled sweetly at him, and he felt a slight weakness in his knees. “For sharing your secret with us. I’m glad you’re not trying to push us away or hide things from us.”
“I could never push you away,” he murmured. “I’d go crazy.” Placing a gentle hand on her cheek, he leaned down and kissed her softly. “Goodnight,” he whispered as their lips parted.
“Goodnight,” Ginny answered. Harry followed her with his eyes until she disappeared up the girls’ staircase, and then turned around to follow Ron up to his own dormitory.