Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 58: Revelation
"Neville was there with me when it happened. We were both cornered…" Harry said.
"He mentioned something about an accident in the room with the Time-Turners," Ginny replied slowly. "And some strange silver mist. Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you."
"It's okay. Did he say what happened next?" Harry asked. He couldn't help wondering how it must have looked from Neville's side.
Ginny paused to think. "He said it was terrifying. Even Bellatrix looked frightened by the mist...frightened enough to run. Neville said he waited and called out for you, but when the mist cleared, you were gone. Later, a Death Eater spotted him, and he had to escape."
Harry lowered his gaze. "I hope he didn't think I abandoned him. I should've spoken to Neville before I left the castle."
"Neville would never think that," Ginny said without hesitation. "He admires you, Harry."
"He does?"
"A lot of people do," she replied softly. "Even I..." She stopped herself, then shook her head. "But let's stay on track. How did you disappear from the Time-Turner room? And how did you suddenly appear in front of me… naked?" Her cheeks coloured at the memory. "I mean, you were completely naked. Except for the hat."
Harry coughed awkwardly. "From your point of view, it must've looked like I vanished from one room and reappeared in another a second later. But there's a lot missing between those two moments."
Ginny frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Do you know what that silver mist Neville mentioned actually was?"
She shook her head.
"It was time dust," Harry said. "The substance trapped inside Time-Turners."
"Time dust?"
"It's extremely dangerous. It's the main component that allows a Time-Turner to bend space and time. The Department of Mysteries has records of several accidents involving it."
Ginny listened closely as Harry described one such incident.
"So… he was trapped in time," she said slowly. "Just because he touched the mist?"
"Yes. The contact pushed him out of the main time stream and stranded him in a place where time had stopped. I call it the Frozen World."
Ginny stared at him. "But you—" She swallowed. "Did the same thing happen to you?"
Harry nodded. "Yes. But on a completely different scale. That researcher was exposed to a tiny amount of time dust...maybe a tenth of what one Time-Turner normally holds. I was engulfed in the mist created when every Time-Turner in the Ministry was destroyed. Nearly a thousand of them."
Ginny's breath caught. "How long were you there?"
"I honestly don't know," Harry said quietly. "Too long to count. Thousands of years. Far more than anyone should endure."
"Merlin!… thousands of years?" She shook her head. "That's... that's insane!."
Harry winced. "I don't like that word."
"I'm sorry," Ginny said immediately. "I didn't mean— I just can't imagine it. What you went through." She reached for his hand and held it tightly.
"So… you believe me?" he asked.
"Of course I do," she said. "The Harry I know wouldn't lie about something like this."
"I don't know if I'm still the same Harry," he admitted. "But I would never lie to you."
Ginny smiled faintly. "That explains why you're so… different. Did you spend most of that time practising magic?"
"There wasn't much else to do," Harry replied with a shrug. "A world without life gets very quiet. Studying and practising magic helped keep my mind intact."
"I'm amazed you even remember us," Ginny said. "Thousands of years… I forgot what I ate two days ago."
"That was one of the hardest parts," Harry admitted. "Holding on to who I was. Remembering what mattered. I only managed because of two things."
"Which are?"
"Occlumency," he said, "and him." He gestured to the talking hat.
"Oh, V!." Ginny exclaimed. "Did you really create him while you were trapped in time?."
"He did create me," V responded. "It has been a very long time already."
"And having someone to talk to," Harry added, "made the last fifteen thousand years survivable. Without him… I wouldn't have made it."
Ginny suddenly realised she was still holding his hand. She let go quickly, flustered. "Thank you… for trusting me with this. I know it couldn't have been easy."
"I've only told Sirius," Harry said. "I don't know how the others will react."
"You should tell Hermione, Neville, and Luna," Ginny said thoughtfully. "Ron can probably wait." She glanced down. "Oh..."
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"My ice cream melted."
Harry watched her carefully. After everything he had said...after thousands of years compressed into a handful of sentences, she would probably need some time to process everything.
" I can get you another one," he offered. "If you want."
Ginny shook her head. "No. It's fine." She paused, then added softly, "I don't think I'd taste it anyway."
That earned a small, humourless smile from Harry.
She finally looked up at him, really looked at him this time. "That was quite the story, and it explains so much."
Harry let out a quiet breath. "I know."
Ginny hesitated, then leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. "Does it still feel real to you?" she asked. "This world, I mean. Being here. With us."
He considered the question carefully. "Most days? Yes. Other days, it feels like I'm the one who doesn't belong here."
Ginny swallowed. "That sounds lonely."
"It was," Harry admitted. "Even after I came back."
Her fingers curled against the edge of the table, as if resisting the urge to grab his hand again.
"I'm glad you're here. Not just… alive. But here. With me."
Harry's breath caught, just slightly. "Thank you."
"So," she added, clearly trying to regain some normalcy, "next time you decide to tell someone you've lived through thousands of years inside a frozen world, maybe don't do it over ice cream."
"I'll try to remember that."
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