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SIYE Time:0:12 on 4th December 2024
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I Solemnly Swear…
By M_And

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Category: The Marauders Map Challenge (2008-6)
Characters:All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, General, Humor
Warnings: Violence
Story is Complete
Rating: PG
Reviews: 18
Summary: ** Honorable Mention “Most Votes” in the The Marauders Map Challenge **
Have you ever wondered what would have happened had Fred and George given Ginny the Marauders Map instead of Harry? Would Ginny have become a part of The Golden Trio’s inner circle sooner? Would Harry have started noticing her a tad earlier? Here’s your chance to find out. Written for SIYE’s Marauders Map Challenge 2008-6.
Hitcount: Story Total: 6960



Disclaimer: Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions in this story are my own and in no way represent the owners of this site. This story subject to copyright law under transformative use. No compensation is made for this work.



Author's Notes:
I want to thank my Beta Jezz Jamer, for turning around yet another story in record time. Thanks JJ for your hard work on such short notice; I appreciate your effort! I also want to thank my wonderful wife for her help with yet another story-thanks J.A. for your patience and support, and thank you for your suggestions and editing.

I hope you all enjoy the story. Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Oh, and Happy Holidays from me and mine to you and yours!




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I Solemnly Swear…



Summer was clinging to its last gasps of breath in the highlands of Scotland. The days were still pleasantly warm, but a chill could be felt in the air at night, a promise of winter’s cold kiss and chilly embrace to come.

At twelve years old, Ginny Weasley was growing into a beautiful young girl. Slightly built, and not particularly tall, she had a wealth of fiery red hair with traces of auburn, gold, and copper streaked through out. With just a hint of a tan, her skin was lightly dusted with freckles, and while she absolutely detested them, they drove the male population at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to distraction. Her warm chocolate brown eyes usually sparkled with mischief and happiness.

Today however was not one of those times. Her normally bright eyes were red rimmed and wet with tears as she gazed blindly out over the Black Lake, oblivious to the drama playing out before her as a tentacle of the giant squid slowly rose out of the water behind a bullfrog sunning itself on a lily pad, and snatched it for a small meal.

The top button of her uniform blouse was undone, and her shoes and socks lay beside her on the ground. Wriggling her toes into the long grass, she let out a deep pensive sigh. Ginny, with the help of her family, had mostly gotten over the events of the previous school year, the operative word being mostly. No one ever really fully gets over being touched by evil. There always seems to be lingering after effects.

For Ginny, that took the form of nightmares most nights, and a profound feeling of guilt at what she had done to her friends and schoolmates still haunted her. But mostly these days she felt lonely. Nobody seemed to understand how she felt. Percy graduated, and now worked for the Ministry of Magic. The twins, several years older than her, were starting their O.W.L. year, and were usually to busy for her. And while Ron, Hermione, and Harry were only a year older than her, they tended to keep to themselves. She was never included in their circle. Just like the previous year.

Though she didn’t seem to know it, she was actually quite popular and well liked amongst her peers, but was not really close with any of them, at least not enough to want to confide in them. She desperately wanted to be included and accepted by her brother and his two best friends. Especially Harry, whom she had fancied for so long; but it seemed she was doomed to always remain in their rather long shadow, just Ron’s baby sister. At this thought, the tears began rolling down her freckled cheeks again.

She lowered her head and looked at her toes as they peeked out of the tall grass, completely unaware of the large, shaggy, black dog that was cautiously approaching.

===================== =========

The dog paused in its advance and observed the redheaded girl sitting near the lake. His sensitive nose could smell salt from her tears and the flowery aroma of her shampoo. His keen hearing heard the unmistakable sounds of muffled sobs.

Ginny raised her head, a fierce determination on her countenance. “Pull your self together Ginevra Weasley,” she chided with more conviction than she was actually feeling. “Except for moments when you completely embarrass yourself, Harry-Blessed-Potter doesn’t even know you exist! Why do you insist on pining away after him?” She paused as if considering her own question, and the fierceness and determination left her eyes, replaced with a longing sadness. “Because I’m head over arse in love with the daft boy, that’s why,” she answered herself dejectedly.

The large black dog heard every word she said and knew that it was true. It carefully padded up to her and nudged its cold wet nose against her neck, then playfully licked her ear.

Ginny, startled at first, as she had not heard it come up to her from behind looked up to see the enormous dog. Looking into its intelligent brown eyes, she quickly saw that it was no threat and giggled in delight at the dog’s attempt to lick her ear again. “Well, I certainly have no problems getting kisses from you, do I…err…boy,” she said as she peeked to identify the gender of the dog.

“And just who do you belong to?” she asked has she used both hands to rub the dogs great shaggy head. The response was a chin to hairline lick of her face, which induced another fit of giggles as the dog wagged its tail playfully and continued to try and lick Ginny’s face. Eventually he knocked her on to her back and turned the giggles into an outright belly laugh.

Finally the big black dog ceased his playful attack and lay down beside her, his head up and alert, an almost regal bearing to his features. Ginny sat back up and absently scratched behind his ears. “Well, I can see I need to come up with a name for you,” she said in good humor as she appraised the animal, trying to find some inspiration. Seeing the enormous paws sparked her first suggestion. “Hmmm…how about Paddy?” The dog looked at her and seemed to roll its eyes at her. “No? Okay then, let see…I got it! Blacky!”

The dog barked at her in an almost growl, as if to say “Are you mad?”

“Picky thing, aren’t you?” she teased. “All right, so it wasn’t my best effort.” The dog blew air out its nose and muzzle making a snuffling type of sound.

Ginny laughed at him, amused by his personality. “Just for that, I’m going to call you Snuffles,” she giggled as the dog looked at her indignantly.

As Ginny sat there thinking of more names, she absently noticed that the temperature had turned frosty. “Brrr, when did it get so cold?” she asked Snuffles as she started to put her socks and shoes back on.

Snuffles hackles shot up as he bounded up, standing in a defensive position in front of Ginny. “What is it boy? What…” The gloom that she had been feeling earlier seemed to return tenfold. Off in the distance she could see dark spectral figures floating over the lake, searching.

Snuffles turned and bit down on Ginny’s shirtsleeve, careful to avoid biting her arm and began pulling her into the shelter of the forest. He was so big that he easily outweighed her, and she had little choice but to follow him. That was actually quite all right with Ginny as she decided that being anywhere else was a good idea at the moment.

Snuffles lead her several hundred feet into the forest, in amongst a stand of evergreen trees whose boughs were hanging low. He pulled her down to the ground and did his best to shield her from the approaching Dementors.

Ginny held her breath, fear rolling off her in waves, and she had to fight to keep from whimpering and giving herself away. Dumbledore had warned everyone at the Welcoming Feast to be careful about being near the Dementors. Why hadn’t she listened?

As she watched, gloom and despair filling her heart, the black clad Guards of Azkaban floated near by, searching for the convicted and escaped mass murderer, Sirius Black. Finally, the despair and chill slowly faded away as the Dementors moved on. After a few minutes, Snuffles cautiously lead Ginny back to the main grounds.

“Thank you Snuffles!” Ginny cried in relief, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms around the huge dog’s neck in a crushing hug. “I owe you big time. You probably just saved my life. What a brave, smart dog you are!” she said hugging him again. “I probably should head back to the castle but I’ll try to come back tomorrow to see you, and I’ll bring as much food as I can for you when I come. You don’t look as though you’ve been fed very well lately,” she said eyeing him critically. “Please stay away from the Dementors. I don’t know if they attack dogs, but it’s best not to find out. I’ll see you tomorrow Snuffles!”

The big black dog wagged its tail at her and gave her a big lick on the cheek, then loped back towards the forest. Ginny decided to take her cue from Snuffles and started jogging back towards the castle. “Well,” she thought to herself as she ran, “at least there’s one creature that likes me and wants me around. It’s a start I suppose.”

======================== ======

Several weeks later Ginny was again back at the lake. She tried to go there at least once a day to sneak food to Snuffles. But truthfully she was becoming very attached to the big shaggy beast. Snuffles became her confidant, especially regarding the “Golden Trio” as they were beginning to be known.

As she sat on the ground scratching the dog’s ears, Snuffles scrambled to his feet, looking over Ginny’s shoulder, a low growl in his throat. Ginny looked behind her to see her twin brothers, Fred and George approaching, innocent smiles on their faces and mischievous eyes dancing with mirth at the sight of their sister.

“It’s alright boy,” Ginny said with a touch of exasperation, smoothing the hackles down on Snuffles’ shoulders. “It’s just my brothers. They won’t hurt you, I promise.” Snuffles stopped growling, but maintained his alert posture.

“I told you Fred, Ginny must have found a beau, but honestly I question her taste. This one’s a real dog.” A low warning growl began in Snuffles throat.

“Right you were too, mate,” replied George, eyeing the dog warily.

“Hello Gred and Forge,” greeted Ginny them with a smirk.

The twins smiled down at their sister before taking a seat next to her. “What have you been up to Ginger Snap?” Fred inquired. “We’ve hardly seen you around the last couple of weeks.”

“Yeah, not consorting with any strange diaries again are you?” George teased.

Ginny looked as if someone had just slapped her across the face. Snuffles, sensing her discomfiture, stepped between her and the twins, growling menacingly at them.

Fred smacked George upside the head. “Don’t be such an insensitive tosser!”

George glared at his brother and then looked at his sister who appeared truly hurt by his careless remark. “Merlin’s crusty beard! Sorry Gin-Gin. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

“You have no bloody idea what it’s been like for me!” Ginny spat out in a quivery voice. “You can’t possibly understand what I still am going through…the memories…the guilt…” She buried her face in her hands and started to cry. George started to move towards her but Snuffles stepped between, baring his teeth.

“Allow me brother dear,” Fred said, moving towards his sister cautiously. “Nice dog,” he crooned, looking at it warily, “She’s our sister, and we only want to help.”

Snuffles sniffed at him as if to ascertain the truth, then granted him access to Ginny. Fred engulfed her in a hug, soothing her as she cried. “It’s alright Ginger Snap, Forge and I won’t let anyone hurt you again. You know we love you, and we only want your happiness, right Forge?”

“Absitively Gred! Honest Gin-Gin, I’m truly sorry. In fact we have a little something to pass on to you.” George reached into the pocket of his school robes and pulled out a piece of folded blank parchment, slightly discolored with age.

As he unfolded the parchment, Ginny looked up, always wary of anything her brothers might try to give her. “What sort of rubbish are you trying to push on me now?” she said sniffing, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Rubbish?” the twins said in unison.

“Did she say Rubbish?” asked George aghast.

“That she did mate,” replied Fred, feigning sadness. “Honestly Ginger Snap, that there is the secret to all our mischief-making success.”

“That there is the Marauder’s Map,” replied George proudly.

Ginny looked at him as if to say, “So.”

“I think Gin-Gin still doesn’t trust us,” said George to his brother.

“It appears you’re right my devilishly handsome brother. I’m sure it’s not because of the time we turned her hair that awful shade of puce green,” Fred mused.

“No, that couldn’t possibly be it. How about that glass of pumpkin juice we doctored up to increase the number of freckles on her face?” volunteered George.

“No, no, that surely isn’t it. I know! It was probably that time we transfigured her bed into bread pudding. Probably would have been best to let her get out of it first I expect,” added Fred sagely.

“You forget one little detail and she holds it against us for life,” George replied in mock exasperation.

By this time Ginny had to work to not smile at her brother’s blatant antics to cheer her up. “Alright! Enough you two! What’s this ratty old map supposed to do anyway?” she asked curiously and only slightly annoyed.

“Ah…right then…all business this one,” George said, acting all flustered. “Fred if you would be so kind…”

“Gladly.” Fred took the parchment offered from George and tapped it with his wand saying, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

Ginny watched in amazement as lines and writing started to be revealed on the parchment. The parchment heading read:

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, purveyors of aids to magical mischief makers, are proud to present the Marauders Map.

“Who are Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?” Ginny asked; her interest peaked. She didn’t notice as Snuffles slowly started to back away from the group toward the forest.

“Well, we assume they’re the Marauders,” answered George.

Ginny looked at him as if he was defective. “I think I could get that much you git!”

“Testy thing, isn’t she?” George remarked to his brother.

“Probably something she ate,” Fred shot back. “Now Ginger Snap, play nice, or Gred and Forge won’t give you their map.” Fred turned the map over and Ginny saw all the rooms in Hogwarts, and little dots with names moving around. She spotted Harry’s name in his dorm.

“Is that…is that Harry?” she asked in wonder.

“The boy hero himself,” replied Fred.

“So,” she said with a grin as she began to understand what the map did, “this map shows…”

“Every room and everyone, at every time of day,” the twins said together.

“It also shows all the secret passageways in the castle as well as the secret rooms that the professors neglected to tell us about,” George said with an impish grin.

“So why are you two showing me this?” asked Ginny suspiciously.

“Because we have decided that your needs are greater than ours,” answered Fred. “As the last Weasley to go to Hogwarts for a while, it’s up to you to use this map to make sure the name of Weasley is not forgotten. And before you ask, it’s free! Besides, we have it memorized.”

“There’s little chance our family name will be forgotten with you two still here,” she retorted. “And I believe it was you two who taught me that there is no such thing as a free gift. I also seem to remember that little pearl of wisdom you taught me, you know…never sniff a gift hippogriff!”

“Er yeah,” George said pretending to be embarrassed and failing miserably. “That sounds like us, but this hippogriff is free and smells fresh as a daisy.”

“Look, all we want is for you to promise us to use this map to create havoc and mayhem,” Fred countered.

“I thought you two were Havoc and Mayhem. You know, sort of a matched set,” she countered.

Fred looked at his sister appraisingly. “She is right you know. Our little Ginger Snap is as brilliant as she is beautiful.”

“Too right. Well then, she can be Pandemonium.”

“Sounds about right,” said Ginny playfully.

The twins grinned at her. “Now listen up, because this is important,” said Fred.

“When you’re done with the map, simply say,” added George.

“Mischief managed,” continued Fred as he tapped the parchment with his wand.

“Otherwise any shady codger could read it,” they said together.

“Thanks guys,” Ginny said smiling at her brothers. “This means a lot to me. I won’t let you down.” Then she gave each of them a big hug and a peck on the cheek.

The twins were truly discomfited at her display of affection, but hugged her back. Neither saw the “Kick Me Here” signs she conjured and stuck to their backsides. Helping her to her feet, they headed off to dinner. It was only later that night that Ginny realized she missed seeing Snuffles leave.

=========================== ===

The months flew by and Ginny did her best to make good use of the map her brother’s gave her. She often could not sleep at night because of the nightmares that plagued her, so rather than sit and stew over the latest horrifying dream; Ginny took to using the map to explore the ancient castle’s secrets in the wee hours of the night.

To get around undetected, she would sneak up to the boy’s third year dorm and nick Harry’s invisibility cloak from his trunk, always careful to return it each time. This allowed her to essentially go anywhere without being seen. The end result of her restlessness was a rash of pranks, usually on Slytherins, though the odd and varied individual from other houses was included.

Of note were the unexplained happenings to Romilda Vane, a snotty first year that showed way too much interest in Harry. She routinely found her belongings scattered throughout the castle, altered, or in various states of disrepair.

Then there were also the occasional pranks on her brother Ron after she learned that it had been him who had decided she couldn’t associate with him and his friends. One clever prank left his cheeks bulging like a pack rat as he ate breakfast, though in truth he didn’t appear much different than normal.

The best pranks were by far the ones perpetrated against the Slytherins. There was the morning the entire house was late for their classes because they were all stuck to the benches in the great hall. A few days later, they turned more than a few heads when they all sported bright fuchsia school robes. Perhaps the wildest prank centered on Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson when they mooned the entire school as they walked to class because a cleverly placed potion had dissolved their cloths around the area of their bums. No one suspected that Ginny was the perpetrator…the twins, or possibly even Harry yes, but not Ginny.

She also continued to sneak food to Snuffles and the big black dog’s shaggy coat and over all health gradually appeared to get better. November was drawing to a close, and she was thankful that the weather in Scotland had been moderate up to this point. Stir Up Sunday was just past, and the first Sunday in Advent was just a few days away, and so far the temperatures had been unusually warm, staying near the fifteen degree Celsius mark, balmy by all comparisons for the time of year. That made trips down to the lake to feed Snuffles an almost pleasant jaunt.

Another three weeks and they would all be off for the Christmas Holiday break. She, her brothers, Hermione, and Harry would all be staying at the castle this year as her parents were going first to Egypt to see Bill, and then on to Romania for a quick visit with Charlie. Both Charlie and Bill had received bonuses from their respective employers, and were paying their parents way for the trip as a Christmas present.

Ginny had observed that Harry seemed down lately, and wanted to find some way of cheering him up. She had noted that he didn’t seem to have much of an appetite, and was obviously distracted by something. She supposed the knowledge that Sirius Black was out there just waiting to kill him given the chance had him worried or scared. She also knew from experience that the constant presence of the Dementors was not helping either.

During the recent Quidditch match, the foul creatures had left their posts and strayed onto the grounds attacking Harry during the match. If it hadn’t been for Professor Dumbledore, Harry would have died from Sudden Impact Trauma before Madam Pomfrey could work her magic. As it was, Harry’s Nimbus 2000 had become a casualty of the Whomping Willow.

Ginny lay awake in her four-poster, the curtain drawn tight for privacy, studying the map after waking from a particularly horrid dream. Almost everyone was in bed. Mr. Filch was stalking the hallways on the fifth floor by the prefect’s bathroom, and Professor Dumbledore was pacing in his study.

Perusing the map, she saw a secret passage she’d not noticed before called the Hall of History. Its entrance was right next to a marble staircase on the first floor. It ran the length of the hall past Professor Binn’s History of Magic classroom, and ended right before Professor McGonagall’s office.

Curiosity got the better of Ginny. She snuck up to the boy’s third year dorm, pinched Harry’s invisibility cloak from his trunk, and headed out the portrait hole after making sure that the way was clear on the map. As she reached the indicated staircase, she searched for the door. Eventually she found an outline in the wall, but there was no knob, lock, or secret button that granted access. Sitting down on one of the cold marble stairs, she pondered how to get in.

She came up with several ideas and decided to give them a go. The first thing she tried was the obvious choice, she asked permission. That got her nothing. So she tried all of the opening and unlocking spells she could think of. No response. Absently trailing her hand trail down the wall, she felt it quiver.

“Could it be?” she asked herself. She started tickling the wall and it slowly started to open, allowing her admittance. As she cautiously stepped through, the door closed behind her with an audible CLICK. Inside it was not completely dark like she thought it would be. There was a faint bluish cast coming off the walls. As she turned to inspect them more carefully she noticed that the walls were showing images of Hogwarts and its’ students, but from what must have been hundreds of years ago. “There’s something you don’t see everyday,” Ginny said to herself in wonder. “Then again, maybe you do,” as she remembered that the scenes were of Hogwarts.

Ginny slowly walked forward, and as she moved further down the hall she noticed that the scenes became more recent. When she was perhaps six meters from the end of the hall she sucked in a breath, startled. She saw what looked like a slightly older Harry kissing what appeared to be a somewhat older version of her self. She blushed despite herself when she realized that these must be Harry’s parents. Upon closer inspection, she noted that James, for that’s certainly who the boy must be, had brown eyes, and no scar; while the girl, who most assuredly was not her, had emerald green eyes that looked so like Harry’s it was spooky.

All of the sudden, Ginny knew what she would do for Harry as a Christmas gift. The thought so charmed her that she missed the image of James and Sirius changing into a stag and black dog.

==============================

Ginny slowly walked back through the portrait-hole, lost in her own thoughts and plans. She failed to see a lone figure sitting in an over stuffed chair by the fire, watching as the portrait hole door opened, seemingly admitting no one. Harry however was not fooled, as he knew his cloak was missing. He slowly stood aiming his wand at the thief whose bright green slippered feet poked out from the bottom of the cloak.

“Alright,” Harry said in a quiet commanding voice, “I can have you petrified and bound faster than you can blink. Take off my cloak and show yourself.”

Ginny froze, horrified at her own stupidity. There was the boy of her dreams pointing his wand at her threateningly, and catching her red handed with his stolen cloak. A muttered, “Damn!” escaped her lips. She slowly pulled the cloak off, looking down morosely at her green slippers.

“Ginny?” Harry asked in shock, clearly not expecting her to be the culprit. “What are you doing?”

Ginny, embarrassed almost beyond endurance, fidgeted under Harry’s stunned gaze. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to go exploring,” she answered truthfully, hoping Harry wouldn’t press her for details. “Are you going to turn me into McGonagall?”

Harry sat back down. He motioned for her to join him by the fire, and she reluctantly moved to sit in the offered chair next to his. “I’d be a filthy hypocrite if I turned you in for a little late night exploring when I’ve been known to do it myself.” Ginny just stared at the fire, mortified at the situation.

“If you wanted to borrow my cloak, why didn’t you just ask?”

Ginny squirmed in her seat. “Well, I didn’t want to wake you, and besides, I didn’t want to make a fuss over the fact that I’ve had trouble sleeping. Anyway, how is it that you’re awake?” she asked in an attempt to change the subject, she hadn’t meant for that last bit to slip out.

Harry grinned at her. “Nice try, but we’re talking about you. But if you must know, I’ve known for a couple of weeks that some one has been nicking my cloak and then returning it. I woke up when I felt you run into the foot of my bed tonight. I tried to follow but you were out the door before I could catch you, so I decided to wait for your return.”

“I’m really sorry Harry,” Ginny whispered contritely. “I should have asked you, but…well…” She took a deep breath trying to find a modicum of courage. “I sometimes have trouble talking to you,” she said, laboring to get the words out.

“I’ve sort of noticed that,” Harry said wryly. “You know, you don’t need to be nervous around me. I know all the press and others make a big deal out of me, but honestly I’m really not all that spectacular. I’m just plain Harry.”

Ginny momentarily forgot her nervousness around Harry. “Harry, no offense, but you faced You-Know-Who three times now, you faced a troll, and fought a basilisk, and saved my life to boot. You’re not like other boys Harry, you know that right?”

Harry chuckled at her outburst. “Well when you put it like that…but I really don’t want all the fuss. I just did what anyone would have done.”

“Harry, you’re special because not everyone would risk their lives for others the way you do.”

“Thanks Ginny,” Harry said sincerely, somewhat amazed at the wisdom displayed by the slight redhead beside him.

They both stared at the fire for a bit until a loud pop from the fire stirred Harry from his thoughts. “So, are you having trouble sleeping because of what happened to you?”

“Can I ask you something?” answering his question with a question.

“Sure.”

“Why do you care whether or not I’m losing sleep?”

Harry stared at her serious face, taken off guard by the question. “Why do I care?” he asked flabbergasted. “Because I do, that’s why!”

“Because is not a reason!” she said vehemently.

Harry realized that the answer was important to her, that his reason meant something to her. “Ginny,” he said carefully, “I know we don’t know each other real well yet, but I still think of you as a friend.” He paused to consider his words, running a hand absently across the back of his neck. “You have to understand, I don’t have that many friends I can trust, so those that I do have, I want to help when ever I can.”

Ginny couldn’t believe her ears. Harry thought of her as a friend, and if she heard right, one he trusted?

“Ginny?” Harry called to her when she didn’t respond. She still sat there speechless. He reached out his hand to hers and gently took it in his, holding it. She looked down to see his hand wrapped around hers and slowly raised her eyes to see his intense verdant gaze watching her in concern.

“I’m okay Harry, really,” she said shakily, a rosy hue touching her cheeks. “I…thanks. Did you really mean all that?”

“Yeah Ginny, I did. You’re really funny and smart, and I think you could be a really amazing friend. Like I said, I know we haven’t had the chance to talk much, but…well…I think given what we’ve both been through that maybe I could help you, and because of what you have experienced, I think may be you could help me too.”

She looked shyly into his eyes. “I’d like that a lot Harry. I’ve wanted to be your friend for a while now but I didn’t think you or Ron or Hermione wanted me around.”

“Well, I don’t know about the others, but I for one would be happy to have you as a friend. I’m pretty sure Hermione wouldn’t object either, and although Ron might be a bit thick, he’s still your brother and I know he cares about you.”

Ginny was totally amazed at Harry’s generous spirit. She had been feeling lonely and left out, and when he saw that she needed a friend, reached out to her. “Harry…I…thank you so much.” She stopped to consider her next words carefully, deciding that they were right. “I solemnly swear that I’ll be the best friend I can be to you Harry.”

Harry smiled at her earnestness. Without hesitation he responded. “And I solemnly swear that I will be the best friend I can be to you too. Okay?”

She returned his smile. “Okay!”

“All right Miss Weasley, it’s quite late, or early as the case may be. Let’s try to get a few winks before sunrise, shall we?”

“All right Harry,” she replied happily.

As they started moving towards their respective dorms, Harry turned to look at Ginny’s small form climbing the stairs. “Hey Gin, if you have anymore nightmares, come and get me, okay?”

Ginny’s smile grew wider, and more radiant. “Sure thing Harry; goodnight,” she called softly to him.

“Goodnight Ginny! Oh and Ginny, the next time you want to borrow my cloak, or socks, or one of my sweaters, just ask,” he said teasingly.

Ginny blushed a fine shade of Weasley red all the way to her roots. She responded by sticking her tongue out him and retorting back cheekily, “Where’s the thrill in that?” Then she raced up the stairs to her room.

Climbing back into her bed, she didn’t think there was anyway she could fall asleep now, but within seconds of her head hitting the pillow she was out, a goofy smile plastered to her face.

============================= =

Time sailed on until Christmas Eve finally arrived in all of its magical splendor. The castle was decorated for the holiday with evergreen boughs on all the fireplace mantles. The suits of armor had been transfigured into real snowmen and charmed not to melt. The Great Hall had dozens of Christmas trees all glowing with fairy lights, and a gentle snow was falling from the magical ceiling. To top it all off, magical clumps of Mistletoe floated randomly throughout the castle. Everyone seemed to be in the spirit of the season, everyone that is except the Boy Who Lived.

Harry always felt a bit left out at Christmas. His Aunt and Uncle did their best to remind him that he was not part of their Christmas plans, and with no other family, that meant staying at school over the break. Luckily, at least this year Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and the twins would all be here too.

Sitting in the common room late on Christmas Eve, Harry pondered his problems. Ron, Hermione and Ginny had all turned in an hour earlier, leaving Harry to his thoughts. Engrossed as he was, he didn’t hear Ginny walk up to him from behind; still dressed in her green jumper, red jeans, and red trainers.

“Knut for your thoughts,” Ginny said sitting down in a chair adjacent to his.

Startled, Harry sat up and quickly realized it was Ginny. “Just stewing over all the stuff with Sirius Black,” he said distractedly, easing back into his chair. “I told you he’s my Godfather, right? And that he betrayed my parents?”

Ginny nodded that he had. She reached out her hand tentatively to his, and squeezed it. “Hey, how would you like to come with me exploring, I have someplace I’d like to show you. Think of it as my Christmas present.”

Harry looked at her, intrigued by her offer. “Alright, sounds like just the ticket to take my mind off my problems.”

“You’ll need to get your cloak since it’s after curfew.”

“What, you mean you don’t already have it?” Harry said giving her a hard time.

“You’re positively a git…err…I mean wit,” Ginny retorted back cheekily.

“Should have known better than to exchange verbal barbs with you,” Harry said ruefully.

“It’s okay Harry, I know you can be a bit thick sometimes,” she continued, taking the mickey out of him.

“All right, all right, I give. I’ll be back in a moment,” Harry conceded.

When Harry returned, Ginny brought out the map to see if the way was clear. Harry looked at her as if she sprouted horns. “Ginny, where on Earth did you get that map?”

Ginny, realizing how it must seem shook her head sadly. “It’s not sentient Harry. It doesn’t talk to me, and I don’t talk to it. It’s a map of the school. That’s all. It shows all the rooms and some of the grounds, and everyone who’s in those areas. Fred and George nicked it off Filch in their first year, and they gave it to me at the beginning of term this year.”

“Sorry Ginny,” Harry apologized. “I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”

“It’s alright. I’ll probably be living that mistake down the rest of my life,” Ginny said with a little catch in her voice.

Harry, hearing her on the verge of crying, placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. “I was the one wrong here Ginny, not you. I’m sorry. Truthfully, I think you were pretty bloody amazing to last against Voldemort’s influence as long as you did. I…errr…well, I reacted before I thought. Sorry,” he said sheepishly.

Ginny gave him a tenuous smile. “Thanks Harry, I’ll be alright. It just still bothers me sometimes, you know? I still can’t believe I let him use me that way. I still feel bad about the things I did. I sometimes don’t know how you can even look at me.”

“Ginny, you didn’t let him do anything. He didn’t ask you, he took from you. You showed a lot of courage and strength to resist him for so long. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, if I didn’t look at you, I wouldn’t be able to see one of the prettiest girls in school.”

Blushing furiously, Ginny smiled at him gratefully. “You’re a good friend Harry Potter, but I don’t by one word of that sad attempt at flattery. Now let’s get a move on before it gets to be dawn.”

Harry smiled sadly at her. “You really don’t know how bloody amazing you are, do you?” he thought to himself.

They crept around the corridors and down to the marble stairway on the first floor under the cover of Harry’s cloak. Ginny reached out and began to tickle the wall. Harry started snickering until the doorway in the wall swung open. Ginny gave him a well-deserved elbow to the ribs.

“Sorry,” Harry said, “I seem to be saying that to you a lot lately.”

Ginny smirked, and grabbed his hand, pulling him behind her and into the Hall of History. Once they were in, the door closed behind them.

“This is the Hall of History,” she said by way of explanation. “I found it that night you caught me nicking your cloak. Watch the walls closely, especially as we get near the other side.”

Harry was astounded at the sights he viewed on the wall. They appeared to be scenes of Hogwarts and its students through the ages. As he approached the other side he began to see images of his parents. Lily Potter, then Lily Evans, talking with a greasy haired boy that resembled Professor Snape. James Potter clowning around with a younger Remus Lupin, a younger looking Sirius Black, along with a short, plump, nervous looking boy who had to be Peter Pettigrew. He watched happy images of his mother and father dating, holding hands, and kissing. Harry was shocked to see how much Ginny resembled his mother. He saw his father and friends at what was probably the Shrieking Shack. Remus was downing some kind of steaming potion. A few seconds later he started to transform into what looked like a werewolf. As he was transforming Harry’s father and friends also transformed, James into a stag, Peter into a rat, and Sirius into a huge shaggy black dog.

The final scene was of James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, crowded around a piece of parchment, marking on it and casting spells or charms. Neither Harry nor Ginny immediately picked up on what they were looking at. Harry was distracted by images of his father, and Ginny was just coming to grips with the image she had seen moments before.

Ginny placed her hand over her mouth, shocked as the recognition sunk in. She’d seen that rat before, as well as the dog. The rat looked like Scabbers, Ron’s pet and currently the subject of a major row between Ron and Hermione. Ron accused Crookshanks, Hermione’s part-kneazle part-cat, of killing his pet rat. Scabbers had been missing for days, and Crookshanks was the likely culprit because he had nearly gotten Scabbers several times during the fall. As for the dog, it looked like Snuffles! “Merlin help me,” she thought to her self, horrified at the possibility. “Have I really done it again? Formed an attachment to an agent of evil?”

Harry, unaware of her discomfiture, had suddenly realized what he was seeing. “Ginny let me see the map,” Harry said with a sense of urgency. He tapped the map with his wand saying, “Reveal your secrets.” The map started to slowly display its spindly script:

Messr’s Moony, Wormtail, padfoot and Prongs Strongly urge Mr. Harry Potter keep his Nose out of other peoples business until he is ready to be a marauder!

“Well that seems a bit rude,” said Harry somewhat offended.

“Here give that to me,” Ginny said, still distracted. She mumbled the correct incantation and the map appeared before them.

“Why doesn’t it ever do that for me?” Harry asked, still a little put out at the map’s reprimand.

“Perhaps because I haven’t told you the proper incantation yet,” Ginny told him. “You need to say, I solemnly swear that I am up to no good, when you want to look at it, and when you’re done you need to say, mischief managed.”

“Right, well anyway…Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, don’t you see Ginny?” Harry crowed excitedly. “The Marauder’s map was made by my father and his friends! I’ll bet anything that the scene on the wall was them making this map! My father and his friends were the Marauders!” Then the air seemed to go out of his sails all at once. “Except, one’s a Death Eater, one is a werewolf, and two of them are dead.”

Ginny realized Harry must be right. The parchment they were working on, while whiter, was the same size and shape as the map. The nicknames, Professor Lupin being a werewolf, the animagus forms of the others; the pieces all seemed to fit.

As they continued to gaze at the map, Ginny saw the name Wormtail, and Padfoot outside the castle on the grounds. Wormtail was in Hagrid’s Hut, and Padfoot was near the Shrieking Shack. Harry also noticed the names. They looked up at each other in total disbelief.

“How can that be?” Harry asked confused. “Wormtail was Peter Pettigrew, and he’s dead! And why would Sirius Black risk capture again just to get at me? This place is swarming with Dementors!”

“I don’t know Harry,” Ginny said just as confused, “but we’re not going to figure it out at the moment. We better get back. Snape’s shift to patrol the halls starts soon, and I don’t fancy getting caught by him after curfew.”

“You’re probably right about that. But this is all so strange, and it just doesn’t make any sense. There’s got to be more going on here than we know about.” He paused, pondering a difficult decision. “Ginny, for now at least, only Ron and Hermione can know about this. We can’t let anyone else know yet, at least not until we have more to work with. If Sirius Black, and Peter Petigrew really are here, then I want to find out why.”

Ginny couldn’t have agreed fast enough. She already had her suspicions, but she’d have to wait until the next time she saw Snuffles.

========================= =====

Christmas morning dawned clear and cold. You can always count on a Weasley to get excited about two things, food and presents. True to form, Ginny got up early and unwrapped her presents. Ron got her some Chocolate Frogs and a new poster of Gwenog Jones, the Captain of the Holy Head Harpies, the all women’s Quidditch team. Hermione, predictably, got her a book, Common Charms For The Wizarding Household. There was of course the obligatory annual Weasley jumper from her mother, green with a yellow hippogriff on the front this year. The twins got her some candy, which she intended to throw away. She learned early in life not to accept food from them. And Harry, bless his soul, got her some personalized stationary and a self-inking quill. Not quite the romantic gift she’d dreamed of, but then again, she’d never gotten a gift from him before, period. “Not to mention the pesky little detail about how we’re not actually a couple,” she thought to herself ruefully.

After showering and dressing, she went down to breakfast before everyone else was up and about. When she finished, she grabbed her coat and took some pilfered food and headed outside to look for Snuffles, or Padfoot, or whoever he was.

She found him in his usual spot, down by the lake, waiting for her. She stopped next to him and scratched his ears, trying to act as if nothing was amiss. Tossing his breakfast to the ground, she slowly backed away, drawing her wand from her coat pocket.

As Snuffles ate, Ginny trained her wand on him. “So Sirius, what are your intentions regarding Harry?” she asked steadily, despite the fear she was feeling.

Snuffles looked up warily at her and the wand pointed at him. He quickly gauged the distance, and then he sprang at her, knocking her to the ground and pinning her down before she could do more than flick her wand. Grabbing the wand from her hand with his teeth, he pointed it at himself and slowly morphed into the image Ginny had seen of Sirius Black on the Ministry’s “Wanted” posters.

Sirius slowly stood up, the wand pointed behind him toward the ground. “So Ginny Weasley, what now?” he asked trying to determine her intentions. “I knew you’d figure it out sooner or later once your brothers gave you that ruddy map. I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I told you I was wrongfully imprisoned? Another friend of James and Lily betrayed them, not me. James was like a brother to me, and anyone who knew Lily knew her to be something special.” His gaze softened as he looked down at her. “In fact, has I’ve watched you these past months, you share many of her best qualities.”

Confused, Ginny blushed at the compliment.

Seeking to ease her obvious fear, he decided to tease her. “Don’t worry lass,” Sirius said playfully, offering her a hand up, “Harry will come around eventually. It’s something of a family tradition. All the Potter men choose pretty redheads!”

Ginny’s blush deepened and traveled down her neck, and up to her hairline.

“That’ll put color in your cheeks!” Sirius roared with laughter. “Oh my girl, you’ve must have it bad for my Godson!”

Ginny smirked a little at Sirius’ antics, despite her mortification.

“So, do you believe me?” he wheezed. “Do we have a truce? I swear I’m only here to protect Harry. The one who betrayed the Potters is here also; I’ve seen him. Will you help me?”

Ginny didn’t miss the remark about the real betrayer being here and whom Sirius thought it was. It confirmed her suspicions. “I believe you,” she said guardedly, “and I will help. So will my brother Ron, and Hermione, Harry’s and Ron’s friend. Harry will want to be a part of this as well, I’m sure of it; once I convince him of you that is.”

“Brilliant!” Sirius said approvingly, handing Ginny back her wand.

“Although I must say,” said Ginny impishly; “I like you better as a dog.”

Sirius let out a bark of laughter again. “You’re a cheeky thing, aren’t you?” Ginny grinned at him.

“Well many is the time that James said the same thing. The ears, paws, and tails I could learn to live with, but the fleas are right dreadful. In fact, my Healer recommends that I take a flea bath twice a day.”

Ginny chuckled at his remark. “Let me go talk to Harry and the others,” Ginny said, a plan already forming in her mind. “Where should we meet you?”

His brow furrowed in thought as he considered what to do. “I’ll need to borrow your wand again to change back to a dog. The Dementors don’t stalk animals so they pay no attention to me as Snuffles.” He looked at her with a pained expression. “You’re darn lucky you’re so cute. I mean honestly girl, Snuffles? I won’t have a shred of dignity left if this gets out!”

Ginny giggled at his protests, knowing that he was having her on.

“You, Harry and the others meet me after dinner in the pumpkin patch near Hagrid’s hut. We’ll plan what to do after that.”

With Ginny’s hunch confirmed further, she handed her wand to Sirius, who quickly changed himself back into a dog and trotted off into the forest. She grabbed her wand and headed back to the castle. She had a tough row to hoe convincing the Golden Trio of Sirius’ innocence and getting them to agree to meet with him, especially Harry.

============================ ==

As it turned out, convincing Harry was the easy part. Persuading Ron that his pet rat Scabbers was really an animagus named Peter Pettigrew, and that it was Pettigrew who really betrayed the Potters was a bit more difficult. It finally took Harry dragging them all to the Hall of History to convince him.

After a hurriedly consumed dinner, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were secretly making their way toward Hagrid’s hut while Harry made a quick detour to get Professor Lupin and fill him in. They reasoned that as one of the original Marauders, he’d be more apt to know what really happened and be better equipped to deal with Pettigrew.

Hermione despite what she’d seen in the Hall of History, still had reservations, but kept them to herself. She had figured out that Lupin was a werewolf months ago, and was uncertain of his loyalties, as most of the werewolves followed You-Know-Who.

“I still don’t understand why Fred and George gave you the map. The bloody tossers never even told me they had it,” Ron grumped as they walked down the path to Hagrid’s.

“For the last time Ron, I told you I don’t know why they chose me instead of you,” Ginny said, annoyed at her brothers attitude. “Maybe they figured you got into enough trouble with Harry and Hermione without using the map.”

“Hey, leave me out of your sibling squabbles,” Hermione squawked indignantly.

Approaching the pumpkin patch, they slowed looking for Snuffles. He padded out of the forest and up to them, cautiously moving to sit down next to Ginny. Without hesitation Ginny handed him her wand, which he took in his mouth, pointed it toward himself, and transformed into human form.

Hermione and Ron were a little startled at his appearance. Looking hard used and ragged in a dirty prisoners uniform covered by an old tattered over coat; his appearance did little to inspire trust. Sirius handed Ginny her wand back and turned to face the other two. Ginny made the introductions and they all settled down amongst the pumpkins to await Harry and Professor Lupin.

They didn’t have long to wait as the two were soon seen jogging down the path. Sirius slowly stood up first, and guardedly moved towards Remus.

“Sirius,” Remus said warily, “You’re seem a little haggard. I don’t remember you looking quite so miserable and haunted.”

“Well you above all others would know something of that, wouldn’t you Remus?” he said teasingly. “Twelve years in Azkaban will haunt my dreams for the rest of my life, but at least avenging James and Lily will help.”

Remus moved to clasp Sirius’ hand and he pulled him into a rough hug. “It’s good to see you again old friend,” Remus said in a voice choked with emotion.

Sirius didn’t trust his voice, so he settled for patting his friend soundly on the shoulder.

“Okay then,” said Remus gaining his composure, “Who has the map?”

Ginny pulled it out of her pocket, opened it up and muttered the incantation. The lines slowly appeared on the parchment.

“He will appear as Wormtail if he is still transformed, or Pettigrew if he is in human form,” explained Professor Lupin. They scanned the map around Hagrid’s hut. Both Harry and Ginny spotted the dot labeled Wormtail moving away from the hut. They turned and stared in disbelief as a rat scurried around the backside of the patch.

Remus was the first to recover his wits and started firing hexes at the fleeing rodent, forcing it back toward the patch. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione quickly followed suit, effectively sealing off the fleeing traitor’s escape route.

Wormtail dashed back into the center of the patch hoping to hide amongst the larger pumpkins until he could make good his escape. But as he leaped for cover behind an enormous pumpkin Remus yelled “Homorphus!” and hit him with the charm that transformed him back into a human. Pettigrew flew through the air landing head first in a giant pumpkin. As he tried to stand with the enormous pumpkin stuck to his head, he looked like some comical macabre apparition out of Ichabod Crane’s worst nightmare.

Pettigrew finally pulled the remains of the pumpkin off his head leaving his face covered in pumpkin guts and goo. Aside from the pumpkin guts, his features resembled his rat form. Large skinny front teeth, slightly pointed ears, and quick beady eyes. His nervous furtive movements added to the overall impression.

“Remus?” Pettigrew said in a scared quivery voice. “Sirius? My old friends have mercy on me. You have no idea the guilt I’ve lived with.”

“You betrayed James and Lily to Voldemort and framed Sirius for it, then framed him for the death of all those muggles as well as your death; and you want us to show you mercy?” Remus Lupin asked, incredulous.

“You don’t know the power the Dark Lord possesses,” Pettigrew rasped, frightened as if remembering some horror. “He has ways of bewitching the mind. What would you have done? What would you have done?” he wailed.

“We would have given our lives for them Peter!” Sirius spat. “How could you have done that to James and Lily? How could you ever have supported Voldemort, knowing what he is?”

“Harry!” Hermione yelled, pointing towards the disk of the rising full moon.

Remus Lupin woodenly followed Hermione’s extended finger in horror, seeing the pale yellow orb, the bane of his existence. His transformation started almost immediately. His wand dropped from deformed morphing fingers as his cries of agony shattered the darkening night.

Riveted to the frightening drama playing out before them, no one noticed Pettigrew as he grabbed the discarded wand and transformed himself into a rat until it was too late. In a flash, he bolted toward the forest and safety.

Harry and Ron stepped in front of the girls, doing their best to shield them from the werewolf that had been Professor Lupin. The monster before them showed no signs that he recognized his students. With an almost casual swat he sent Ron flying back into Hermione, both tumbling head over heals down the hill and landing in an unconscious heap.

The werewolf then dropped to all fours and turned his attention to Harry and Ginny, drool slavering down its cursed jowls. He stopped and let out a blood-curdling howl before proceeding to stalk the other two youngsters.

From of the corner of Ginny’s eye she saw a black blur hurtle into the werewolf. Sirius, once again in his dog form, wrestled with the larger werewolf, teeth snapping and fur flying. For a few moments a pitched battle ensued.

Then the two combatants separated, and Sirius worked at leading the werewolf away from Harry and Ginny. The cursed beast, totally focused on the black nuisance before it, gave chase as Sirius broke into a run leading it away from the kids and into the forest.

Harry and Ginny ran over to Ron and Hermione. The bushy haired young witch was shakily looking over the unconscious Ron for any injuries.

“All right there Hermione?” Harry asked has he slid to a stop by her.

“I’ve been better,” Hermione replied groggily.

“How’s Ron?” asked Ginny, concerned for her unmoving brother.

“It looks like he may have broken a leg, but I think he’ll be okay,” Hermione said, her attention focused on Ron.

“We’ve got to help Sirius,” Harry said, the worry for his Godfather evident in his voice. “Ron can’t walk, and someone has to stay with him until help comes.” Harry paused a moment looking towards the forest, and then towards the castle, torn by the decision he must make.

“Hermione, I need you to stay with Ron until help comes. With all the commotion, surely someone’s heard.” He looked towards Ginny, about to ask her to go for help, but one look at her face told him that wasn’t going to happen.

“Come on Ginny, we’ve got to find Sirius. He may be hurt!”

Harry and Ginny dashed off in the direction Sirius had gone at a brisk run. It wasn’t long until they were both breathing hard from their exertions. The trail was easy to follow as broken twigs and drops of blood were strewn across the path they were following. Eventually it sloped down heading toward the Black Lake.

As they neared the lake, the air became quite chilly and their spirits depressed and gloomy, as if all the happiness in the world had left. Dread filled them both, knowing what they would find. Their fears were confirmed moments later as they rounded the bend and were greeted with the awful sight of a mass of Dementors swirling around the unconscious, shredded form of Sirius Black.

There easily must have been a hundred of them and it was clear that Sirius wouldn’t last much longer. Without thinking, acting on need and instinct, Harry leaped in front of Ginny and roared “EXPECTO PATRONUM!” A huge silvery, corporeal patronus in the form of a stag emerged from Harry’s wand and bolted towards the massive cloud of Dementors, plowing through them like a hot knife through butter. The spectral creatures stood no chance against the huge magical beast, and soon fled the area. With the Dementor’s gone; the intensely bright patronus capered around the clearing once, and then winked out of existence. Harry shoulders sagged and he gave an audible groan of exhaustion. Ginny looked at him questioningly, and Harry nodded that he would be all right.

Arms and legs wobbly, Harry and Ginny raced to Sirius’ side. Ginny dropped to her knees and placed Sirius’ head in her lap. Harry took off his jacket and ripped it into pieces, and began to bind his Godfather’s wounds.

“Harry,” Ginny said breathlessly, “what you did…I‘ve never seen…that was bloody amazing! How?” she asked looking at him in wonder.

A lopsided grin formed on his face, and he ran his hand through his sweaty, and somewhat messy black hair. “Professor Lupin has been teaching me the Patronus Charm since I seem to be more vulnerable to the effects of the Dementors. Until now I’ve only been able to produce a weak shield against a Boggart. But today I used a different memory to trigger the charm.”

“I don’t understand,” she replied, confused by the explanation.

Harry blew out a long breath, searching for the words he needed. “To cast the charm,” he began, “you need a really powerful, happy feeling or memory to fuel it. Until recently the best I had was a memory of seeing my parents in the Mirror of Erised. But your gift to me yesterday changed all that. The scenes of my parents when they were younger, being able to share that with a friend who I trust and care about…I don’t know…it just made me happier than I can ever remember being.”

Ginny had tears of happiness rolling down her somewhat grimy cheeks. A few months ago she would never have imagined hearing such words from Harry Potter. Oh, he wasn’t confessing his undying love. But this was better in a way than any fantasy she’d ever had about him, because this was real. He thought of her as a close friend, and apparently one who made him feel happy, a rare and precious emotion for him to be sure. It was more than she ever really expected or hoped for. And who knows, friendships have often been known to grow into something more. Look at Ron and Hermione. Though they were apparently clueless about what was between them, just about everybody else realized they fancied one another.

Sirius gave a moan, as he started to come around. He opened his eyes to see Ginny and Harry peering down at him anxiously.

“I must look a sight worse than I feel judging by the way you both are looking at me,” he griped weakly.

Harry helped Sirius as he struggled to sit up. “Where do things stand,” he asked, rubbing his head to sooth the massive headache that was already building. “Damn Dementors,” he thought harshly to himself.

Harry looked to Ginny and she nodded for him to answer. “I don’t know where Professor Lupin is, and honestly I don’t want to find him until tomorrow. Pettigrew got away in all the commotion. Sorry about that,” he said miserably.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sirius said nonchalantly, rotating a wrenched shoulder. “We’ll get him eventually.”

“But with him we could have proved your innocence!” Harry protested.

“Listen to me,” Sirius said, reaching out his hands to place on Harry’s and Ginny’s shoulders, “You two, Remus, Ron and Hermione, you all know I’m innocent. You’ll be able to convince Dumbledore.” They started to object. “No,” he admonished at their protests, “for now that’s enough.” He got up and tried to get his bearings. “I’ll stay in touch with you by owl. I’ll use Ginny’s name for me so that no one can guess at who I am.”

Ginny giggled at this, earning an annoyed glare from Sirius.

“Am I missing something?” Harry asked, watching the interplay between the two.

“You wouldn’t?” Sirius said, seeing the devilish glint in Ginny’s eyes. “Bloody buggering hell! You’re going to, aren’t you?”

“Before I knew who he was I named him Snuffles,” Ginny said, struggling to hold in her laughter.

Harry gave a snort of laughter as well, seeing his Godfather looking seriously put out.

Sirius gave her a dirty look. “Paybacks are hell missy, you know that, right?”

Ginny schooled her features in an attempt to mollify the disgruntled hopefully soon-to-be ex-convict. “What will you do now?” asked Ginny.

“Continue to stay in hiding I suppose until it’s safe to come out in the open,” Sirius replied.

Sirius saw their dejected faces, and gave their shoulders a squeeze. “I’ll be fine. At least it’s not Azkaban, right?” The youngsters nodded their heads in resigned agreement.

“You two better get going, before the Dementors decide to come back, or worse Remus. Take care of your selves, I’ll be in touch, now go,” he urged, giving them a gentle shove towards the path back to Hagrid’s.

“And Ginny, remember what I said,” he said cryptically. “Judging by what I’ve seen already, you’ll find what you’re looking for,” he said giving her a wink.

A bright red stain appeared on her cheeks. “Thanks Sirius.”

“No problem lass. And Harry, keep your friends close to you. Don’t ever underestimate their value or worth.”

Harry gave a confused nod to his Godfather. “See you Sirius.”

“What was all that about?” Harry asked in confusion.

“Oh, nothing,” Ginny lied, most definitely not wanting to go down that path yet.”

The two youths headed back up the trail, each lost in their thoughts. When they got back to Hagrid’s, Professor Dumbledore was waiting.

“Your friends have been taken to the Hospital Wing,” he said by way of greeting, looking over the top of his half moon spectacles at them. “You may visit them in a while if you wish, but I think perhaps an explanation is in order before you do. Why don’t we walk to my office where we can sit in comfort, and you can tell this old man what I presume will be a highly entertaining story.”

“Yes sir,” they both mumbled in response.

With that, the three of them began walking at Dumbledore’s stately pace back towards the castle, Harry and Ginny wearily trudging several paces behind. Harry sneaked a glance over at Ginny and saw that she looked a little scared.

“Nervous?” he asked quietly.

“Scared,” was her whispered reply. “Dumbledore’s going to know it was me.”

“I didn’t quite follow that,” Harry whispered back.

“The pranks! He’s going to figure out it was me, and then I’ll be in detention for like the rest of the school year!” she hissed in irritation.

“Ginny, he’s not going to do anything to you. He just wants to know what happened so he’ll know how to proceed in the future. I’ve been in these spots loads of times and Professor Dumbledore has never given me detention,” Harry assured her.

“Are you sure?” Ginny asked skeptically.

“Positive, I swear…”

“You should listen to Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley,” interrupted the Headmaster. “He does seem to have a great deal of experience in these matters. More than is rather good for him I should think. Though I would like to know how you managed to turn all the Slytherin’s school robes Fuchsia, quite a remarkable feat that,” he said, with more than a hint of amusement in his reedy old voice.

Harry watched as Ginny blushed at the professor’s comment, chuckling at her embarrassment. He reached out his hand and took hers, holding it in companionable silence, as the followed the aged Headmaster back to the castle.

“Well, what do you know,” she thought wonderingly to herself, fighting back the giddy euphoria that threatened to overcome her at holding Harry’s very warm hand. “Maybe Sirius was right after all. I just hope the daft boy doesn’t take as long as my thick brother and my equally thick friend.” She smiled wickedly at the thought as they entered the safety of the ancient castle, feeling better about her situation than she had in a long time, and for once, content with her life, for the time being anyway.

Finite

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