She blinked. Her head rested in Harry's lap, his hand stroking her hair. The grass rippled in a warm breeze.
"Just close your eyes, Ginny," he said gently. "The last few weeks have been stressful for you…"
"Harry?" she asked. Why was she here?
"You are safe. Just sleep a bit."
The sky was blue. The sun was shining through the leaves.
So Ginny just closed her eyes.
She was so tired.
Suddenly Harry's hands were around her neck. She couldn't breathe.
"Die!" Harry said hatefully.
Her eyes opened. The sky was red as blood and a storm was rattling the trees.
She saw Harry's spiteful look…
Ginny sat up straight in her bed.
Oh, a dream... of course.
It wasn't the first nightmare, since she had remembered her death and Anastasia murdering her. But since facing the boggart a few weeks ago her nightmares had shifted from Anastasia more to the people around her murdering and betraying her - her roommates, her brothers, her parents, Harry.
A horrible, cold, irrational fear still lingered inside her, clinging to her from the dream.
She let herself fall back into her bed.
She didn't want to lose what she had now. Especially Harry…
Harry Potter had somehow, without her noticing, become an important part of her life. She couldn't say when or why, but being with him calmed her. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that the constant anxiety gnawing at her subconscious eased in his presence.
He made her feel like a real fourteen-year-old girl with a normal - well, normal for magical Britain - teenage life. She could forget the still very possible looming threat of Dumbledore or others finding out about her past life, about her not being the original Ginny, about Hermione's death or all her other secrets.
Which was hypocritical, of course, since all of it rested on lies and manipulations. Yet sometimes it became difficult to say who she really was anymore. And maybe she was clinging to the version of Ginny that existed in Harry's mind - the girl she wanted to be.
He made her feel real.
The last time she had felt that way, was with Anastasia.
Anastasia, whom Alexander had loved and trusted from the bottom of his heart. Anastasia, who had sworn she loved him back… Anastasia, who had betrayed and killed him.
She took out her wand, looking at it in the dim light of the second-year girl's bedroom - it was still the middle of the night after all.
On the one hand, she wanted to find this calm and peace again, the calm she had once felt with Anastasia and that she might be able to feel again with Harry. On the other hand, she now felt scared. Scared that he, too, would betray her. Now, part of her expected him to be holding a knife behind his back all the time.
He would have enough reason to do so. She had manipulated him. She had killed Hermione. She wasn't even the original Ginny Weasley…
But she had a plan.
When Harry had come to her to talk about his scar, she had made a decision. She would use the Horcrux's existence to her advantage.
Originally, during their Beltane date, Ginny had only entertained a vague plan to use the Horcrux in his scar to further alienate him from Dumbledore in the future - for no particular reason, it was just fun to see how far she could take the animosity - and to further indebt Harry to her.
That and she had been curious if it really was a Horcrux, even without the usual blood ritual to stabilize it.
It might instead be something closer to a quasi-Horcrux - Voldemort's soul fragment barely holding onto Harry's body. Alexander had read 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' just days before his death… a Killing Curse wouldn't destroy a normal Horcrux, but there were not many books on living Horcruxes…
The blood ritual she had planned would tell her how strong the connection between Harry's scar and Voldemort's soul fragment really was. And after the blood ritual… well, afterwards she would have to manipulate Harry to react exactly like she wanted.
She sighed and closed her eyes. Maybe she could sleep some more.
Those nightmares were really getting annoying…
But no matter how she tried, sleep wouldn't return and she dragged through the rest of the day exhausted.
Other than the nightmares, everything was fine. She kept up with classes, homework and friends, maintaining the image of the model student
She had sent Harry to the Hospital Wing under his Invisibility Cloak to steal Blood-Replenishing Potions so they had enough blood for the ritual.
They would do the blood ritual in the Room of Requirements during the first Hogsmeade weekend on Hallowe'en. Not only would blood magic be stronger that day, but the castle would also be empty, some teachers even using the opportunity to leave the castle.
"Hey, Ginny. How are you," Dean asked, while she was sitting in her favourite armchair in the common room.
She was absolutely not in the mood for this… Could she just stun him or tell him to fuck off and be done with it?
"Hi, Dean," she said lacklustrely, hoping he got the message by himself.
She waved lazily to him, while using her hand to send a silent compulsion to him to leave her alone.
But Dean just frowned.
"Are you ok, Ginny?" he asked, slightly worried. That was the disadvantage of compulsion charms. They had no effect if the target didn't want to follow the compulsion at all. Unfortunately, Dean seemed genuinely determined to talk to her.
"Yeah, I'm just tired," Ginny admitted sleepily. It was evening, so what… she could still pretend to be tired. Annoyingly Ginny saw Charlie and Alaric making their way to her too. Couldn't they see that she wanted to be left alone?
"Ehm, do you want to maybe stroll around the Hogwarts grounds with me? Fresh air is always waking me up," Dean suggested. Asking a girl who very clearly didn't want to talk to you out on a date? Dean had guts, Ginny gave him that.
"No, I'll just lie down in my bed for a while," she waved him off, while taking her things and going to the girls' dormitory - ignoring Charlie and Alaric on the way.
She missed Harry, but the Quidditch season was approaching. Oliver Wood, Captain of the Gryffindor team, had been really happy about Harry's new Firebolt. That was at least what Harry had told her about the Gryffindor team's meeting last Thursday evening - not that Ginny really cared about Quidditch.
Because of that stupid sport, Harry now had three training sessions a week. Why anyone would be so enthusiastic to fly through the cold, rainy and windy autumn air was beyond her.
She looked out of the window. So stupid…
On Hallowe'en Ginny and Harry walked to the Room of Requirement under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Most students in third year and above were in Hogsmeade, leaving the castle corridors nearly deserted, especially since it was a Sunday. Harry had managed to steal the Blood-Replenishing Potions and Ginny had finished the Arithmantic design of the ritual - compared to her Ritual of Rebirth, this one was almost trivial.
'It's only been a year, huh?'
In the Room of Requirement Ginny got to work.
She was kneeling on the cold stone floor, carefully drawing the rune circles for the ritual with Harry's blood, by drawing thin strands of blood from the wound on his palm. Harry meanwhile drank a Blood-Replenishing Potion whenever he felt light-headed, while watching Ginny work.
Like this, hours passed… The coppery tang of fresh blood was slowly filling the air.
At last Ginny stepped back, wiping the sweat from her brow and admiring her work.
"I'm finished," she declared, getting Harry's attention.
"You are?"
"Yeah," Ginny answered satisfied. "Now get naked and step in the middle so we can get this over with."
"What?!" Harry asked in shock, while Ginny turned around to look at him. She tried not to show her amusement. Instead she pretended to be confused.
"Haven't I told you about this?" she asked, tilting her head. "Blood rituals can be influenced by the magic in your clothes, your wand or other objects. For safety reasons it's best to do them naked…"
"No, you haven't!" Harry told her.
Of course she hadn't told him this beforehand. It was much funnier this way.
She watched him blush as he realised that he would be naked in front of her of all people.
"Don't worry," she dismissed his worries. "I have six brothers. There isn't anything I haven't seen before."
Harry's mortification was so cute…
"Can you… please turn around," Harry asked desperately, still unconvinced and embarrassed.
Ginny just rolled her eyes and complied.
She heard his robes slipping onto the floor and wondered. An unsolicited image of Harry shyly disrobing formed in her mind.
"Do I really have to be completely naked?" Harry asked again, almost desperate.
"Yes, Harry…" Ginny answered, exasperated, and she heard the last piece of his clothing - probably his underwear - hit the ground.
Who knew Harry would be this bashful about it…
"Let's start with the ritual then," she declared as she faced him again.
"Don't turn around!" Harry exclaimed, embarrassed, as he tried to cover himself between his legs.
Ginny's eyes immediately fell onto his face, which was burning with embarrassment.
Her eyes wandered, almost against her will, from his collarbone down to his chest. Her throat suddenly felt very dry.
He was frantically trying to cover himself with his hands, but making a poor job of it.
A deep throb settled in her stomach as her thighs pressed together. She wondered why this made her feel so wound up.
"Ginny! Don't stare like this!" Harry shouted, embarrassed.
Ginny turned her gaze down to the blood runes, realising that she had gawped at Harry's naked body without realising it. Stupid hormones…
She took a deep breath to steady her thumping heart.
"Don't worry, Harry…" she began, wanting to tease him a little to distract from her staring. "You're quite big for your age," she joked.
It took a moment for Harry to understand what she meant.
"Ginny!"
His reaction made her giggle despite herself, though she felt a touch embarrassed too.
"Let's do the ritual," Ginny said calmly as she positioned her hands correctly to channel her magic into the ritual, shoving aside the odd flutter in her stomach to concentrate., while Harry stepped in the middle of the ritual circle.
"Here we go," she announced as her magic activated the ritual - mainly to inform Harry.
The blood runes began to glow, filling the room with an ominous red light. Harry standing in the middle was slightly startled. But thankfully he didn't move and disturb any of the runes.
An empty parchment page lying in a small sub-circle began to fill with information after a few moments.
And then the runes stopped glowing. The whole ritual had lasted no more than 30 seconds.
"Is… is it over?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"Yeah," Ginny muttered, already absorbed in the results written on the parchment, ignoring Harry otherwise.
The results were fascinating. Harry certainly wasn't a real Horcrux, but there were similarities. She had done the same ritual with Ravenclaw's Diadem in the Chamber of Secrets in her first year, and the comparison was intriguing.
Voldemort's soul fragment had barely latched onto the curse scar, but the connection was still surprisingly strong. There had been no Horcrux creation ritual, so there was no intentionally directed magic anchoring the soul fragment to the host.
Ginny still didn't understand why a Killing Curse could work to remove the Quasi-Horcrux, but she could probably invent a blood ritual with this information to get rid of the soul fragment. It would probably still need a human sacrifice, though…
"Ginny, what are the results of the ritual?" Harry asked.
She looked up to find Harry already dressed again - she must have been studying the parchment for quite a while. She almost forgot her real goal here, but soul magic was always intriguing to Ginny.
Right, the blood pact…
She forced her expression into one of worried concern.
Harry, have you ever thought about how You-Know-Who survived after his body was destroyed and kept living as something like a ghost while being able to possess people like Quirrell?"
"Yes, of course," Harry said with a frown. "I assumed that it was just some very dark magic he did…"
"Well, you are not wrong," Ginny replied with a wry smile. "There are objects called Horcruxes, where someone separates a part of their soul into an object. The wizard or witch is effectively immortal as long as the object isn't destroyed. They can even survive the destruction of their body."
Harry nodded, signalling that he understood the concept as he listened intently.
"There is a soul fragment clinging to your scar," Ginny continued and Harry froze as the words sank in. "It's not a real Horcrux but similar enough. My best guess is that You-Know-Who had created at least one Horcrux before attacking your parents, destabilising his soul. When his body was destroyed, a soul fragment became loose and latched onto the only living thing around - you."
Harry sat silently beside her, clearly trying to digest the horrifying revelation.
"Can we get rid of it somehow?" Harry asked, a bit desperate - Ginny liked that he didn't even consider asking Dumbledore or anyone else for help.
"I will try to create a ritual to remove it, but I will need a while for that," Ginny answered, pretending to be uncertain. Right now Harry would never accept killing someone to destroy the fragment in his scar, but time could change that.
"Thank you, Ginny," Harry muttered as the silence between them returned, lost in thought.
"What's the worst thing that could happen because of this… Horcrux, until we find a way to get rid of it?" Harry asked, still obviously worried.
"Well," Ginny began cautiously - she wanted the conversation to go exactly where she needed it to go. "It's possible that a temporary mental connection to Voldemort's soul fragment could be established, for example during sleep when your mind is vulnerable. The best defense against this would be strong Occlumency shields… The easiest and fastest method for Occlumency training is someone using Legimency on you repeatedly. I can cast it, but I don't want to push you into anything - it can be quite unpleasant and invasive," she continued, with an unsure look. It shouldn't look like she pressured him into it. She was also quite curious whether he trusted her even with his mind.
"I trust you completely, Ginny," Harry said, looking deep into her eyes to show his sincerity. "If Occlumency can protect me from the Horcrux, then I will do it, even if it's unpleasant."
"Is there anything else? Any other problem the Horcrux might cause? Please tell me the truth, Ginny," he asked after a short pause.
She looked at Harry, pretending to feel worried and uneasy.
"There is also the possibility that… that it might possess you, suppressing your will entirely. Either temporarily or for a longer time, maybe even without you realizing it. You-Know-Who might harm you or the people important to you this way," she said, squeezing his hand in false sympathy.
"What?" Harry whispered, aghast. He looked at Ginny.
"I don't want to endanger the people I love… Please tell me you have an idea to prevent this?" Harry pleaded.
Ginny suppressed the urge to smile. It was obvious that Harry was picturing himself hurting her - he had used the phrase 'people I love', after all. So Ginny pretended to think while tilting her head.
"I can only think about a blood pact at the moment. Do you know what an Unbreakable Vow is?" she asked, while Harry nodded slowly.
"Yeah, a legal wizard from some organisation did an Unbreakable Vow about the last will of Sirius Black, when your father took me to the Ministry. You want me to do one not to harm anybody?"
"An Unbreakable Vow binds the soul, so Voldemort possessing you wouldn't be affected. A blood pact, on the other hand, binds the body," Ginny explained.
"So Voldemort possessing me would be bound by it too," Harry finished her sentence in awe.
"Yeah. It usually makes no difference - body or soul - but here this detail is important. Another difference is that a blood pact is always between two parties and doesn't need a third person as a Bonder - so we could do one whenever you want. Also, a blood pact can be taken back if both parties agree and there will be only pain and your body and magic fighting back if you try to break it, not death. That makes it less dangerous than Unbreakable Vows."
She had read several books on this out of curiosity, to understand the magical difference between the blood pact between Dumbledore and Grindelwald and the Unbreakable Vow between Snape, Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange from the Harry Potter books. This knowledge came in handy now.
"You could swear that you would never harm me against my will or betray me, making it impossible for the Horcrux to do so if it ever takes your body over, even for a short time - while I swear that I will take the blood pact back whenever you ask me to," she continued her proposal.
She didn't want a slave without free will - strangely enough - she wanted Harry to willingly give her this guarantee. She obviously wouldn't trust him ever again if he ever wanted to take the blood pact back. But that was left unsaid.
"Why 'against your will'?"
"Well, the 'against my will' part is so we could still duel or train other magic… I'm not sure what the oath would consider harm," she explained, like she was just thinking of it.
"Ah, got it."
The remnants of the blood ritual were vanished quickly, along with the result sheet, which Ginny had already memorized thanks to Occlumency.
"Ok, let's do it!" he decided.
Fortunately, a blood pact required very little preparation. Ginny only needed to explain the ritual's steps to Harry. For a blood pact to work, it was essential that you genuinely meant what you said and truly intended to uphold your part of the oath.
Ginny suspected this was why Voldemort had never relied on unbreakable oaths and blood pacts on a large scale for his followers. It was difficult to threaten people into genuinely wanting something.
In any case, the steps of a blood oath were simple enough and Ginny was confident it would succeed.
Harry slit his right hand open with his wand, blood flowing out of the wound.
"I swear that I will never harm you against your will or betray you," Harry began the oath, just as Ginny had planned.
This was it. This was what she wanted. Someone who could never betray her. Maybe like this there would be someone she could feel safe with.
Ginny prepared herself to slit her left hand to accept the oath, but Harry wasn't finished.
"I also swear that I will always try to protect you and that if you ever suspect that I'm possessed and order me to do so," he continued, making an oath she didn't expect, "that my body and magic will do everything possible so that the soul fragment possessing me cannot control me any longer."
This idiot could be so impulsive! Why hadn't he talked to her about this before acting!?
Oh well…
Ginny sighed, deciding to go through with the oath regardless.
She slit her left hand with her wand and then clasped their hands together, so their blood would mix.
"And I swear that I will do everything to take this blood pact back whenever you ask me to," she swore her part.
They felt something forming out of their blood between their hands, so they unclasped them. The drop with their mixed blood rose into the air and a beautiful phial took shape around, enclosing it.
After a few seconds hovering in the air, it fell down into Ginny's awaiting hand. She looked closer. It had an intricate and elaborate design, but what made it really beautiful to Ginny was what it represented.
"Why did you change your vow in the last second, Harry," Ginny asked, frowning.
Harry just rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, seemingly not knowing what to say.
"I thought it was a good idea, ok?" he defended himself. "I even made sure to say 'try' so the oath's magic wouldn't punish me if I failed… I can't even harm you indirectly now if I am controlled and we can easily end the possession that way too…"
"Well, fine... Maybe it was a good idea," Ginny conceded - she couldn't admit that she didn't expect the Horcrux to ever be a problem. The Voldemort problem could be easily dealt with next year. The 'protect' part might have unforeseen consequences, but Harry would likely try to protect her anyway if he knew she was in danger…
She imagined the oath driving him to storm the arena while she faced the dragon in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament… Yes, that was something she would have to keep in mind.
"Let's test if the blood pact really worked," she suggested, having already healed the wound on both their hands with a quick "Episkey."
"Test?"
"Yeah. Attack me with some spell," she ordered.
Harry looked at her, stunned.
"I could never harm you, Ginny," Harry said earnestly. Ginny could see in his eyes that he meant every word of it.
She felt a little flutter in her stomach, but ignored it.
"Come on, just a Stinging Hex," she tried to encourage him.
He raised his wand at her, but didn't cast anything.
"But… would it still be 'against your will' if you ordered me to do so," he argued, obviously still uncomfortable with the whole situation.
"You're right," she had to concede. "I think it would be enough if you just really wanted to harm or betray me for the blood oath to activate… Try that."
He reluctantly closed his eyes, obviously trying to imagine something unpleasant. But even after waiting a while, nothing happened and Harry opened his eyes again.
"I'm sorry, Ginny, but I can't even imagine wanting to harm or betray you… I could never do that," he apologized.
Ginny didn't need to use Legimency to know he meant every word. He wasn't hyperbolic, he didn't try to be cheesy or romantic. He was telling the truth.
It was unbelievable that such an immaculate soul could exist…
The feeling in her stomach was annoying.
"You're so sappy," she teased him, pulling him closer. Her voice was strangely gentle. His face turned red when their faces were mere inches apart.
Then Ginny - without thinking about it - gave him a quick peck on the lips.
It took a moment for her to realize what she was doing. Why had she kissed him!?
Was her face burning? She wasn't blushing! Ginny Weasley didn't blush like a stupid little school girl in love!
Stupid teenage hormones!
She levelled her wand at the still stunned Harry.
"This never happened! I can and will use a Memory Charm on you!" she exclaimed, but even in her own mind she sounded like a Tsundere - yes, Alexander had secretly watched anime from time to time…
Harry just nodded, an annoying grin forming slowly on his face.
She didn't like the situation one bit, so she just took his hand and pulled him out of the Room of Requirements.
"Come, the others are probably on their way back from Hogsmeade already."
"Of course, Ginny," Harry answered placatingly.
Stupid smug boy…