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Author: twins-rule Story: Harry Potter and the Secrets of the Mind Rating: Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: WIP Warning: violence Reviews: 19 Words: 125,959
Disclaimer: NOTE This chapter starts the earlier the same evening showing what happened in the Burrow after Ginny and Hermione's talk. WARNING As Ginny walked upstairs, she reflected on what had been an interesting day. It had started off with a nice letter from Harry that Remus had dropped off, followed by a really long and emotional talk with Hermione. Dinner at the Burrow that night had been a blast watching Hermione and Ron flirt in their own way. Well it had been a row, but when you could read between the lines to the emotions raging beneath the surface, it was actually kind of cute. Yes, cute, even if it was somewhat hard on the ears. She had laughed with the twins afterwards while Hermione and Ron's row had made its way into the living room. The twins were merciless in teasing the rowing friends until Hermione finally left in disgust. Ginny had made sure to throw in a comment to Hermione when they walked back to the fire so she could Floo home. "So Hermione, I think you succeeded in getting Ron to notice you today." Hermione acidly responded, "Your brother's a git, please don't start taking after him! Besides, you don't get it at all." Ginny laughed as Hermione disappeared in a brilliant flash of green flame. The youngest Weasley figured that she had gotten it pretty accurate actually. She was soon joined in laughter by the twins who strolled into the kitchen after chasing Ronniekins upstairs. "So, Gin-Gin, our dearest and most favorite sister, have an interesting day?" Fred queried with an odd gleam in his eye. "Yes, do tell your favorite older brothers how your day went," George added with a hopeful smile. Ginny gave her two older siblings a look of intense suspicion. She recognized the look in their eyes and the smiles on their faces. The twins were most definitely up to no good. It did not seem like they were after her; however, mischief and mayhem were definitely afoot. As Ginny rapidly considered her options, she finally figured it was safe to proceed with caution, at least until she knew what was going on. Besides, it was not like she was against a little mayhem in the name of good clean fun; well it did not have to be clean-- fun was fun after all. "Remember, I have pictures of what you did to that second floor bathroom last year. You know what mum said about toilet seats." The twins both smirked at that in fond remembrance, "Fine piece of work that," Fred said. "Not as good as the swamp," George agreed, "But about as far as we wanted to go with Dumbledore still around. Still, it was a good show." Then it dawned on George that Ginny was threatening them to make sure the fun was not about to land on her head. So with a helpful smile, George added, "Oh, what we've planned isn't for you, dear sister." Fred continued in the same vein, "Yes, we simply want to join forces to bring happiness and joy to other people's lives." Ginny was still not completely convinced, but it was not without reason that most people said she resembled the twins the most out of her brothers. "Good, I'm in, so what's up?" "Cheers!" George exclaimed. "Well, dear sister, we wanted to know how your day went. Did you have fun today? Manage to avoid any chores? Annoy our dear brother? Have any interesting conversations with a certain bushy haired young lass? Whose name, we might add, our brother moans in his sleep." Fred noticed Ginny's guard go up at the last comment, and pretending to misunderstand continued, "What Gin-Gin, we have it on good authority that Ronniekins moans Hermione's name in his sleep. In fact just the other evening we hid a fun little invention by his pillow just to pick up the sweet sounds of love. Which is how we heard the … shall we say … the depth of our brother's devotion to his brilliant friend. Well, we decided to sneak up and join in on the fun. Do you know that some people will sleep talk with you? Yes, you can ask questions and they'll answer. To bad our little brother suffers from that affliction. Quite fun, we must say. The recording of that little chat was most inspirational. We're currently figuring out how to play it over the announcement spell at Hogwarts during breakfast one day next year." Ginny realized too late, once again, that it was never easy to deal with the twins. As was typical she was caught between wanting to strangle them for eavesdropping on her and Hermione, and wanting to laugh out loud at the knowledge of Ron's recording and their plans for it. "First, if I ever catch you listening in on a private conversation of mine again …" "We know," George interrupted, "you'll go Weasley on us." "Actually," Fred added, "that was quite a brilliant line from the smartest witch in her year. We decided to try and develop a new howler, a 'Go Weasley-er' or something of the sort. Can you image the sound of Mum bawling people out all over the country? We'll let you be one of the first to take advantage of it." Ginny could no longer contain her laughter, "OK, OK, I'm on board. You heard what I said to Hermione, and from all appearances you heard it all, so?" "Well, needless to say, we were surprised to see ol' miss bossy one herself stamping away from a row with Ron. OK, we're not that surprised to see her stamping away from a row with Ron: it was more along the lines of surprise at actually seeing her here." "Yeah," Fred continued the story from George, "when we arrived for lunch we didn't expect to find anyone at home, but then we saw Hermione running off to your room; well, what can we say; it was an opportunity too good to pass up." "You know, dear brother, we probably could have passed the opportunity up." "Yes," Ginny whole-heartedly agreed, "I think you could've left well enough alone." Both twins looked at her as if she had grown wings, a tail, and started to spout out Gobbledegook. "Not for you, dear sister; we could have tormented Ron instead." George was careful to clarify. "Anyway, you were about to get to the point." Ginny was starting to get annoyed, after all these prats did invade her privacy. "Oh right," Fred at least was starting to realize they were treading on thin ice. "Listen, we never knew all that about Harry, and the truth is we really like him. If you must have someone in your life dear sister, we totally agree that Harry's perfect for you." They conveniently forgot to mention that since Harry was totally inept with women that they had little fear for her virtue. "At least until he hurts you." George made sure to add the qualifier. "Too right brother mine; he is OK at least until he hurts you. Needless to say, Harry's a good bloke, and you have our approval to chase him." "Not that I need, or even want, your approval, but thanks anyway. However, what's so important that you felt compelled to not only tell me that you listen to one of my most intimate private moments with a friend, but also throw what you heard back into my face?" The fuse was lit and the twins had been warned; they were most definitely about the feel the heat of Ginny's temper. Both twins understood the danger signs better than Hermione. They knew that they were about to get up close and personal with a Weasley temper, worse yet, a female Weasley and her temper. This was most definitely not a good situation to be in. "Please Ginny, we really have something we need to say, can we just get it out first before you rip our heads off?" George's voice took on a decidedly pleading quality. "Talk," was all Ginny could growl out. "OK sis, look, in short we love you very much, and we're completely comfortable with your choice in Harry. Fact of the matter is we want to help. Like we said, Harry means quite a lot to us, he was our teammate, benefactor to making our dreams come true, and the best second little brother we could ask for. Please, we just want you to know we're up for helping out. Frankly, we both thought that it would help to get little Ronniekins and his Hermione together. Or at least down that road first so your way would be easier." Fred somehow got all this out in a single breath, or at least that's what it seemed like as he stood there huffing and puffing like he had run a 100 meter dash. George gave Fred an admiring look at what he accomplished. "Couldn't have said it better myself, brother." Ginny stood in abject silence. If Voldemort himself had strode in through the back door and said 'Sorry, didn't mean to be evil, please forgive me,' she would not have been more surprised. Words escaped her at the moment so she did the only thing she could think of doing. She promptly launched herself at both of them with tears in her eyes and grabbed them both in bone crunching hugs that their mother would have been proud of. The twins looked at each other with wetness (that they both conveniently ignored) in their eyes and beaming smiles. They knew they had done well and despite their teasing nature, they loved their family and their younger sister dearly. "Do you really think of Harry that way … as a brother?" Ginny asked. When they both nodded, Ginny released them from her death grip after a moment and said quietly, "Thank you. I still owe you for the eavesdropping, but thank you both." The twins shared yet another look and smiled; she was their sister, after all. "OK," Ginny was suddenly all business, "This is what I was thinking." After an hour of planning, the three of them went upstairs. Later, after Ginny had cleaned her face and brushed her teeth, she settled herself in front of her mirror. As she slowly drew her brush through her hair, she reflected on how she would never forget this day. Yet, despite her tiredness, she felt out of sorts. As she gazed at her reflection she attempted to figure out what was bothering her. Ginny felt like she was in pain, but she didn't feel anything specific beyond that. Overall it was like she had an ache in her body. There was just a sort of tingling soreness in her limbs and most especially in her heart. Concerned about why she felt so poorly when this was such a wonderful day, she slowly climbed into bed. She tried to relax, but for some reason her body could not get comfortable. The more she relaxed, the deeper the pain she felt in her body. She made herself as comfortable as she could before falling into a troubled sleep, not understanding why her thoughts turned to a messy haired boy, and why a knot of cold hard steel had settled in her stomach. ***** OUCH. That was the first conscious thought that Ginny had upon waking the next morning. From her toes to her throbbing head, she felt horrendous. If it hadn't been for the enticing smell of breakfast wafting upstairs, she would have stayed in bed. With a groan, Ginny hauled herself out of her bed and forced her feet down the crooked steps of the Burrow. Ginny painfully opened the door to a kitchen that was empty, except for her mother, who promptly asked her to set the table for six. "Six?" Ginny asked with a groan. "Yes dear, six, Remus'll be coming over from Mrs. Figgs and Tonks'll be getting off her shift protecting Harry. Your father and Bill have already left for work." Noticing Ginny's hunched shoulders and decided lack of energy, Molly continued, "Aren't you feeling well, dear?" As Ginny struggled to set the table, she heard her mum mention Harry's name through the fog permeating her brain. All of the foreboding feelings from last night came crashing back into her at that moment. She was not sure how she knew, but she knew that Harry was in pain. Her pain was Harry's pain. Harry needed help. Ignoring the question that was put to her, Ginny said instead "Mum, I think Harry needs help." Molly threw her youngest child a confused look as she heaped food onto the table. "Rubbish dear, I'm sure Harry is fine." With confidence that she was just starting to feel, Ginny stood her ground. "No, Mum, I've been hurting since last night when I started to feel like something was wrong with Harry. I really think he's in pain and needs our help." "Eat your breakfast dear; you'll feel better after some food." "Mum!" With a stern look, Molly put her foot down, "You're welcome to ask Remus and Tonks when they arrive, but please sit down and eat." Ginny was angry, but knew better than to argue. To placate her mum, she put some food on her plate, but despite her suddenly ravenous hunger, she could not get past the feeling that something was horribly wrong. The smell of food was enough to entice Ron down to breakfast as he announced his presence in the kitchen with a bang. Literally a bang, as he threw open the door to the kitchen in his haste to get to the table (and the food). Silence reigned in the kitchen, aside from Ron's gluttonous eating. Both mother and daughter were not interested in talking to each other in their mutual anger, and both knew that one could not speak to Ron when he was involved in such a hunger induced feeding. The twins did, however, break the silence when they arrived to grab some breakfast. When their mother inquired to their tardiness in getting to their shop, the twins simply replied that Lee was opening the shop today, and that they planned on scouting a location in Hogsmeade. With the kitchen once again in silence, Molly felt her own agitation building. In truth, she was starting to think maybe her daughter was on to something, since Remus and Tonks both should have made their appearance by now. Her fears were resolved when Remus and Tonks took that moment to stroll in through the back door. "Good morning, Molly, morning everyone." "Good morning Remus, Tonks. Have a seat," Molly replied "Good morning Professor, morning Tonks," the younger Weasleys replied, at least that was what everyone assumed Ron had said, since his mouth was so stuffed with food, speech seemed impossible beyond a crumb sprayed mumble. For all of Ron's efforts, he was awarded a stern warning from his mother, "Don't talk with your mouth full, young man!" After giving him a good glare, Molly swung back to Tonks, "How was everything last night?" It was only after she asked did Molly notice Remus seemed pensive and tense. As Remus slowly drank from his cup of tea, he tried to release his disappointment at not seeing Harry that morning. Their morning talks had become a source of comfort to Remus. He enjoyed the opportunity to speak with Harry and learn more about him. They had started to expand their shared grief about Sirius into a deeper friendship. Remus hoped to be able to take Harry shopping soon – after all, a sixteen year old needed his own clothes. A nagging, recurring thought racing through Remus Lupin's mind was his worry about where Harry was that morning. It was only when he noticed the silence and all the redheads facing him that he realized he must have missed something. "Oh, sorry, I was lost in my own thoughts." "It's all right Remus, I was just wondering if everything was OK, because you were running late and seemed preoccupied," Molly stated. "Oh, sorry about that, Molly, I was just waiting around for Harry. We usually talk every morning when I stop by to check the wards." "Did you see Harry this morning? Was he okay?" Ginny saw her opportunity, and she jumped in with both feet. Nothing so far had changed her conviction something was wrong with Harry. "Ginny," her mother warned. "No, I haven't, Ginny, why do you ask?" With a glance at her mum, Ginny plowed on, "I fell asleep last night thinking that something was wrong with Harry, and I haven't been able to shake that feeling at all since I woke up, and I hurt all over but there is nothing wrong with me. I think it's related to Harry somehow." "Nonsense Ginny, you're probably just coming down with something. Harry's fine … right Remus?" All of her children picked up on the note of panic in her tone. Once again, all eyes swung back to Remus for the second time that morning, although Ron continued eating. Remus finally picked up on the tension in the room radiating off of both daughter and mother; the only reason he had missed it before was because he had been lost in thought himself. Ginny's words now caused Remus to fear that perhaps something had gone wrong with Harry. "I didn't see him this morning, and he hasn't missed a morning talk yet. Tonks did you notice anything last night?" Tonks who had swapped her hair back to short and pink looked up in thought. "I heard that fat slob of a man bellowing about something, but I was too far away because of the new restrictions to hear anything clearly. I thought nothing of it at the time. He's usually going on about something or other." "You mean you heard screaming from that house ,but you did not even get close enough to check what was going on? Even after that incident with Bill?" Tonks winced at the venom in Molly's voice as a pregnant silence settled on the kitchen. She looked around nervously as every eye in the kitchen was fixed on her. "I … I … didn't think anything of it Molly. I mean, like I said, he is usually yelling about something or other. You know what happened after Bill; they told us to stay away!" Concern spread across Molly's features as she leapt from her chair and bustled into the living room. Every eye followed her path into the living room, but no one knew why she was headed there. Even Ron had stopped eating as a moment of silence descended on the kitchen. The silence was shattered with a scream, which was quickly followed by the reappearance of Molly Weasley into the kitchen. "Remus, Tonks, Harry's hurt! You've got to get back to that house!" These words set off the proverbial bomb as the kitchen exploded into chaos. Remus and Tonks fled out the back door of the house to Apparate to #4, followed closely by the twins. Fred and George had no intention of being left out of this, so they had conveniently decided not to ask if they could come too. Ron fell from his chair in shock and Ginny sank her head to the table, afraid of what would greet Professor Lupin and her brothers at Harry's aunt's house. Once Molly saw that action was taking place she turned to the fireplace and placed a Floo call to Dumbledore. When her head arrived in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, she saw Dumbledore sitting at his desk. "Albus," she called urgently, "there's something wrong with Harry; my clock reads that he's been hurt. Remus, Tonks and the twins are on their way to Harry's aunt's house." Molly withdrew her head to wait assuming that the headmaster would Floo to her house first. Sure enough the fireplace flared emerald, and out stepped the form of Albus Dumbledore. "Molly?" Dumbledore asked calmly. "When I heard about Harry being entered in the Triwizard Tournament I had added him to our clock. I later put a concealing spell cloaking it so only Arthur and I could see the hand. All summer it's been resting on 'Prison'." Molly's children watched as she wrung her hands anxiously in nervous thought. "I did not even look at the clock this morning since I had everyone at home with me last night. This morning, Ginny said that she could sense that something was wrong with Harry, and when Remus came over for breakfast and mentioned that he didn't see Harry this morning, I finally decided to check the clock. That's when I saw his hand was on Mortal Peril. Remus and the twins have already left for Number 4." At the conclusion of these words the back door to the Burrow banged open to reveal George shouting for her. "Mum! Come over quick; Harry's in a bad state and we're not sure if we can move him!" George then noticed Dumbledore, "Professor, you'd better come over too; it looks like Harry's uncle and cousin beat him to a pulp. Tonks is trying to keep Fred from doing something permanent to Harry's aunt and his cousin. We need some help, maybe Madam Pomfrey too. Harry looks really bad." Dumbledore hurriedly followed Molly out the door so they could both Disapparate with George. A silence descended on the kitchen. Neither Ron nor Ginny moved at first. After a few quiet moments, Ron leaped to his feet and started to pace while screaming words that his mum would never let him say in her presence. Ginny banged her head on the table, while she raged at the world for hurting her Harry yet again. What cosmic force out there decided that his life had to be so hard? At least this time she had someone to blame. While the angry tears started falling down her cheeks, she struggled to control her fury and keep it focused on a task the answers quickly appeared before her. She would make Harry's horrid relatives pay for the evil they had done. Somehow, they would pay. That was how Hermione found Ron and Ginny when she arrived at the Burrow minutes later. ***** When Molly and Dumbledore arrived at Privet Drive, pandemonium was the rule of the day. In the living room they found Fred screaming at Petunia who was giving as good as she was getting, demanding that everyone leave. Dudley was cowering behind his mother. With a sick twist of her stomach, Molly noticed that his shirt was covered in blood, and he didn't appear to be bleeding anywhere. Shortly after noticing this, she was grabbed by George and hauled upstairs to a room where there was a door covered in locks of all types. "All the locks were closed; we had to open them ourselves," George reported grimly. When Molly stepped into the small bedroom, she was prepared for a bad scene. Unfortunately, it was worse than she had expected. Remus was hovering over Harry afraid to even touch him. "Molly, I think he caught a fever last night; I didn't want to move him. He'll be all right, won't he?" She noticed the pleading sound in his voice. She struggled to provide a measure of steady reassurance, but in truth, Harry's condition frightened her. She had moved quickly to Harry's side and gently turned him face up. His whole face was covered in blood, and his right arm and leg stuck out at obscene angles no human body could produce naturally. She cast a couple of spells to cut his clothes off of him. To her horror it only got worse. Mrs. Weasley sobbed softly at the damage. This was far beyond her experience. With all her kids and the twins she had seen her fair share of injuries, accidental and self-inflicted, but this was so far beyond her that she simply could not comprehend it. It was clear Harry had made no real effort to defend himself and had instead curled into a fetal position lying on his left side with his right side exposed. "George! Have someone get Madam Pomfrey. There isn't much I can do with him at the moment. Remus, levitate Harry up so I can clean the blood off of him, then place him in the bed." Both men moved quickly to follow her orders. Cleaning the blood off of a boy she considered another son, she noticed that his condition was beyond awful. Albus interrupted her examination of Harry as he stuck his head in and asked for Harry's condition. "Molly, what's the situation?" She turned to address Albus and noticed that he was careful to avoid looking at either Harry or the blood stained carpet. She felt a surge of anger course through her before she replied. "Albus, he's in a horrific state; there're too many injuries for me to deal with. Broken nose, a compound fracture of his forearm, a shattered knee, several broken ribs, probably a fractured skull since it doesn't feel right. His right hand is not right either, and that's just his broken bones. With the amount of damaged his side took, he probably has internal bleeding, if not a punctured lung." "Ah. Madam Pomfrey is on her way. She'll be able to assist you in stabilizing Harry's condition." With that, Dumbledore stepped out of the room. In his place, George stuck his head inside the room. He had a furious glint in his eye as he watched Dumbledore withdraw down the hall and return to the kitchen where he had placed Petunia and Dudley, with Tonks on guard out front. "Mum, I think Dumbledore is going to leave Harry here! I heard him talking to that evil woman, asking what he'd need to do to keep Harry here until after his birthday." Molly glanced at her son in shock for a moment before she saw Madam Pomfrey hustling into the room. She quickly ran down what she noticed and stepped back to let the nurse go about her business. Her mind was a jumble of thoughts; however, she did not believe in her heart that her son had heard correctly. "Never mind George, I'm sure you didn't hear correctly, or you simply misunderstood. I'm sure that Albus has no intention of leaving Harry here." Without giving that ridiculous suggestion another thought, she gazed with teary eyes on the bed and the broken young man laying there. From the door a tentative voice called softly, "Molly." She glanced over her shoulder to see a teary Tonks standing behind her staring at Harry. Ever one to be quick to give physical comfort, Molly turned around and took a sobbing Tonks into a hug. For a moment both could give in to the tears they both so desperately wanted to release. "Molly, I am so sorry. Dumbledore asked us all to stay away from the family and when I heard that bastard of a man just carrying on and on, I did not think anything of it. I could not even hear what he was saying. Oh Molly, how could I have let this happen!" Tonks let out with a shriek of despair. Privately Molly tended to agree with Tonks; she should have checked it out and Molly knew that one of her boys would have checked on Harry. It did not serve any purpose to berate her though, so instead Molly took a track of comfort. "It's okay Tonks. He is hurt and hurt badly, but Madam Pomfrey will get him back into shape; let's not worry about the past okay? He will heal fine once we can get him out of here this afternoon and over to the Burrow." After her last comment, Molly was surprised to see Tonks pull away and cry even harder. What is this all about? Before she could ask the question in her head, she heard the sound of a Muggle car screech into the driveway. She knew the situation was about to get worse.
As always, thanks for reading and thanks for reviewing. A huge thank you goes out TeenDramaQueen for doing the beta-ing. It is a rough job, but she did an awesome job at it. I am sorry about the graphic nature of Harry's injuries and I am doubly sorry for putting him through it. This is a bridge chapter; I wanted to give some more background into the events at the Burrow. In the next chapter we will continue to see the fallout from the day's events. I apologize for the delay in posting, on the good news, I have a new beta and we are through Chapter 10, so the updating should be on a regular schedule now. Thanks for reading and thanks to Kelleypen, my new and wonderful beta.
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