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Author: Faelaern Story: Cry Havoc Rating: Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: Completed Reviews: 12 Words: 30,131
Hearts are worn in these dark ages Harry awoke late the next morning. His eyes took in Ginny's sleeping form, and he smiled for a moment before realizing that he was seeing much more clearly than he usually would just after waking up. He blinked, realizing he hadn't taken his glasses off before he went to sleep. He saw with a start that Ginny's bottle of Firewhiskey was still sitting right by them. The glass she'd been drinking from was clean; Harry reckoned one of the House Elves had taken care of it. Harry looked around and sighed in relief upon seeing no sign of Ron or Hermione. He didn't want to deal with a flood of questions about the Firewhiskey – and if they had seen it, he knew they'd ask. Hermione just plain wouldn't approve, and Ron, who had admitted in the past to wanting to try Firewhiskey, would not apply the same rules to his sister that he applied to himself. Gently disentangling himself from Ginny, Harry picked up the bottle and glass and carried them upstairs to his room. A noise at the door gave him pause. He opened the door a crack and peered inside. His eyes widened at what he saw inside. The curtains on Ron's four-poster were open, and there were two people on the bed. Hermione, still in her nightdress, was lying on top of Ron, who was wearing only his pyjama bottoms. Quickly and silently closing the door, Harry shut his eyes to rid himself of the image. He didn't need to see that! What were they thinking; for all they knew he was asleep in the next bed. Except that Hermione, at least, must know that he, Harry, had been in the common room with Ginny, or she would have at least used a Silencing Charm on Ron's bed. Luckily, the whiskey hadn't been visible enough that she'd seen it; Harry knew she'd have woken both himself and Ginny if she had. He made his way downstairs and set the bottle and glass down in an obscure corner near the fireplace. "Great Godric, my head hurts," said a sleepy voice. He looked up to see Ginny blinking at him blearily. "'Morning, Ginny." She nodded. "Harry…I'm… well, I'm sorry you had to see me like that last night. I don't do that often, I really don't. Drinking or crying." Harry realized suddenly that he really wasn't annoyed by anything she'd done. Her tears were somehow different then Cho's, he didn't know quite what it was. All he could do was appreciate the difference between them and thank Merlin that Cho hadn't tried anything with Firewhiskey around him – he had had a rocky enough time dealing with her sober. "It's all right, love," he said. "Bit of a close shave, though. Hermione's up in my room with Ron, which means she had to have come through here." Ginny shrugged, "She knows." "She knows? Why hasn't she told Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, your parents, and the Daily Prophet? That's what she'd do to me," said Harry incredulously. "If she knew how much I was drinking last night, she might do just that. She's only seen me a little drunk, not bloody sloshed like I was before. I made her promise not to tell." "How'd you get her to do that?" asked Harry. "I reminded her that Dad will add whiskey to Mum's tea to calm her if she's really upset about something." "That was it?" Ginny nodded. "That was it. She was reluctant, but she did promise. Now if you'll excuse me for a moment, I'm going for a hangover cure." She walked over to the corner and picked up the bottle and glass. "I don't reckon whiskey will help your head," said Harry with a wry smile. "Your grasp of the obvious is remarkable," said Ginny. "I'm taking these upstairs before Ron sees them and has a temper tantrum." "Ah. Good idea," said Harry, privately wishing he'd been able to slip the whiskey away from her. Ginny returned a few minutes later, holding a hand on her forehead. "Right," she said. "We're going to the Room of Requirement." "What for?" asked Harry. "I told you: hangover cure," said Ginny, though Harry thought he saw the corners of her mouth twitch for just an instant. They walked through the halls, stopping when they reached the stretch of wall that was the entrance for the Room of Requirement. Ginny walked three times past the wall with her eyes shut, then slapped her hands to her forehead in pain as the door appeared before them. "Bloody…ouch." "You should have let me do that," said Harry. Ginny grinned, it was only for a moment but there was no mistaking it this time. "All right, out with it, Weasley, what are you planning?" "Well, there's something in here in addition to a hangover cure," said Ginny. "You'll just have to come in with me and see." "All right," said Harry, a little apprehensively. He was never much for surprises. "Shut your eyes for a moment, yeah?" "What have you got in there?" Harry asked, but he did as he was told. Ginny opened the door and lead him through. It was impossible to escape the sound of running water inside. He opened his eyes as Ginny swiftly shut the door behind them. The room had become an outdoor paradise of sorts, much like the transformed classroom where Firenze taught Divination. The ground was a carpet of moss, and there was a great bubbling hot spring in the centre of the room. There was a low wooden table laden with fruit and various bottles of purplish liquid. "Fancy a spot of breakfast, Harry?" asked Ginny, walking over and uncorking one of the smaller bottles and drinking it down. "I…suppose, yeah," said Harry, still a bit thrown off by his surroundings. "That potion was your hangover cure?" "Part of it," said Ginny. Harry sat down at the table and selected a particularly luscious looking pomegranate. "And the rest?" A small smile crossed Ginny's lips. "You'll see." They ate in companionable silence for a bit, enjoying the sound of the running water and the pleasant feel of the mossy carpet that covered the ground. Harry finished his last bite of fruit and sighed contentedly. "Not bad, Ginny. Though I don't get why you wanted the hot spring…" Ginny quirked an eyebrow. "Hot spring? Oh, you noticed it, did you?" Obviously she was having him on about something, but Harry decided to play along. "Yeah, it didn't get past me. Constant vigilance, you know." "D'you fancy a bath?" Ginny asked, starting to unfasten her nightdress. Harry's mouth went dry. "G-Ginny! What are you...I mean…" "You don't want to take a bath?" Ginny asked in an innocent tone, letting her nightdress fall to the ground. Harry looked away as the dress pooled at her feet despite the fact that he'd almost seen her naked once before. "I…" Harry started, risking a glance at her. To his relief and frustration, she was wearing a two piece bathing costume and a mischievous grin. "Had you going there for a second, didn't I?" "Merlin, you're beautiful," Harry whispered, unable to help himself. Ginny's blush coloured her face. "You don't have to say that, you know." Harry shook his head in disbelief. "If you only knew what you do to me…" Ginny's face was still pink, but she winked at him. "Oh, I reckon I have some idea, Mr Potter." She eyed him pointedly, and she wasn't looking upward. Harry was quite certain that his blush equalled, if not far surpassed, that of Ginny's a moment ago. "I…um…yeah." Ginny walked closer, stopping when they were inches apart. "It's cold in here, Harry." Harry could remember few times in his life when he felt less cold, but he didn't say so. He closed the remaining gap between them, snaking his arms around her and claiming her mouth with his own. * Harry emerged from the Room of Requirement feeling thoroughly refreshed, with Ginny at his side. Both of them had changed back into their dressing gowns. They headed back to Gryffindor Tower at a leisurely pace, stopping twice in the corridors to exchange heated kisses in places where there weren't any portraits to gape at them. What must have been an hour later, they walked into the common room to find Ron and Hermione dressed and waiting for them. "Where have you two been, eh? Dumbledore wants us to go to his office," Ron demanded. "We were busy," said Harry. "D'you know what he wants us for?" "No idea. I don't think it's good, though. He was all grim-looking when he came in here." "Let's go," said Harry. "You might want to get dressed first," said Hermione, "In case he wants us to go somewhere." "Right," said Harry, dashing upstairs to his room to change his clothes and grab his wand. Twenty minutes later, they all walked down to the second floor. Professor Snape was standing outside the massive stone gargoyle that concealed the entrance to Dumbledore's office, looking disgusted. "The Headmaster will see you now. That is, if you aren't too busy engaging in silly romantic pursuits to remember that there's a war on. Butter crunch." As the gargoyle moved aside, Harry felt himself seething inside; Snape must have been watching the Marauder's Map the entire time he and Ginny were in the Room of Requirement. It felt wrong for the map to be used by someone who its creators had despised so much, even if Harry wasn't as sure of his father's character as he used to be. They rode the spiral staircase into Dumbledore's office. Glancing around, Harry saw that the paintings of the old headmasters and headmistresses were back in their place. They had not resumed their previous habit of pretending to sleep whenever someone was in the room, however; many of them were rushing back and forth or pouring over maps and books. Albus Dumbledore was seated at his desk, looking tired and ancient beyond telling. He was staring straight ahead, but seemed to be looking through them. "Sir?" Harry asked. Dumbledore blinked and shook his head. "My apologies. My mind was…elsewhere. I'm afraid I have some very bad news. I would rather you hear it from me than the Daily Prophet." "What is it?" asked Harry. "What happened?" Dumbledore sighed. "Alicia Spinnet has disappeared." Harry's heart sank like a stone. "When? And how d'you know she's not just…" He let his sentence trail off. He had been about to say 'just lost' but that brought Bertha Jorkins to memory; she had been 'missing' for months, and Harry knew for a fact that Lord Voldemort had killed her himself. "She has been missing for at least forty-eight hours. I did not inform you yesterday because I believed there was a chance she would still turn up. But it has been too long. I'm afraid we must fear the worst." Ron collapsed into one of the chairs facing Dumbledore's desk and sighed heavily. Hermione stepped forward and awkwardly put her hand on his shoulder, a single tear trailing down her cheek. Ginny was shaking her head. "Too many dead," she said. Harry nodded, swallowing hard to get rid of the lump that had formed in his throat. "What are the chances she's alive?" he asked finally. "I do not wish to give false hope," said Dumbledore. "It is not likely that any of us will see Miss Spinnet alive again." "Not until we see the body," said Harry softly. "What?" asked Hermione. "We don't give up on her until we've seen her body. Sirius… Sirius was one thing; we couldn't go through that damn veil to get him. But we don't know where Alicia is. She's still alive." "Oh Harry," said Hermione sadly. "The odds of that…" "She's still alive!" Harry said forcefully. "We've got people out looking for her?" asked Ginny. "Yes," sighed Dumbledore. "But I'm afraid I can't give you more information then that." At the look on Harry's face, he added, "This is the way it must be until Harry masters Occlumency." "Master it?" Harry asked, incredulous. "I haven't so much as practiced in weeks." "I wouldn't have expected you to," said Dumbledore. "You've had a lot on your mind." He sighed and looked at them for a moment, surveying them each for a long moment before speaking. "I'm afraid I must further ruin the mood by telling you that you'll be leaving Hogwarts tonight for an undisclosed location." "Why?" asked Ginny softly. Dumbledore shook his head. "The less you know right now, the better." "Yeah, because that policy has just proved so effective in the past," spat Harry bitterly. Dumbledore looked at him sadly. "It's a balance, Harry, like all things. Sometimes it really is prudent to keep all of you in the dark about things. I made a mistake in doing too much of that, but I have no intention of causing more harm by going entirely in the other direction." "Do Mum and Dad know where we're going?" Ron asked. "They know and are in full approval," said Dumbledore. "When are we leaving?" asked Harry. "I would ask that you meet me in the Great Hall with your things packed and ready to go a couple hours after dinner," said Dumbledore. Nodding, Harry turned and glumly walked out of Dumbledore's office, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny at his heels. * They spent the rest of the day mostly in silence, save for a few short conversations on where Alicia might be, which were pure speculation as they didn't even know what she'd been doing for the Order when she'd disappeared. Despite what he'd said earlier, Harry didn't really believe that Alicia was alive. If they haven't killed her yet, he thought miserably, she's probably wishing they had. They went down to the Great Hall as the sun went down, levitating their trunks alongside them, as they saw no real reason to go up to Gryffindor Tower when they were done eating. They shared a silent, miserable meal with Dumbledore, Snape, Professor McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey before going to the hospital wing to visit Lupin. He was lying on the bed with his good eye closed when they entered the room, but he called after them when they turned to leave. "Sorry Professor," said Hermione softly. "We didn't mean to wake you." "No, I'm glad you did," said Lupin. "I was hoping I'd get to see you before you left." "We'll be back before you… well, before you leave," said Ron. "At least, I think we will." "You will, but I still get to say 'good bye,' don't I?" Lupin asked with a smile. "You know where we're going then?" Harry asked. Lupin nodded. "I do indeed. And I can't think of a better way for you lot to spend your time." "Can't you tell us something?" Ron asked pleadingly. Lupin shook his head. "Better that you find out when you get there. I have a favour to ask, before you leave, though." "Whatever you need," said Harry. "I've always wanted to meet the Weird Sisters," said Lupin, quirking a brow. "Careful what you ask for. Would you mind going up to the Room of Requirement and bringing Sirius' guitar to me. He left it to me, in... in his will." "Yeah," said Harry, with a sad smile. "Insisted that you practice, too. What sort of room am I looking for?" Lupin smiled. "All of Sirius' possessions are in one place. Concentrate on that. The rest of them are yours, by the way, if you recall." "Yeah," said Harry, who hadn't thought much about it. "Including the motorbike," Lupin went on. Harry grinned and shook his head. "Motorbikes are ace, but I haven't got a clue as to how to ride one." Lupin shrugged. "Well then, I suppose I'll have to teach you, once I'm out of the forest." Harry forced a smile, not wanting to think about that. "Yeah, that'll be good. I suppose I'd better get your guitar now." "Off you go," said Lupin. *
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