The gravel crunched under his feet as Adam wandered aimlessly down the path through the small graveyard.
As he saw the first two gravestones, he felt a lump appear in his throat. These two, despite the fact that he had never met them, had influenced his life in so many ways. They had given their lives so that he would have a chance to live.
James and Lily Potter
The next two gravestones brought tears to his eyes. These were two of the people who had probably guided him the most, with the exception of the Weasleys. These two had also died protecting him.
Remus Lupin
Sirius Black
As Adam continued walking along the path through the graveyard, he could see one more gravestone in the distance. When he saw what was written on it, he fell to his knees, huge sobs wracking his body. No! Adam cried despairingly. Not you, too!
Ginevra Molly Weasley
"Ginny!" Adam cried, sitting bolt upright. "Ginny!"
The room was dark and Adam panicked, his hands trembling wildly. Ginny! What had happened to Ginny!? His scar was prickling madly and he clutched at his sweat soaked pyjama top, his hands brushing the locket that was beneath.
"Adam," he heard a voice from out of the dark.
"Ginny!?" Adam asked frantically. "Is that you, Ginny?"
"Adam, it's me," Ginny replied, suddenly flicking on the lamp and then moving to sit next to him on the bed. "You look awful, are you alright?"
"I…" Adam rambled, his voice trembling. "I thought you were dead. But you're not, you're not."
Ginny took his hand and cuddled up against him. "I'm here, Adam. I'm fine. I'm not going anywhere."
She's okay, she's okay! Adam chanted silently to himself, as he put his arm around her and tried to calm his racing heart.
"What was it?" Ginny asked softly. "Was…" she hesitated, "Was it a vision?"
"I…" Adam stuttered, shaking his head. "I don't know…"
Adam suddenly felt a wave of tiredness sweep over him and he yawned widely.
"Go back to sleep," Ginny said softly, wrapping her arms around him, and gently pushing him back down onto his pillows.
"Thanks," Adam mumbled sleepily.
"For what?" Ginny replied.
"Just for being here."
"Oh, Adam. I'll always be here for you," Ginny murmured as, much to his surprise, she lay down next to him in the bed.
"Love you," Adam whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her and, as they lay there together, it wasn't long before he felt himself drifting off.
Ginny September 29th 1997
When Ginny awoke the next morning, the first thing she felt was a pair of arms wrapped around her middle. She immediately tensed. What's going on? I was supposed to be on guard duty!
Then, she relaxed. It's only Adam, she remembered in relief. I climbed into bed with Adam last night. That particular thought made her face flush with heat and she felt, only for a minute, that she was doing something wrong.
Well, Ginny thought stubbornly, Mum probably wouldn't approve, but we're not doing anything wrong.
As she lay there, she heard Adam murmur slightly and tighten his arms around her. She could now feel the rise and fall of his chest, which was pressed up against her back. He seemed to be still sleeping. Ginny tried to turn slightly to get more comfortable but, in the process, her arms brushed against the Horcrux that Adam was still wearing and she felt herself involuntarily flinch.
"Huh?" Adam groaned suddenly.
Ginny sighed, feeling annoyed with herself. She'd woken him up.
"Morning," Ginny said, wriggling slightly so she could try to turn and face him.
"Ginny," Adam said, releasing his grip on her. "What?"
Now that Adam no longer had his arms wrapped around her, she was able to turn over under the blankets. When she came face to face with Adam, she saw he had a daft grin on his face.
"Hi," Ginny said, smiling back at him.
"Hi," Adam replied. "Err…" he hesitated. "I should get up."
Ginny leaned forward and kissed him. "Let's stay here for a while," she continued with a grin.
"Are–" Adam began, his face flushing bright red, "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Ginny replied, wrapping her arms around him. "This is nice."
Adam wrapped his arms around her and pulled Ginny towards him so their bodies were pressed together.
"Mmm," Ginny sighed. "Are you feeling better?"
Adam's eyes suddenly widened. "Yeah…" he replied. "Th-Thanks for last night."
"It's no problem," Ginny said, cuddling up against him.
"I–" Adam began hesitantly, "I thought you were dead."
"It was just a bad dream," Ginny replied soothingly. "I'm fine. I'm here."
Adam tightened his arms around her, almost to the point where he was squeezing her. "I know."
They lay there for several minutes, enjoying the close contact between the two of them. They seemed to have been arguing more and more recently and this was a lovely change. She never doubted that she loved Adam, but sometimes he could be so infuriating.
Nearly an hour later, Ginny heard her stomach rumble.
Adam burst out in laughter. "I guess I need to feed you, eh?"
"Feed me?" Ginny replied with a giggle. "Damn right you do."
Adam chortled to himself and then, slightly reluctantly, they disentangled themselves from each other and climbed out of bed.
As Adam headed for the kitchen, Ginny slipped into the bathroom. When she had finished, she went to help him with their breakfast.
"Adam, do you–" Ginny began hesitantly, as she bustled around the kitchen, "do you ever think about just running away?"
"What?" Adam answered in a harsh tone, suddenly turning from where he was working at the stove. "No. I can't believe you'd ask that."
"No!" Ginny exclaimed. "I didn't mean it, seriously."
Adam sighed. "It would never work. He'll never stop hunting me. If we ran away, we'd be looking over our shoulders every day for the rest of our lives."
"Yeah…" Ginny replied hesitantly. The two them bustled about the kitchen for several minutes before Ginny finally ventured, "so, what do we do next?"
"Oh!" Adam said, raising his voice. "Don't start again! I don't know, all right! I just don't know!"
"Adam, I know you don't know what to do," Ginny began, feeling her own anger growing, "but we have some ideas. We could…"
"Do you know what I saw last night?" Adam interrupted her in a venomous tone, once again rubbing his scar. "I saw your grave! Next to the graves of everyone else who's ever died because of me!"
"It was just a dream, Adam!" Ginny shouted, stepping forward and poking him in the chest. "We can't just sit here and do nothing."
Adam glared at her for second, then he seemed to stoop over, as if a great weight had suddenly been placed on his shoulders, and he clutched at the locket.
"I see what you're saying, Ginny," Adam said in a voice that sounded completely defeated. "You can go if you want. If you want to go, I won't stop you," he sighed. "Go, Ginny. Just go," he suddenly heaved in a big breath. "At least then I won't get you killed."
Ginny stared at Adam, completely appalled at what he had just said. How could he think she would ever leave him? Then, suddenly, as she watched him standing there with a distressed expression on his face, but with a hard look in his eyes, it all clicked in place. The Horcrux.
Coming to an instant decision, Ginny strode forward and, before he had a chance to resist, she grabbed the chain of the locket, pulled it back around his head and placed it around her own neck. She fought down the sense of revulsion she felt as the Horcrux touched her skin. This was for Adam.
"I'm not leaving," she said emphatically. "And this is affecting you, so I'm wearing it for a while."
The effect on Adam seemed to be almost instantaneous. It was as if a weight was suddenly lifted from his shoulders. He paused for a second, as if deep in thought.
"Oh, Ginny!" Adam exclaimed, grabbing her in a fierce hug. "I'm sorry I doubted you! I know you're not going to leave."
"I know, Adam," Ginny replied. "I think the Horcrux was affecting you."
"Thank you, Ginny," Adam said, still holding her close. "If you left…"
"I wouldn't," Ginny replied.
They stood there for a minute with their arms wrapped around each other.
"You were right," Adam blurted suddenly. "We need to go to Godric's Hollow. I still don't want to go, but it's either that or Hogwarts. We can't just sit here anymore, doing nothing."
"Okay," Ginny replied, releasing Adam from the hug. "I think part of that was the locket, though."
Adam nodded, and then suddenly turned and bolted back over to the stove.
"Oh, Ginny," Adam said.
"What?"
"The bacon's burnt."
Adam October 3rd 1997
It had taken them far longer to get to Godric's Hollow than Adam had thought. As he had never been there before — well, not that he could remember — they couldn't Apparate, so they had to make their way to the small village using Muggle transport. It had been a long journey, taking them practically back to Devon, in almost the reverse of the journey Ginny had taken when fleeing The Burrow.
The taxi dropped Adam and Ginny in the village square. By the time they'd arrived, it was late afternoon and the sky was filled with a glorious orange glow. Immediately after they'd left the taxi and the Muggle man driving it had driven off, they ducked out of sight and threw the Cloak over themselves. Even though they were both heavily disguised, Adam didn't want to take any chances. This time, much to Ginny's amusement, Adam was currently sporting Weasley red hair and Ginny had black hair.
"So this is the place," Ginny said in a soft voice, as she looked around the square.
Adam shrugged in response. "I've never really been here. I was far too young."
They cuddled together under the Cloak, with Adam crouching slightly, so no part of their bodies were visible. Once they were confident that they couldn't be seen, they made their way around the square.
They passed the pub, a grocer's and another small shop before finally reaching the church.
"I think," Adam whispered hesitantly, "I think this is where the graves are."
"You want to take a look around?" Ginny questioned anxiously.
Adam nodded in response, and the two of them made their way into the churchyard.
"There're so many," Adam said with a sigh. "We should split up, you stay under the Cloak. They haven't seen me in a disguise yet, so I'll chance it, but keep an eye out."
"Adam…" Ginny began hesitantly.
"It'll take us ages to find them, shuffling around under the Cloak. The sooner we're out of here, the sooner we can check the house," Adam responded, and before Ginny could object again, he ducked out from the under the Cloak.
"Let's stay within eyesight of each other then," Ginny requested in frustration.
"Okay," Adam responded. "You start here and I'll start on the other side."
Ginny nodded her agreement, and they spread out and started searching the graveyard.
As Adam walked through the headstones, he shuddered. There was an eerie similarity between this graveyard and the one from his dream. But surely all graveyards look similar, Adam tried to reason with himself. It's just a coincidence.
Shaking himself, Adam continued to trudge between the gravestones, checking the name on each one in turn. He saw several names that he recognised, including one Abbot.
It wasn't until he had been checking gravestones for some time that he found one stone that made him stop. Adam stood there, frozen in shock, as he stared down at a very recently planted headstone of pure white marble.
Albus Dumbledore
Professor Dumbledore was buried here. Slowly, Adam sank to his knees and placed his hand on the headstone. His feelings about Dumbledore were still strangely mixed. He felt very little anger any more for the secrets the man had kept from him, but he still felt an irrational sense of betrayal towards him as well. Dumbledore had made him part of the quest to defeat Voldemort and then died, leaving it all to him. He had trained Adam, but he hadn't given him enough training, he hadn't given him enough information on the Horcruxes. Adam couldn't believe how angry he felt at Professor Dumbledore for dying. Surely he should be sad that Dumbledore had died, not angry? But, despite all of this, Adam actually missed the man.
Adam gave a short, strangled laugh. "Adam, you are Harry Potter."
Shaking himself, Adam stood up from the graveside and, looking at the nearby graves, he noticed that there were other Dumbledores buried here.
Kendra Dumbledore and her daughter Ariana
"Adam!" A voice called to him, disturbing him from his examination of the Dumbledores' graves.
Ginny was waving frantically at him from only two rows away.
She's found them! And why has she taken the Cloak off!
Adam took off at a run across the graveyard, soon reaching his girlfriend.
"Adam, they're here," she said softly, a sad look stricken across her now pale face.
Adam looked down at the grave, feeling as if a weight was suddenly pressing down on his chest.
James Potter, born 27 March 1960, died 31 October 1981 Lily Potter, born 30 January 1960, died 31 October 1981 Harry Potter, born 31 July 1980, died 31 October 1981
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Once again, Adam sank to his knees and ran his hands over the gravestone.
"Wow…" he said in a strangled voice.
"I…" Ginny added, in a voice that suddenly sounded very scared, "I hate seeing your name there."
"I know," Adam replied, getting to his feet and hugging her. He felt himself strengthened tremendously by the simple fact that Ginny was here and he could hold her.
"We should come back someday and rub out your name," Ginny stated, smiling slightly before falling silent.
"What do you think that last line means?" Adam choked out eventually, breaking the silence.
"I think it means they believed in the afterlife," Ginny responded. "Well, that's what I think, anyway."
"But they're dead, aren't they?" Adam asked, finally beginning to get some control back. "They're down there, in the ground."
"I…" Ginny began hesitantly. "Mum always told us that they were up there," she said, pointing to the sky, "looking down at us, and I bet your parents are watching you. They loved you so much, there's no way they wouldn't be watching."
Adam stared at the gravestone, taking deep breaths to calm himself. He felt Ginny take his hand and give it a squeeze.
"I…" Adam began, feeling at a complete loss at the intensity of his feelings. "I never thought it would be this hard. I never knew them, why am I feeling like this?"
Ginny didn't respond, she didn't need to. She simply rested her head on his shoulder.
Adam wrenched his eyes away from the grave to stare at Ginny, suddenly feeling a rush of different feelings wash over him, pushing away the feeling of sadness and despair.
"Let's go," Adam said, suddenly feeling that he wanted nothing else now than to get out of here.
"Adam," Ginny added softly, "do you want to visit Sirius and Remus' graves, they're just over here?"
"Oh," Adam said, feeling completely torn inside. He didn't really want to see the graves, but when he thought about not paying his respects to the Marauders, he felt wracked with guilt.
"Come on," Ginny said encouragingly, gently pulling him towards a further two gravestones.
Ginny led him along the row of graves until he stood next to the two that belonged to Remus and Sirius. He stood there for a while, simply staring at them, staring at the graves of his father's best friends who had both died protecting him. A few minutes later, a sniffle shook him out of his funk.
He turned to look and was shocked to see a few tears making their way down Ginny's cheek.
Adam, you absolute arse! he thought. You're not the only one who misses them.
He quickly pulled Ginny into a hug.
"I'm fine," she said. "I'm fine, I'm not crying."
"Oh, Ginny," Adam replied. "I miss them, too."
"I…" Ginny began, "I completely forgot! I wonder if Tonks has had her baby yet."
"I don't know," Adam began, suddenly feeling another surge of guilt. "I should know! I'm supposed to be its godfather!"
"I didn't mean to make you feel guilty," Ginny responded, still clinging to him. "We couldn't know. There's no way we could. Once this is all over, we'll go and meet him or her."
"Yeah…" Adam said, smiling slightly at the thought.
"Do you want to get out of here?" Ginny asked, stepping away from him, but still holding his hand.
"Oh…" Adam began. "Yes, please."
Hand in hand, the two of them walked back towards the entrance to the churchyard. As they walked through the church grounds, they passed an elderly couple walking down the path towards the church.
"The Cloak!" Adam exclaimed. "Where is it? What are we doing like this is in the open?"
Ginny, who had paled slightly, quickly pulled out the Cloak and the two of them were quickly hidden beneath it. Once hidden, the two of them left through the gate and sat down just outside with their backs against the wall.
"I still want to try and find the house," Adam said as he leaned his head on the cool stone. "If that's alright with you?"
"Of course," Ginny replied, then, after a short pause she continued. "I know it has all these bad memories for you, but for some reason, I think the village is really nice."
"Yeah," Adam continued thoughtfully. "That might be why my parents came here..."
They sat there in silence for several minutes, until, finally, Ginny said, "Right. Let's go. Do you know the way?"
"No," Adam said with a sigh. "I…"
"Well," Ginny interrupted with a grin before he could finish, "I guess we'll have to go exploring, then."
Adam couldn't help but smile back at her as they stood up and began making their way across square. As they approached the war memorial that dominated the centre of the square, Adam froze. As he watched, the obelisk seemed to shimmer and it changed.
Based on Ginny's sudden inhalation of breath, Adam guessed she was seeing the same thing as him. In front of him was a statue. A statue of a man, a woman and a baby. It was him. His family.
"Oh…" Ginny finally said. "I didn't know about this."
"Me, neither," Adam replied.
"They look happy," Ginny commented with a smile.
Adam just stood there staring at the statue. It seemed so strange that someone had put up a statue for his parents… and… well, him.
"Come on," Adam said, tearing his eyes away from the statue. "Let's look around for the house."
The two of them spent nearly an hour exploring Godric's Hollow before they found the house. In the end, however, it was relatively easy to spot. It was the only ruined building in the village and, once he'd seen it, Adam knew that this was where his parents had died.
Adam paused for a second. Then, dragging Ginny with him, he moved quickly forward until he was standing at the gate that led up to the cottage. As he placed he hands on the gate, a sign sprang up in front of them, emerging from a tangle of weeds just beyond the gate.
On this spot, on the night of 31 October 1981, Lily, James and Harry Potter lost their lives. Together, this family defeated the darkest wizard this world has ever known. This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters and as a reminder of the violence that destroyed their family.
Well, that was what Adam thought it had originally said. Several people seemed to have written over the sign. Someone had crossed out his name. Someone else had scrawled, 'You survived!' Several others had written, 'Go, Harry!' 'Where are you, Harry?' and 'Harry is the Boy Who Lived!'
"Wow," Ginny said, then suddenly, she giggled. "Someone has the right idea, crossing your name out like that."
Adam snorted in response. "It's brilliant. I didn't realise people thought that about me."
"Adam," Ginny began, then she paused, "Harry, rightly or wrongly, you're a hero to them."
"But…"
"Well," Ginny continued, "Harry Potter is a hero, and you're Harry Potter. So, you're a hero."
"I'm not!"
"You are. You're my hero, anyway."
Adam turned beneath the Cloak to stare at his girlfriend. Her face was scrunched up as she tried desperately not to laugh.
"Sorry," Ginny squeaked in a high pitched giggle. "That was so corny."
Adam laughed freely in response, wrapping his arms around her, and they stood there for several seconds simply holding each other.
"Adam," Ginny suddenly whispered urgently, bringing his attention back to the here and now. "Don't move. There's a woman coming down the street."
Adam stood very still. From his current position, he couldn't see the woman, but he trusted Ginny to decide if they needed to take action or just stay hidden.
"I think she's a Muggle." Ginny described her to him by whispering directly into his ear. "She's stopped and is just staring up the lane. Maybe she heard us?"
"Don't know," Adam responded in a whisper. "Let's wait and see what she does."
Adam waited in silence as Ginny watched the woman. Suddenly, Adam felt Ginny tense suddenly in his arms, before relaxing a few nervy seconds later.
Ginny breathed a sigh of relief and eventually spoke. "She's gone. But I think she's a witch. I'm sure she looked at the house over the hedge before she left."
"Do you think she saw us?" Adam said, breaking their hug and turning to look down the now empty lane.
"How could she?" Ginny responded. "We're under the Cloak."
"Right." Adam replied. "Let's get in the house…" Adam froze, suddenly unsure if he should actually go inside, but, shaking himself, realising he had to. "We've got a job to do. Let's take a look around."
Steeling himself, Adam slipped out from under the Cloak and climbed over the gate, with Ginny following. Once they were over, they retreated once more under the safety of the Cloak and began walking up the path.
As they approached the house, Adam stared at the ruined structure. It was a complete ruin; one entire side of the house had collapsed, and the roof of the rest of the building had caved in as long tendrils of ivy crept up the side of it into the roof cavity. It was as if nature itself sought to crush the house into the ground.
Adam and Ginny made a beeline to the hole where the front door would once have been and, taking a deep breath, Adam stepped over the threshold into the house.
Once inside, he gazed around the house that had been his home — not that he could remember it — and, surprisingly, he felt nothing. He stood there, staring around the ruined living room.
"We should be safe enough," Adam announced, pulling off the Cloak. "Let's spread out and search downstairs."
Ginny nodded at him, and the two of them spread out and began searching the house room by room. The downstairs of the small cottage consisted of a hallway, kitchen and a large living room. The entire place was coated in dust, partly from disuse and partly from debris that had fallen from the ceiling in several places.
As Adam scoured the living room, he was surprised to find no traces of anything that appeared to have belonged to his parents. Sure, all the furniture was there, but there were nothing much else. Truth be told, Adam didn't exactly know what he had been expecting to find, but he had expected to find something.
"Anything?" he called across to the room to Ginny.
"No," she replied, from where she was searching a large cupboard. "It's like someone has been here and taken anything of significance."
"Yeah…" Adam replied. "I'm not feeling anything, either."
"Same here," Ginny continued. "Who'd you think would come and take your parents' things?"
"Dumbledore," Adam answered immediately. Then, pausing to think, he added, "Or maybe Remus."
"So," Ginny said with a heavy sigh, "we've no way now to really find out."
Adam stood still for a second, thinking. "Well," he continued finally, "it's hardly important right now. Let's check the kitchen."
"I looked, Adam, it's ruined," Ginny said, standing up from where she was searching, her face now smudged with dust.
They both trotted over to the entrance of the kitchen and stared at the ruins. Large beams had crashed down, crushing the units and preventing any hope of them entering the room.
"I…" Adam began. "I don't think there is anything in there anyway. I…" He hesitated. "I don't feel anything."
"That's it, then," Ginny answered. "We need to go upstairs."
They moved to the staircase hesitantly and, feeling almost as if he were trespassing, Adam climbed the stairs.
At the top of the stairs, there were three doorways. Two were closed and the third seemed to open out into open air. He looked out of the doorway of what once must have been his nursery and, for the first time, he could understand why everyone thought he had died. He stepped out onto the narrow ledge that was all that was left of the floor and looked around. There was nothing left of the room. The external walls had been blasted away and the floor in front of him had crumbled down into the kitchen below. There was nothing left. Absolutely nothing.
"Ginny!" Adam called, suddenly aware that she was not at his side.
"I'm coming!" she called back.
Adam backed carefully out of his room and glanced at the two other doors. He moved towards the closest one and gingerly pushed it open.
This room had once been his parents' room. The wall that joined it with his room had caved in, but the rest of the room was strangely well preserved. There was a double bed, complete with bed covers, a wardrobe and a dresser.
Silently, he approached the bed and sat down on the dust-covered quilt. As he sat there, staring at the small room that his parents had presumably used only hours before they died, the strangest thought occurred to him: I wonder which side Mum and Dad slept on?
He almost laughed at the absurdity of that thought. He was here, in his parents' room, and that was the best he could come up with!
Shaking himself, Adam stood up from the bed and began searching the room. He needed to look for any personnel effects of his parents and, more importantly, any signs of the Horcrux.
He had just started looking through the wardrobe when Ginny screamed.
Thoughts of searching for his parents' things or the Horcrux immediately flew from his mind and Adam charged out of the bedroom and back down the stairs. As he leapt down the first few steps, he bowled into Ginny, who was coming the other way up the stairs.
"Sorry! Sorry!" she exclaimed, seemingly in a wild panic. "I saw him, I saw him, and I couldn't help it! And now he knows we're here."
"What!" Adam exclaimed, pulling Ginny up the stairs onto the landing.
"Voldemort's here! I saw him coming up the path!" Ginny exclaimed frantically, looking completely terrified.
Adam stared at Ginny, and both of them were, for a second, frozen in horror.
I can't face Voldemort now! Adam thought frantically. We don't have all the Horcruxes. He'll kill Ginny and me. Then no one will be able to stop him.
Grabbing Ginny around the waist, he spun on the spot, but nothing happened.
No, no, no! Adam thought despairingly. Voldemort had them trapped.
"What's the matter?" Ginny cried desperately.
"We need to run for it!" Adam ordered and, coming to a snap decision, he pulled Ginny towards the doorway to his nursery.
"Down there, then?" Ginny commented, staring at the hole in the wall of house.
Before Adam could answer, Ginny leapt agilely onto one of the beams that had fallen below. Adam quickly followed, landing on the beam with a slight stumble. Thankfully, Ginny reached out and clasped his arms, helping him to regain his balance.
"Thanks," Adam muttered. "Let's get the hell out of here."
The two of them clambered across the wreckage until they reached the outer wall of the cottage.
"Okay," Adam said, clasping Ginny's hand. "Ready?"
"Ready."
They jumped, both landing hard on the ground and, helping each other to their feet, they took off across the rubble-strewn garden.
"Run, Potter. Was it too much to hope that you would stand and face me? Don't you want revenge for your parents?" A high-pitched, eerie voice that Adam was only too familiar with, echoed across the garden. His scar throbbed and he vaguely heard Ginny emit a cry, as Voldemort called out for his snake. "Nagini, come!"
Voldemort's cold voice seemed to echo through him, making his body freeze up. The sound of the voice, coupled with the pain in his scar, made his mind sluggish. Suddenly, every fibre of his being was calling him out to stay and fight. He spun around. He had to fight Voldemort. He'd killed his parents, Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore and countless others.
The sight of a ball of green light sailing towards him and Ginny shook him free of the spell that seemed to temporarily hold him entranced. He pushed Ginny, and himself, out of the path of the spell, shielding her body with his. The green light of the Killing Curse impacted only feet away from him, causing the ground to explode is a shower of rock and earth.
Once he hit the ground, Adam immediately drew his wand and shouted, "Expulso!", sending a spell in the vague direction of Voldemort.
He watched as the spell sailed towards Voldemort who, without even looking at it, seemed to absorb it with a shimmering shield and laugh.
With the laughter came pain. Far worse than last time. It forced Adam's eyes closed and its intensity, and the fact that it seemed to be coming from inside his head, began to drive away his awareness of the outside world.
"Avada Kedavra!" a voice shouted.
Adam tried to react. He couldn't. The pain was too much. He was vaguely aware that if the spell hit him, then at least the pain would stop.
Just when he thought the pain was going to stop, his arm moved. It moved completely of its own accord, as if driven by some external force.
"No!" the voice cried in fury and a loud crack sounded.
The sound was so loud that Adam's ears rang for moment, and the pain relented.
The pain retreated and Adam became aware of his surroundings once more. He felt himself being pulled to his feet. His vision swam back into focus and he was greeted by the sight of Ginny's face.
"Adam!" she cried, trying to rouse him. "I can't carry you on my own. Whatever you did sent him flying back into house. We need to go now!"
"Right," Adam said dazedly. "Right."
He let go of her and stumbled slightly, his body feeling clunky. Quickly recovering, he noticed that Ginny was cradling her hand; she must have injured it in the fall.
"I'm fine!" she answered hotly. "Let's go, before he comes back!"
As quickly as they could, Adam and Ginny ran towards the edge of the garden. All they had to do was get to the edge of whatever spell Voldemort had used to stop them Apparating, then they would be safe.
October 4th 1998
"You told me the problem would be solved by using another's wand!"
An emaciated old man lay in rags upon a stone floor, screaming, a horrible, drawn-out scream, a scream of unendurable agony. He could see others standing around. Others watching this man suffer.
"No! No! I beg you, I beg you…"
"You lied to Lord Voldemort, Ollivander!"
"I did not … I swear I did not …"
"You sought to help Potter, to help him escape me!"
"I swear I did not … I believed a different wand would work …"
"Explain, then, what happened. Lucius's wand is destroyed!"
"I cannot understand … The connection … exists only … between your two wands …"
"Lies!"
"Please … I beg you …"
The frail old man on the floor writhed in agony.
"Adam! Wake up! Wake up!" Ginny's exclamation pulled him from the final stages of the dream.
Adam grunted softly as the dark room of the tent began to materialise around him.
"Wha—?" he grunted sleepily.
Ginny's face swam into view as she leaned over. "You were thrashing about, I could hear you from outside." She hesitated. "Another vision?"
"Yeah…" Adam said, then his stomach roiled, as it often did after these strange out-of-body trips he seemed to take, and he dashed out of the bedroom to promptly throw up in the sink.
By the time he was finished, Ginny was sitting waiting for him on the sofa. She too was looking pale and tired. With an exhausted sigh, Adam sat down next to her.
"Better?" she asked cautiously.
"Think so," Adam replied.
"Good," Ginny replied, pulling herself up off the seat. "I'll just go get you a drink of water."
"They were torturing Ollivander," Adam blurted.
"What?" Ginny called back from where she was filling two glasses with water.
"I saw him being tortured," Adam explained haltingly. "I think." He paused. "Ollivander told him that if he used a different wand the effect of the brother wands wouldn't work."
"Well," Ginny replied, "that makes sense."
"He wasn't using his own wand today… " Adam continued, glancing at the clock. "Err… yesterday."
"So what was all that gold stuff that came out of your wand?" Ginny asked, finally plopping back down beside him.
"No idea, Ollivander didn't seem to know and that was where you woke me up."
"Sorry…" Ginny added meekly.
"No," Adam replied firmly. "Never apologise for bringing me back from those. I hate them."
Ginny smiled tiredly at this and she rested her head on his shoulder.
"The other Death Eaters were there. Snape, too, I think," Adam replied. "I could only just make out their faces." He chuckled. "But you can hardly miss Snape's greasy hair anyway."
"Mmm," Ginny replied sleepily. She wound one arm around his waist while the other seemed to be playing with one of the lockets she was currently wearing beneath her clothes. "Hogwarts is the only place left to check now, isn't it?"
"Yeah…" Adam replied. "Dumbledore was wrong. We still have two to find and only one place left to check…"
"We'll find them," Ginny replied.
"He's going to keep looking for a wand that can beat mine," Adam said morosely. "If he ever finds one and fights me directly, he'll…" He stopped speaking, shocked at what he was about to say.
"Don't say that!" Ginny exclaimed, all traces of sleep now gone from her voice. "Don't even think it! He won't beat you. I won't let him take you away from me."
Adam sat there in silence. Suddenly, their hunt seemed all the more an impossible task.
"Anyway," Ginny began, breaking the silence, "at least ,if we end up going to Hogwarts, we'll have allies. Ron, Neville and the DA will help us. Not to mention McGonagall."
"She doesn't know Harry Potter," Adam replied, grabbing a tuft of his black hair in his hand.
"No," Ginny answered, sounding slightly exasperated with him. "But she'll do anything for Adam. Show her who you are, and she'll do everything she can for us. Going to Hogwarts may be dangerous, but it's not impossible. Remember, we have the Marauder's Map."