"Well, it’s nice of you boys to join us again."

Standing at the doorframe of the sitting room, looking a little worse for wear and quite nervous, were Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Their hands were in their pockets and they were both sporting identical guilty expressions, which proved very humorous to those witnessing it. As soon as Holly caught sight of them, she burst out laughing, her voice echoing through the otherwise silent room.

"Oh come on, it’s really not that funny," Ron complained, giving Holly a slightly dirty look as she doubled over with laughter, leaning against Ginny for support. Ginny was also grinning mischievously, her eyes dancing with mirth. Harry raised his arm up and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, his green eyes glancing at everyone in turn.

 

"Oh, yes it is!"

"Where have you been? You’ve been gone for hours!" Hermione immediately demanded. "Anything could have happened! Have you had anything to drink? You better not have!"

"Of course we haven’t had anything to drink, it was only Butterbeer," Harry said quickly, cutting off Ron as he opened his mouth, ready to retort. Hermione stood up and put her hands on her hips as she glared at them. Harry couldn’t help but shrink back the slightest bit.

"Hey, lighten up Hermione! They did seem pretty terrified earlier... Although I think you should check their accounts, in case they’ve.... bought any dress robes!" Holly burst out into pearls of laughter again, clutching her sides. Ginny raised an eyebrow, amused but was clearly getting worried for her sanity.

"Oh, you told her then..." Harry muttered, starting to turn red, all fear turning into annoyance in an instant as he gave Hermione and Ginny an angry look.

 

"What that you got sent owls from dressmakers? Yeah, of course," Ginny said, smirking. Ron swore, giving his sister quite a dirty look.

"Language, Ronald," Hermione said. Ron rolled his eyes.

"Don’t roll your eyes at me!"

Ginny changed the beginnings of a laugh into a hacking cough as Hermione and Ron paused their bickering turned to her. She caught Harry’s gaze and shot him a look that clearly meant ‘they’re at it again,’ as they directed their attention away from Ginny a minute later and at each other again. Harry strolled over to the sofa that Holly and Ginny were sitting on and sat in between the two of them. Holly reclined back in the seat, still watching Harry, obviously trying to suppress a giggle.

"I reckon Hermione was just looking for an argument, she was in a pretty bad mood after Holly hit her," Ginny said, shrugging her shoulders.

 

“I didn’t mean to!” Holly defended herself as Harry raised his eyebrows at her. “It’s not my fault that when I stretched she was standing right behind me!”

 

Ginny’s mouth twisted into a smile as she looked slyly at Holly, who was starting to turn slightly pink.

 

"They’re going to suddenly disappear in about an hour aren’t they, you know, once they finish arguing," Harry suddenly said with distaste, scrunching up his nose as he looked away from Ginny and at the couple.

"Probably," Holly said, snorting. "Maybe that’s why they argue, so they can make up. At least that’s what I think."

Ginny pulled a face and mockingly covered her ears, her face twisting in disgust.

"Stop talking. Please. Ron’s my brother, if you had forgotten."

"-Ronald, why do you always insist on starting an argument like this! Stop being so ignorant! We’re going to get married and you’re acting so childish!"

"I’m not the one who started the argument! You did, jumping down Harry’s and mines throats about being out! We’re grown men!" Ron retorted defensively. Harry made a funny noise at the back of his throat, half way between a cough and a laugh.

"I really feel sorry for Ron when Hermione’s pregnant," Ginny muttered to the other two. "She’s going to be an absolute nightmare."

"Rather Ron than me," Harry snorted. Two sets of eyes turned on Harry.

"What, you’re thinking you’re going to get an easy pregnancy?" Holly asked, raising her eyebrows.

 

"Well technically, I won’t be the one that’s pregnant..."

"Oh, very funny."

"How did we get onto this topic?" Ginny wondered aloud, shifting uncomfortably on the spot, her eyes wondering around the room.

 

"Wait, where have the quarrelling duo gone?" Harry asked, noticing suddenly that the room was a lot quieter with the absence of two people. Holly caught Harry’s eye briefly, smirking at the quite befitting nickname Harry had just dubbed Ron and Hermione.

 

"They’ve disappeared! I didn’t even notice," Ginny said, looking around as if expecting the two of them to suddenly appear. She frowned. “That’s quite bad, we’re either all going deaf or something, to miss the noise of their arguing suddenly going...”

"You don’t think-"

"They’re back!" Ginny called out, purposely cutting Harry off the last part of his sentence, looking a little ill and muttering ‘you git Harry,’ under her breath.

"Where did you go?" Holly asked, trying to keep a straight face as she addressed the couple.

"We just went to the kitchen to get a drink," Ron said, shrugging her shoulders. "Why where do you think we went?"

"Never mind, nowhere," Harry said, catching Holly’s eye and grinning. Ginny looked like she was having trouble looking either of them in the eye.

"Sorted out your problem?" Holly asked. Hermione nodded. Ron sat on the armchair and Hermione joined him.

"Of course," Ron said, kissing Hermione affectionately on cheek. He grinned at Hermione and then processed twirl and play with some of Hermione’s frizzy locks with a look of fascination on his face.

"Promise me something, Hermione," Ron whispered in her ear, not loud enough for the others to hear them.

"What?"

"That you’ll never change your hair. It’s perfect the way it is," Ron replied. "Actually, don’t change at all." Hermione blushed and kissed Ron hard on the lips.

"Oh, and they’re at it again," Ginny muttered, pointedly looking away from them. Harry snorted.

"Seeing as they didn’t offer us a drink," Harry said, pointing a thumb towards the couple. "Do either of you want a drink?"

The two girls shook their heads.

"Fine, I’ll just get one for myself," Harry said, getting up and leaving the room.

"You know, I don’t even think if Voldemort himself walked into this room, they would be separated," Holly said critically, looking at Ron and Hermione who were firmly stuck together as Harry walked back into the room.

"Well they do only get to see each other on the weekends,” Ginny said thoughtfully, scratching her head. “It must be hard for them trying to squeeze in all their normal arguments and romance into less than three days. I don’t think I’d be able to do it, to be frank."

"You just reminded me! Holly, how do you know what Voldemort looks like? I hardly think that people have taken pictures of him," Harry asked as he sat on the other side of Ginny. Holly suddenly became much stiffer and turned a shade paler than normal. She visibly shrunk into her seat.

"I don’t know what you mean," Holly said quickly, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"You turned into him when we had our first training lesson, and it was a dead on look-a-like of him. You even had his voice, I would just like to know how you know exactly how he looks like," Harry asked, starting to feel a bit uneasy.

"I...I...can’t say," Holly replied quietly, sounding defensive.

"Why not? I’m just curious," Harry asked, starting to get quite suspicious. He noticed that Ron and Hermione had stopped kissing and were now looking at Holly.

"Because I can’t!" Holly said a little too sharply for their liking. She had wrapped her arms tightly around her body and her long brown hair had swung into her eyes from where it was tucked round her ear.

"What is it, you can’t or you won’t tell us?" Harry said accusingly. "There’s no point trying to hide this from us, we’re not going to just drop it. You’re hiding something."

"Well, I don’t have to tell you all what happens in my life, do I?" Holly spat angrily. Harry was taken aback by her reaction and didn’t say anything for a moment. The atmosphere had become undeniably cold very rapidly.

"We’re not asking you to tell us everything, but this... Harry...we all want to know... we’ve all seen him before...why can’t you tell us how you’ve seen him?" Ginny asked after a minute or utter silence. She looked quite worried.

"Wait, he didn’t come back did he?" Ron asked suddenly, sounding very alarmed.

"Oh don’t be ridiculous, Ron," Hermione scoffed. Then she paused for a second. She turned to Holly, concern filling her brown eyes. "He hasn’t has he? Please tell me he hasn’t!"

"No, no, he hasn’t come back," Holly said, sighing and shaking her head. "That’s impossible. He’s well and truly dead this time."

"Thank Merlin," Harry said, letting out a sigh of relief. He had been momentarily stunned at Ron’s declaration. The mere thought of Voldemort somehow managing to come back frightened him terribly, even though he knew that there was no way in hell he could come back again. It was unfathomable to even imagine it.

"Then how...."

Ron trailed off after one look at Holly. She looked awful, her hair appeared to be as thin as dark cobwebs, a myriad of colours one second and then back to normal in a blink of an eye. It could have been a figment of their imagination.

"It’s a long story," Holly said finally, her voice trembling.

"Give us the short version then," Harry replied.

"Okay....” Holly paused for a second to take a breath in and collect herself together. She looked almost... defeated in a way. “W-when I was younger, I was a very curious kid...my family didn’t tell me the whole story about what was going on or what had happened in the past, but I wanted to know. I now know though that I was too young to know everything, all the horrors.”

 

 “But being the arrogant, curious and stubborn little witch I was, I found my own resources...which included pestering and moaning people until they told me what I wanted to know, researching from books...and one method I’m not proud of and wish I never did."

"What’s that?" Ginny asked softly. Holly looked at Ginny, apprehension shining in her eyes.

"I shouldn’t be telling you this...I shouldn’t have told you any of this..." Holly muttered, seemingly speaking to herself. She wringed her hands unconsciously and bit her lip.

"Well it’s too late to stop now," Harry said, trying with all his might to sound gentle even though he didn’t feel it at all. He didn’t like how this story was going.

"I...I snuck into a Pensieve," Holly said, looking around the room, everywhere, anywhere but at the people surrounding her.

 

"What did you see in the Pensieve?" Hermione asked softly. Holly shook her head and her hair turned back to its usual brown, seemingly bringing herself together in the process. Her cheeks gained some more colour and she sat up a little straighter.

"Lots of things. I kept on going back for some reason. Perhaps I was hoping for a happier memory, or maybe it was just because I really wanted to know...I’m not sure of anything about that time in my life anymore," Holly said, shrugging.

"Any in particular?" Harry asked. Holly nodded; looking up at Harry with an almost fearful look in her eye that was so unlike her.

"Once I saw...I saw...the graveyard."

Harry felt the colour drain from his face, knowing exactly what graveyard she was talking about. In one painful second, a floodgate felt like it had been opened and everything came rushing back...the fear, Cedric’s scream, his laughter... and then he blinked and it all dissolved in a rush of icy wind. He hadn’t thought of the Graveyard in any other time apart from him dreams in a while, and he had to admit, he preferred it that way.

"What Gr-oh...oh," Ron started, his eyes widening. He fell silent, as did the rest of the room.

"You-you-what?" Harry stammered. The ability to speak in full sentences temporarily removed from him through shock. "But-how-why-when-what?"

"That’s not all is it?" Hermione asked quietly. Holly slowly shook her head. Ron cursed quietly under his breath.

"I might as well just tell you it all, now you know half of it...." Holly started, pausing to take in a deep breath.

"What could be worse?" Ron muttered to Hermione, who then elbowed him to be quiet.

"I...I saw the Chamber of Secrets."

Holly closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, they were all shocked to see the beginnings of tears. Ginny started to cough and Harry automatically patted her on the back until the coughs subsided. Then Ginny looked up at Holly.

 

"What?"

"No...You couldn’t have.... It’s not possible.... You’re lying!" Harry exclaimed suddenly. It couldn’t be true, it just couldn’t. She couldn’t have seen his most personal memories. She just couldn’t have. He felt almost violated; he had never shown anyone those sorts of memories, not even Ron or Hermione.

 

"No I’m not. I wish I was, but I’m not," Holly whispered unhappily. "Do you think I enjoyed seeing you almost get killed, and seeing Ginny lying there, looking dead!"

"But...they’re my memories," Harry said weakly. He shook his head furiously. "No it can’t be true; you have to be lying!"

"What do you want me to say? I can’t prove to you what I’ve seen! It’s not like I like to remember them! I have to keep remembering seeing you almost die, seeing Cedric Diggory die, see him come back to life! Do you think I chose to dream about a giant bloody snake trying to kill me!" Holly replied, abruptly losing her temper. She was trembling and looked like she would very much like to get up and hit something. She looked at Ginny. "I’m sorry for bringing that up, Ginny."

Ginny opened her mouth, but no words came out. Ginny looked much paler as if she too just took a trip back to the past. (Figuratively speaking of course.) Harry instinctively wrapped an arm around the redhead.

"How old were you when you saw the memories?" Hermione asked.

"For most of them, I was about ten or eleven," Holly replied. Ginny started to draw herself closer to Harry, seeking some sort of comfort from him. She could feel him shaking slightly and he had stiffened as Holly spoke.

"Harry...."

Ginny was cut off as Harry started to speak, his tone biting and harsh.

"How did you find my memories?"

Holly winced at the harshness of his tone. She bit her lip, her eyes darting around the room. She bit her lip, then cleared her throat.

"Well, you’re part of the Order aren’t you?" Holly said, unconsciously picking at her cuticles. Before waiting for him to reply, she continued. "I sometimes stay around other Order members houses if my parents were busy....either working or with the Order...so it was quite easy, once I knew where to look, to find your Pensieve, Harry."

"No, that can’t be true, because Harry doesn’t have a Pensieve, and they’re pretty rare and expensive," Ron said, frowning and shaking his head.

"Yes he does, Dumbledore left his to him," Hermione said. She too looked shocked, but unlike Ron and the others, who were staring at Holly like drugged up monkeys, she bore an expression of deep thought.

"Oh yeah..."

"How could you forget a thing like that?" Ginny asked, speaking for the first time and sounding like she had a head cold. Harry didn’t reply immediately, he was still trying to process the information and the flashbacks.

 

"Well...at the time, I wasn’t very sure I would live to be able to use it, what with Voldemort." Harry paused and glanced at Ron and Hermione. "Trying to do me in all the time."

"Where is it now?" Ron asked, his brow furrowing.

"It’s in Gringotts," Harry replied. He looked at Holly again.

"I know what I did was wrong Harry," Holly started, looking quite upset. "But I couldn’t go without knowing, I couldn’t...and then Jake...."

Holly was on the verge of tears. Ginny was just about to reluctantly move from Harry’s arms to comfort Holly, but Hermione beat her to it, pulling Holly into a tight hug. After a second, Ginny decided to join in the hug anyway and she could here Holly give out a wet chuckle as Ginny tackled them both as she joined in the hug. After a few minutes and a few words which were exchanged between the girls, Hermione and Ginny moved to a more comfortable position. Ginny sat at a slight angle, away from Holly. Awkwardness had settled in between them and neither of them knew what to say.

"You do seem to have a knack for getting into problems and trouble, don’t you? Almost as bad as Harry," Ron joked. Holly snorted.

"I do, don’t I?" Holly replied softly. Then she looked down again. "I’m sorry for all of this, guys."

"Don’t be, you have nothing to be sorry for, what happened was in the past.... Or the future, oh never mind," Hermione said, shaking her head. After a few moments, Holly began to stand up.

"Harry, can I have a word with you please? In private," Holly asked quietly. Harry glanced at Ginny for a split second.

"Sure."

He followed Holly out of the room. Holly shut the door and hesitated before turning around to face Harry.

"Okay, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it," Holly said, a sense of dread creeping up into her features. She bit her lip and her movements were distinctively jumpy.

"What?"

"Okay...I wasn’t totally honest in there, I didn’t say everything-"

"Why-"

"Please don’t interrupt me. What I mean is that I didn’t just see the Chamber. I saw the Chamber, twice. One with Ginny waking up in the end, the other where she didn’t."

Harry took a sharp intake of breath and unconsciously clenched his fists. Something that was so private, something Harry would never think another living soul would see.... He couldn’t bring himself to look at Holly.

"I’m so sorry, Harry, I wish I didn’t see it, but I have to tell you. I reckon that that is what you’ve been dreaming about, and I can honestly say that that nightmare is horrible. It’s really not healthy to keep that in, I get why you don’t want to tell Ginny, blimey, that would be beyond awkward if you did considering the circumstances, but you should tell Ron and Hermione. It gave me the fright of my life seeing Ginny dead, I thought I’d fallen into a parallel world or something... Telling someone might even stop them."

"Y-you saw my dream?" Harry said, unable to keep the anger out of his voice. Holly nodded.  A sudden surge of anger flooded over him. She had invaded his privacy and then tried to lecture him again!

 

Suddenly, her eyes filled with tears.

"Oh, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t mentioned anything!"

Before Harry could open his mouth, Holly had already pushed passed him and fled up the stairs. He wasn’t sure whether or not to follow, and then after a minute or two, he decided to go back to the sitting room. His three friends looked at him.

"What’s the matter? Where’s Holly?" Hermione asked. Harry shrugged his shoulders.

"She went upstairs, she’s a bit upset," Harry replied gruffly.

"What did you say to her?" Ginny demanded. Harry’s head shot up.

"Me? I didn’t do anything!" Harry said defensively.

Hermione gave Harry a look then stood up, pulling Ginny with her, rushing out the room. On the way out, Ginny cuffed Harry round the back of the head, muttering something too quiet for Harry to hear.

Harry raised a hand to rub the back of his head, more due to the wounded pride than actual pain, and frowned. He then processed to throw himself onto the sofa and close his eyes. His head was spinning and he had a headache.

"What did Holly want to talk to you about?" Ron asked. Harry opened his eyes again, feeling slightly queasy for some reason. He hesitated as he tried to think how to answer.

"Oh she just wanted to ask me something about the Chamber of Secrets," Harry said, hating himself for lying to his friend. But he just couldn’t say it, not right now. He made sure that Ron couldn’t see his face and thankfully, Ron didn’t ask anything more.

Upstairs, Hermione and Ginny were knocking on Holly’s door.

"Please, just leave me alone!" Holly’s voice called out.

"We just want to talk!" Hermione replied.

"No! I don’t want to talk anymore, I just want to be left alone!" Holly called out. Ginny and Hermione exchanged glances.

"She’s so bloody stubborn," Ginny muttered to her friend. Hermione paused to raise an eyebrow at Ginny, who luckily didn’t notice and therefore didn’t question why Hermione had suddenly stopped knocking. Hermione didn’t really want to have to explain that in fact Ginny was even more stubborn than Holly most of the time.

"Why are you still talking to me?  I’ve just told you I’ve snooped into your memories and you’re trying to comfort me!" Holly’s muffled voice called out.

"You’re upset, we just want to help," Hermione said, not sure what to say. She had carefully avoided her mention their memories herself, she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it yet.

"No I’m not, I’m fine!"

"Just tell me what Harry said that made you suddenly run up here and I’ll go and kill him for you," Ginny said. From through the door, they heard Holly snort most likely unwillingly, with laughter.

"We’re not going to get anywhere without this door opening," Hermione said patiently. There was silence, and then a minute later, the door opened.

 

"Hey, there’s no need to cry," Hermione consoled her, pulling her into a hug as a single tear fell from Holly’s eye, which she quickly wiped away as if ashamed.

"Its...I just tried not to think about it and then Harry said about seeing Voldemort, there’s no other way I could tell you how I’ve seen him..."

"I know, I know," Hermione said, patting her on the back. While she was hugging Holly, she was thinking. Thinking about Holly, about how she arrived, and what she had told them about herself so far. Slowly, Hermione was starting to piece together the young witches past and it was not looking good.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know anymore.