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Author: Cygnus Crux Story: Mind War Rating: Teens Setting: AU Status: Completed Reviews: 1 Words: 241,407
Fate's Reckoning Chapter 6 It was as if the bed were enchanted to throw its occupant off, so quickly did Ginny jump off it and launch herself at Harry, who found himself locked in her embrace before he could say accio. "I'm sorry, Harry. I understand why you mistook me for Heidi, I know how much I look like her …I even thought I was seeing her when I saw my own mirror reflection from across the room. It was just a stupid, terrible mistake. I shouldn't have behaved like that." Out of breath, she backed away a little to look him in the eye uncertainly. "Can you forgive me?" Despite knowing the truth already, after having experienced Ginny's reaction to his death, her words still invigorated his soul and that cosy warmth he could only feel while he was close to her enveloped him again. "I'm sorry, too. It was still stupid of me to mistake you for Heidi." Ginny shook her head. "No, no, no! I've acted like an idiot. You were right." "Yeah, but—" Harry started to say, when Wolfe cleared his throat. "Personally, I think neither of you are to blame. It was just a terrible mutual misunderstanding, and I want both of you to promise me that you'll never allow something like this to happen again." Harry looked at Ginny, who was smiling shyly. "We won't…I mean, we promise," she said quietly, but loud enough for Wolfe and the others to hear it. "That's nice to know," Wolfe said, but the way he said it didn't feel right to Harry. He noticed that his companion was ashen-faced now. Wolfe had looked extremely tired before, but now there was also anxiety on his features. He was staring at the white floor of the room. "Wolfe?" Wolfe didn't look up. "I think the others would like to know what happened," he said. "Impossible," Montoya, the first to throw off his shock, finally replied, "I saw the body less than twenty minutes ago." Wolfe slowly raised his gaze and swept it across the room, letting it linger on his sister and nephew for a moment, before letting it rest on Galatea. "Rest assured, this is really Harry. Ginny did hear him at the base of the cliff." "It can't be! He was dead!" Montoya yelled. He looked on the verge of nervous collapse. Wolfe shook his head. "It will all make sense very soon." He looked at Commander Nomvete. "Could you please summon all the present captains? They'll all have to be present to—" "Commander!" a high pitched female voice said. Half a second later, Noelani Winters, an analyst, shoved her way past Harry, Ginny and Wolfe. "Commander, the Ranger Prime is dead. I was on my way to wake her up, but I found her in bed. She must have passed on a while ago, since she was already getting a bit stiff." Commander Nomvete's hands went up to her temples. "Not unexpected. She called Donovan and me up for a meeting a few days ago. She told us she could feel that she didn't have much time left. I had no idea her death would come so soon…She's always had terrible timing. I could really use her counsel right now—" Winters' sudden shriek interrupted the Commander's sentence, and she pointed a quivering finger at Harry. "What…how…you?" "That's what I'd like to know," Ron said, having got over his initial shock. "All of us would." Hermione nodded. "Why don't you tell them, Harry," Wolfe said wearily. "I'll tell the ranking officers. Commander, if you will?" "All right, my office," Nomvete said. "Noelani, where is Captain Sharif?" "He should still be in the First Ranger's chamber, taking care of her…I called him as soon as I found her like that. Captain Sanzotti is contacting the relatives." "Tell Imhotep to come to my office as soon as he's done. As for Gustava, her second can take over her duties. Please alert the other captains as well." "Faust is on his honeymoon," Wolfe said. "Right…so call one of his lieutenants." "I'm not completely sure —" Winters frowned "—but I think all the Combat Ranger Lieutenants are out on missions." Nomvete heaved an exasperated sigh. "What about Fourth Class Rangers?" "Ma'am, the bulk of the senior Combat Rangers has been deployed to help with the cleanup of Anastasiou's former strongholds, and patrols have also been increased due to the disappearance of the Mind Reader. Khan and Mordecai accompanied Commander Ironheart, to watch his back, since he might be at risk as well." "So there aren't any Fourth Class Combat Rangers? Brody, Orzaiz, Blackmoon, Nguyen, Al-Hassan, Gedeon?" "I'm afraid not," Winters said. Nomvete looked at Wolfe. "Technically, a Combat Ranger should be here, but there's no point in having someone below Fourth Class present." Wolfe nodded. "I guess it won't matter whether or not the Combat Rangers are represented." Harry looked from Wolfe to Nomvete. He didn't like the look on the commander's face, and he got the sinking feeling that the consequences of Wolfe's actions were going to be much farther-reaching than he'd thought. Why would all the Departments have to have a representative, preferably the highest ranking one? Before he could say anything about it, the commander led Wolfe out of the hospital room. "So what the hell happened?" Ron asked, obviously anxious to drag the explanation out of Harry. "This is the second time that you came back from the dead." "Good to know you've still got your sense of humour!" Harry said, glancing down at Ginny, who still had her arms wrapped around him tightly, her face buried in the crook of his neck. "Ginny…could you please let go of me?" "No…don't want to!" came Ginny's muffled reply, causing nervous chuckles to break out around the room. "Just for a little while, so we can sit down?" he asked. He didn't really want Ginny to let go of him either, for her arms around him gave him too good a feeling. But he couldn't move like this. With visible reluctance, Ginny slackened her grip, but followed him to the bed as if they were connected by a very short, invisible string. She climbed into his lap the instant after he'd sat down on the bed and wrapped her arms around him again. As he took a moment to enjoy their comfortable closeness, he was struck by the frightening realisation of how much power Ginny held over him. Being with her right now made him feel complete, while a careless sentence from her mouth had nearly driven him mad with anguish. The reverse was also true, he realised. He too had to be careful, lest he hurt Ginny. He'd been incredibly insensitive to her obvious pain earlier, telling her that he expected her to apologise to Heidi, which he did, but that had been the wrong time to bring it up. The sound of someone clearing his throat brought him back to reality, reminding him of the task at hand. "Right. Well, it all boils down to this, really. Wolfe travelled back through time to save me. He was waiting on his broomstick, under an invisibility cloak—" "But that doesn't make sense," Hermione interrupted. "You died…your body was there—" "If you let me finish, I promise that all your questions will be answered. Yes, there was a body, but obviously that wasn't me, now was it? It was a, what did Wolfe call it again, oh yes…a Cauldron Clone." He heard a sharp intake of breath, but chose to ignore it for now. Wolfe had told him about the phenomenon of Cauldron Clones, and the many unsavoury things they were used for. But his clone had been used for a worthy cause, so he didn't see the problem. "You see, he had to drop a perfect copy of me in my place, because he'd take away his past-self's reason to travel back through time to save me in the first place otherwise, and his present self would be bumped out of the timeline and become displaced in time." "So he did it to avoid creating a temporal paradox," Ron summarised. "He had been planning this all along…That report he had to make — he was just gathering the information he needed to pull this off unseen, wasn't he?" Harry marvelled at the speed with which Ron had come the correct conclusion. "Yeah. He knew exactly how long it would take for Cirilo to turn the Cruiser around and for Ethan to reach the edge of the bay and look down. He knew all he needed to know to stay out of everybody's way until his past self had travelled back into time." "So it was you, who caught Ginny after she jumped?" Hermione asked. "Wolfe, actually. He knew Ginny was going to jump, after all. He did it with eye-contact alone…it was brilliant!" "All right, let me work this out. He intercepted you in mid-air and dropped the Cauldron Clone in your place?" Harry nodded. "And I reckon this happened quite a bit lower than the Cruiser gate, didn't it?" "Yeah. Why?" Hermione smiled. "Nothing, it just all makes sense now. Your body, the clone, wasn't nearly as damaged as it should have been after such a long drop. But Wolfe dropped it from a lower altitude, so that explains it." "You don't realise how serious the situation is, do you?" Montoya said sharply. "Wolfe travelled through time illegally, and probably stole one of the Order's Time Turners to do it. "Secondly, he somehow created a Cauldron Clone, or managed to have someone create one for him. That's magic of the darkest kind. Cauldron Clones were conceived by a society of dark wizards, who believed themselves to be the masters of life and death, about three hundred years ago. A Ranger has no business creating them. "Then there's the fact that he killed the Cauldron Clone. Given enough time, these clones can develop themselves and almost become like normal people. I guess this clone was fresh, and barely aware of its own existence, but it's still murder. Wolfe committed murder!" "Yeah, but he did it to save my life and Ginny's," Harry protested. Now he understood the look that Commander Nomvete had given Wolfe. She must have been thinking about all the rules Wolfe had had to shatter in order to save his life. "He saved our lives, that's got to count for something!" "I'm sure it will," Montoya replied. "But the Order of Illumination can't tolerate this sort of behaviour, Potter. If Wolfe isn't properly dealt with, other Rangers might get ideas to pull similar stunts. But short of Hermione here, I can't think of anyone who's clever enough to do what he did." "I could never do that," Hermione said. "I wouldn't know where to begin. I don't know enough about the Order's resources—" "Exactly!" Montoya frowned. "But Wolfe did know about them, and proved to be willing to shatter all the rules by using these resources, not to mention delving into dark magic and committing murder to advance his own goals. Such behaviour cannot be tolerated by the Order. It also makes me doubt his mental stability. I always knew he was a bit of a loose cannon, but I never expected him to do anything of this magnitude." "I've travelled through time to change the past too!" Harry said, remembering his third year at Hogwarts, and how he managed to give Sirius a few precious years of life by doing so. He had never regretted it. "If such behaviour can't be tolerated by the Order, than perhaps it was wrong for me to join," Harry muttered bitterly, giving Montoya an icy glare. "Because if I'd been in his shoes, given the means and knowledge, I'd have done the same thing." "Me too," Ron said. "Harry didn't do his earlier time travel alone," Hermione stated, indicating that she stood squarely behind him. "Max is a good person," Ginny began. "He has saved my life twice now. I can't stand by and let him be punished for something I would have done myself." She looked at Harry. "I think we should make it clear to the officers." She slid off Harry's lap and pulled him off the bed. "Come on!" "Don't go!" Surprised, Harry turned around. Jasmine was giving him a mournful look as she patted Galatea's hands. Galatea was looking — there was no better word for it — terrified. "Max knew that you'd react like this," Jasmine said. "He revealed his thoughts to me…He doesn't want you to leave the Order because of him. He saved your life because he knew that by doing so, he'd save Ginny's as well. He believes that the two of you are special, and that you could contribute more to the Order, and help more people than he could have done, had he allowed history to run its course. If you leave the Order, his sacrifice will have been in vain." Harry cursed inwardly. He saw what Jasmine was getting at, but he couldn't just stand by and let Wolfe bear this burden alone. "Harry, please. I'm not sure if this is true…It's just what Max thought would happen…If you challenge the officers about this, you'll have to leave the Order too." "It is true enough!" Montoya said, but his expression had changed. It was no longer one of disapproval. Now the Medical Ranger's features also held sympathy. "He sacrificed a great deal for this. You should honour it." "What brought about the change in your attitude?" Harry frowned. "I was never your enemy, or Wolfe's, Potter. But what Jasmine said changes matters entirely. I thought that Wolfe was expecting to get away with this. But as it turns out, he knew the outcome. That means that his actions, while rash, were not selfish and undisciplined…They were noble. Still, he'll have to face the consequences. The things he did, no matter how well intentioned, can't be taken lightly." Harry clenched his fists. It still wasn't fair. If only he could go back in time to warn Wolfe of the outcome…maybe it would change Wolfe's mind about— "Don't do it, Harry." Jasmine sighed. "Max anticipated this too. By now, he must have warned the officers to keep an eye on you and keep you away from the other Time Turners. He made his decision…why won't you respect it?" Harry unfurled his fists. How did Wolfe get to know him so well in so little time? It was scary, really. "All right, but I'm still going to speak on his behalf." "I'll support you, for what it's worth," Montoya said. "But you can't expect him to avoid the consequences altogether." Harry nodded gratefully. With a lieutenant backing him, his words would probably carry more weight. "As long as we keep him away from those Dementors." * After they arrived at the commander's office, they were asked to wait until the meeting had ended. That took well over an hour, and Galatea, who had been with them initially, began to feel sick. She'd been looking so bad, that Ginny took her to the Medical Wing to give her a check-up even though they, like Hermione, suspected that it was simple stress. Galatea had been extremely distraught ever since the possibility of Wolfe being sent away to a Dementor-guarded prison was mentioned. She thought that Max would be vulnerable to Dementors because of the many bad memories he had. "Ranger Potter, I understand what you're saying. Now I ask you to view this from my perspective," Commander Nomvete said, beginning to count on her fingers. "He stole and used a number of Potions and artefacts for his own use…He stole your blood sample for the creation of the clone. But that isn't the bad part. Do you know how he got the Cauldron Clone?" Harry shook his head, and Hermione frowned, remembering that Harry hadn't mentioned that. "No, he didn't tell me." "Lei Li knew a dark wizard who could create those clones. If I'm not mistaken, Lei struck a deal with that wizard, considering him a loose end in exchange for any favours that might come up. If the Order had known about that…" Nomvete shook her head. "Max inherited a lot of information upon Lei's death — the kind information the he shouldn't have kept from us. No Ranger can be allowed to keep information of this nature to himself." Montoya winced upon the revelation of this new information. Nomvete continued, "Then there's the fact that he could have endangered the Order with his actions. He took many precautions, by disguising himself with Polyjuice Potion and Memory-Charming the dark wizard he dealt with, but he still took enormous risks. "We've taken his good intention into account, but let's not forget the road to hell is paved with good intentions. As it is, we've been extremely lenient with him. He'll have to spend four months in a lower level security area of Azkaban Prison where he won't be exposed to Dementors quite as much. After serving his sentence, he'll be released to do as he pleases. Of course, it goes without saying that he's been dishonourably discharged, and that he won't be allowed into Concordia after that." "That isn't fair, Commander!" Harry growled. "Mind your tone, Ranger Potter." Nomvete frowned. "All in all, his transgressions were severe enough to earn him four years in a more secure area of Azkaban. I know this is difficult for you to accept, and I'll understand if you don't want to be part of the Order of Illumination anymore because of it. I'd hate to lose you, of course, but there's really nothing I can do to stop you from leaving if you want to go. However, you ought to know that Wolfe expressed his desire for you to stay with the Order." "I already know," Harry mumbled. "Commander, can we at least see him before he goes?" Hermione asked, knowing that Galatea could use the time with Max. "Of course. He'll be leaving tomorrow morning. You can visit him until them. He's being kept in a private holding cell at the Head Office of the City Watch. I've informed Chief Garibaldi that he's allowed to have visitors. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss with me?" "No," Harry said, before spinning on his heel and striding out of the office, trembling with barely restrained frustration. "Maybe we can break him out…" Ron muttered, as they followed Harry out. "Honestly, Ron!" Hermione whispered back, even though she too had briefly entertained the same idea. "Harry, slow down. Where are you going?" "To the Head Office of the City Watch." "I'm sure Galatea would like to go too. If anyone's got to be with Max it's her." "Right…I'm sure Ginny would like to come too." They hurried down to the Medical Wing and looked for Galatea and Ginny. They found them in one of the wards, Galatea sipping a foul-smelling herbal drink. "All of it, Tea," Ginny said. "You need to calm down. Everything will be okay…you'll see. You can't be upset like this, you'll become ill, and that isn't good for the baby—" she stopped in mid-sentence as she noticed Hermione, Ron and Harry approaching her. "How did it go?" "Terrible," Harry groaned. "I couldn't make a difference. He's still going to Azkaban. But he'll be kept in an area the Dementors patrol less often." "How long?" Galatea asked with a trembling voice. "Four months," Ron answered gloomily. "Four months…maybe, there is still hope, then." But she didn't look hopeful at all. "We can go visit him at the City Watch!" Hermione said. "Commander Nomvete said that you can stay there until he leaves. You really ought to be with Max right now." Galatea downed the last of the foul-smelling drink. "I'm ready." The expression on her face really broke Hermione's heart, and for a moment she was really angry with Max. How could he have done this? He had known about the baby. How could he have chosen to go through with it if he'd known what would have happened to him? "What's wrong, Hermione? Why are you angry?" "It's nothing…it's just that, you'll be alone again." "But Wolfe's going to be out before the baby is born, right? It's not like he's going to die," Ron said, although the confident look on his face faltered as he noticed that Galatea wasn't quite that optimistic. "Wolfe's really tough, and he's not going to the worst section." "Yeah!" Harry nodded, but the look on his colourless face, no doubt caused by his own memories of Dementors, didn't do much to lighten the mood. Ginny took his hand with her free one, and gave it a squeeze. "Are you okay?" Harry took a deep breath. "Fine…just a bit tired." Hermione could instantly see that Harry wasn't telling the truth. She'd seen that look far too often before. He felt responsible for what happened. She glanced at Ron, who returned her knowing look. He had seen it too, and was now giving her an inquisitive look. She answered it with a brief shake of her head. Now was not the time to talk to Harry about it. "I can't go right now, someone has to occupy the station," Montoya said. "And I don't think would have been my place to visit him, anyway. I'm sorry that I wasn't much help with Commander Nomvete!" he added. "That's okay. Keeping that sort of knowledge from the Order is pretty bad." Harry sighed, looking defeated. Hermione knew how he felt. * The entrance hall of the Head Office of the City Watch was a fairly nice place. There were about a dozen constables in the hall, going in several directions. Half of them were wizards, while the other half consisted of cunning-looking goblins and stout dwarves — who, despite their size, could bring down a wizard. The dwarves and goblins carried what looked like overgrown tuning forks. These could be made to vibrate by hitting them against a hard surface. Then, one had to touch one's intended target with the fork. The vibrations could knock out a giant. But Ginny knew that those devices were hardly ever used, since Concordia was a very peaceful place. If there would ever be any serious trouble, the Rangers would take care of it. Galatea seemed to know her way around, and she purposefully strode over to the desk, behind which a rather large and surly-looking goblin was sitting. "Yes?" "We are here to see Mr Garibaldi." The goblin sized them up. "Hmmm, now what brings five Rangers to our humble office? Mr Garibaldi is inspecting the sector offices. Is there anything I can do for you?" "We need to see a…p-prisoner!" It had obviously been very hard for Galatea to utter that last word, and Ginny sympathised. Wolfe had done a good thing, but he was imprisoned like a criminal. "I don't have the authority for this. Walk all the way down the corridor and take a left, take two flights of stairs up and walk down that corridor until you reach a rather exquisite baroque-style door that must've cost a fortune…ahem, that's Chief Garibaldi's office, but that's not where you're supposed to be. You should try the office next to it, which should be occupied by one of the Deputies" —the Goblin opened a large book on the desk and scanned the page—"Heather Peterson." "She can help us?" Ginny asked. "Yes, she can." The Goblin nodded. "Oh, and when you see him, tell Docmor that I expect interest on those fifty Galleons he borrowed from me." The whole group turned around and looked at the goblin curiously, and Ginny noticed something about him. He was much taller than most goblins, like Doc. "Are you one of his brothers?" Ron asked, voicing Ginny's thoughts. "Yes,"— the half-goblin grinned —"Couldn't you tell by my devastatingly good looks? Now as I was saying, I expect interest, twenty percent. I didn't really want to resort to telling you this, but he's been dodging his debt for far too long!" "Twenty percent, that's extortion…Your own brother!" Ron exclaimed. "Precept of Procurement one hundred and seventy-one; blood is thicker than water, but gold is thicker than both." Ginny knew that term, Precept of Procurement. It was like a goblin bible, which stipulated how the goblins lived and did business. "It's the way we goblins do things, Mr Weasley." "How do you know who I am?" Ron frowned. "Red hair, vacant expression, those are your family traits. Of course, I learned that one should never judge a being by appearance. Your brother had me completely fooled in the Dartceach game." The goblin's eyes took on a glimmer of admiration. "He would make a good goblin." Ginny had to bite her tongue and hold her hands together behind her back to stop herself from cursing Doc's brother. Vacant expression indeed! She'd show him… "Ginny," Harry held out his hand and smirked, "don't pay him any mind. I love your vacant expression!" Ginny slapped his hand away, but reached for it again as they continued on their way. "So you like dim girls, do you? No wonder…" she stopped herself just in time. "No wonder, what?" Ginny felt like ripping out her own tongue. She'd been just about ready to mention Heidi again, and that would have soured the mood for sure. But fortunately, she'd stopped herself. "Nothing!" Harry's subsequent smile made her legs go to jelly, so it was fortunate that he pulled her close and wrapped his arm around her waist tightly, keeping her on her feet. How could he still affect her like this, after all this time? The rush of heat in her cheeks made her aware of the fierce blush she was wearing. She returned his smile as she ran her thumb across his index finger, which made him blush in turn and squeeze her hand. It was just like that moment in the Gryffindor common room, that winter in her fifth year. Surprisingly, many students had gone home for those holidays despite the Death Eater threat, and Ron and Hermione had supposedly gone down to the kitchens. They'd sat in a wide armchair that was meant for a single occupant but allowed for a cosy two. They'd been talking about Fred, George, Percy, Charlie and Bill, who had already been actively involved in the war at that time. She remembered telling Harry how worried she was about all of them, and Harry had reassured her, telling her that everything would be all right. Then he had reached over and taken her hands in his, supposedly to warm them. But after they were all warm and tingly, he still hadn't let go of them. When she looked at him questioningly, her eyes had met his, and she'd simply drowned in those green eyes. Then Ron and Hermione had burst in with news of Death Eater attacks on several families, both wizarding and Muggle. Most of the student had come back to Hogwarts the next day. "What's wrong?" Harry whispered. "Nothing's wrong, just…memories. I just remembered the first time we held hands." "In the common room, the Christmas holidays in '96?" "Yeah!" Ginny sighed. Harry chuckled softly. "You know, I was just about done scraping together the courage to kiss you, when Ron and Hermione came back." Ginny lost control over her jaw muscles, and her mouth fell open as Harry's words filtered into her brain. She closed her mouth with a snap, her face positively on fire now. He had never told her that. Everybody knew that Harry had begun to return her feelings somewhere in her fifth year at Hogwarts, but he had never talked about it, and she'd never asked, assuming that it would be embarrassing for both of them. But now she realised that talking about these memories was maybe exactly what their relationship needed. It certainly made her heart pound faster, and she felt warm and fuzzy inside. And she saw that it was having its effect on Harry as well. He was looking at her the same way he looked at her that night in the common room. They both leaned in and stole a kiss. The soft, smacking sound their lips made was still loud enough for Ron and Hermione to hear, because both of them, not just Ron, turned around to give disapproving looks. Hermione nodded at Galatea, who was leading the way, reminding Ginny that now was not a good time to be overly affectionate. Poor Galatea was about to lose her boyfriend—and it was her fault! If she hadn't blown things out of proportion and hurt Harry like that, he wouldn't have walked away to be hit by the Cruiser and Wolfe wouldn't have had to go back in time— "It's not your fault!" Harry said quietly, looking downcast. "It's mine. I should've—" "Neither of you is to blame!" Galatea said sharply. She must have heard everything, but how had she…? Then Ginny remembered that heightened senses were another side effect of part-Veela pregnancies. "Your guilt is saturating the air around me. Stop feeling guilty…I'll absorb your emotions and feel guilty too." "Sorry, Tea," Ginny said. They followed the half-goblin's directions and ended up where they needed to be. Galatea knocked on the door, and a male voice told them to enter. Galatea pushed the door open and lead them in. It was a sparsely decorated office, and a brown-haired man was sitting behind the desk, staring over what looked like a portable mirror terminal. "Uh, Heather Peterson?" Harry asked uncertainly. "Do I look like a Heather to you?" The young man asked, but the merry expression on his face and twinkle in his blue eyes told Ginny that he wasn't offended. And he looked nothing like a Heather. He stood up, reaching a height of six-foot-three, give or take half an inch. His uniform seemed too small for him, because the City Watch uniforms were supposed to be loose fitting, but not too baggy either. His uniform hugged his frame, accentuating the fact that he worked out on a regular basis. He wasn't devastatingly handsome, but easy enough on the eyes. "I'm Deputy Chief Nel. What can I do for you?" "Russell," an agitated female voice spoke. "Is there a good reason why you're sitting at my station, using my equipment, or should I just go ahead and snap your hands off at the wrists?" The voice belonged to a slender woman, about an inch or so taller than Ginny at about five-foot-seven. Her hair was a shiny chestnut brown, and her violet-blue eyes didn't even acknowledge the Rangers as she shoved past them. "Touchy, aren't we?" Deputy Nel smiled. The woman exhaled, trying to release some pent-up stress. "Sorry. It's just these new uniforms. They're very nice, but they got my measurements all wrong. Look at me, I feel like a circus tent. Anytime now, a teeny car filled with clowns is going to come flying out of my butt—" "My uniform is too small, so you're not alone in your misery," her colleague replied. "And you've got visitors, Heather." "I noticed," the woman snapped. "Now get out, you should be at the southern sector, shouldn't you?" "All right, I'm going." Deputy Nel shook his head and walked past the Rangers, muttering something about PMS under his breath. "I heard that!" Peterson called after him, and Nel quickened his pace after flashing her an insolent grin. She took her seat and turned her attention on the Rangers. "The Chief told me about possible visitors from the Order of Illumination." She leaned back into the high-backed chair, absently toying with a tiny gold stud earring. "Mr Wolfe didn't strike me as a troublemaker; where did he go wrong?" "He was too noble for his own good," Harry grumbled, squeezing Ginny's hand almost painfully now. Despite what Galatea had said earlier, he felt responsible for Wolfe, like she did. Peterson gave Harry an odd look, but let the issue rest. She rose from behind her desk and led the five Rangers down into the dungeons, which were largely unoccupied, until they reached a heavy steel door. She pressed her hand into a red rectangle, turning it green. The door opened to a small office. A dwarf constable rose from his stool in greeting. "Yes, Deputy Peterson?" "Disengage the security measures around cell 181." The dwarf nodded and began to punch in a number of stone keys in the wall behind him in a particular order while another heavy steel door swung open to reveal a long and narrow corridor with six steel doors facing each other. The door to Wolfe's cell opened upon their approach and Peterson gestured that they could enter, keeping a respectful distance herself. "If you need anything, just alert the guard in the office." "Thank you," Ron said. "We'll be fine." Ginny and Harry went in first, and the cell seemed okay to Ginny. At least it wasn't infested with vermin…The thought sent a shiver down her spine. If the stories about Azkaban and similar Dementor-guarded facilities were true, about the rats nibbling at dying prisoners… Wolfe rose from the cot he'd been sitting on and walked over to Galatea, who had swept in after Harry and Ginny. He raised his cuffed hands and slipped his arms over Galatea once she'd wrapped her arms around his neck. Tears were beginning to form in his eyes, the sight of which caused Ginny's own eyes to burn, signalling the imminent tears. "Wolfe…why?" Harry uttered, after clearing his throat a few times, but Wolfe cut him off. "It was my own decision, kid. It's in the past, and nothing you can do can change that," he said, with a warning tone. Everyone in the room knew what he meant by that. He didn't want Harry to try and repeat what he'd done. "There's no second party to blame, so butt out." "But you finally had a chance to be happy," Ginny said, pausing to swallow the lump in her throat. "You knew you were going to be a father. Why did you throw that all away for Harry and me?" "You could've married Galatea, started a family," Harry added Wolfe shook his head. "It was no choice at all, Harry. You and Ginny are two very special people, who could do great things together that would bring happiness to lots of people. And you deserved a chance to be happy together, so I took your place in destiny's scheme. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself afterwards anyway, and I would've been a bad husband to Tea, and a bad father to my baby." Despite the gravity of his situation, Wolfe still tried to downplay his tremendous sacrifice. Ginny shook her head at that. "Besides—" he continued" —I'm sure you'd have done the same for me." Ginny looked at Harry to gauge his reaction. He didn't seem to share Wolfe's faith in him, and after they ended their visit, leaving Galatea behind to allow her time alone with Wolfe before he left, Ginny saw that Harry was still brooding over the implications of Wolfe's statement.
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