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If The Fates Allow | ||||||
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Category: Post-OotP Characters:Draco Malfoy, Harry/Ginny Genres: Drama Warnings: Sexual Situations, Extreme Language Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 596 Summary: Ginny has been forced to marry Draco Malfoy, but her heart still belongs to Harry. Will she ever be able to break free from this unwanted marriage? Will Harry help her? A story of passion, blackmail, Greek gods and a most surreal place for playing Quidditch! Join Harry and Ginny on their odyssey through despair and hope, faith and love, amidst Voldemort's machinations! Hitcount: Story Total: 114799; Chapter Total: 3663 |
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Author’s note: there’s a Pirates of the Caribbean reference in this chapter. Can you find it? “Another Athens shall arise, And to remoter time Bequeath, like sunset to the skies. The splendour of its prime.” (Shelley) “Oh, Ginny, I love this!” Amrita said happily, gazing out of their bus that took them from the Athens airport down to Pireus. “And that’s the sea!” “Oh yeah,” Ginny sighed as the vast blue water came into view. Bittersweet memories rushed to her – memories of Harry making remarks at an impatient German wizard, then the Hippobus appearing out of the Aegean, Megara the conductor fluttering her eyelashes at Harry and jealousy stabbing her heart like a lance… Memories of Atlantis and Harry admitting to her everything about his illegitimate daughter and letting Voldemort blackmail him with her… then Harry’s ‘proposal’… their first kiss after five years of being apart… Heaven on earth, it had been… Amrita, tugging at the sleeve of her cloak brought her back into reality. “Ginny, Ginny, what sort of an animal is that?” “A donkey, dear.” Ginny smiled. Amy was such a lively little girl, and strangely she still had the ability to feel amazed by everything… as though she hadn’t seen anything of the world so far. Ginny decided she’d soon ask the child about her past, but the little one had just lost her parents, it would be perhaps too early to burden her with questions like that. Then again, she found it quite strange that Amy didn’t even look sad to be an orphan… had her parents not treated her well? Sometimes Ginny wondered whether the child had told her the truth about having to go to a terrible orphanage… but whenever she looked into those clear green eyes, she had to chastise herself: why would Amy lie? How could a barely seven-year-old be devious enough to deceive her? And why would she want to deceive anyone? She looked so innocent… And even if she was hiding something, with time she’d open up and tell Ginny about it. Ginny thought it was best not to bring up the topic yet, so she just let her little ‘niece’ enjoy the scenery. She had had no problem convincing the stewardesses on the London-Athens line of British Airways that Amy was her niece. It had been equally simple to use papers with the name Giselle Weatherby instead of Virginia Malfoy. Ginny had to be cautious – Draco had his ways of getting information from people, and had he wanted to look into the passenger-list of the BA flight, then he surely would have managed to. They got off the bus in Pireus and headed for the Flying Creature Repository that had an invisible-to-Muggles entrance. For a moment Ginny wondered whether Amy would be able to see it at all. I found her in Diagon Alley, which must mean she came from a wizarding family, right? But what if she did come from a wizarding family but she had no magical powers herself? Time to ask her family name, isn’t it? “Um, Amy…” “Yes?” The child looked up, her huge green eyes sparkling with excitement over being in such a beautiful place and seeing the Mediterranean after having lived cooped up in a dusty and musty old manor somewhere at the back of beyond all her life. “What is your family name, dear?” “First you tell yours,” Amy said. “It’s not Weatherby, is it?” “No, it’s Weasley.” Ginny didn’t know why she’d automatically told her maiden name instead of Malfoy… but it was nice to call herself a Weasley again. “And yours?” “P… Pettigrew.” “Pettigrew?R 21; Ginny frowned. “Do you know Peter Pettigrew by any chance?” “No, who’s that?” replied Amrita. Actually this time she hadn’t even really fibbed – she’d always known Peter as Wormtail and never even considered calling him other than ‘Wormie’. “Nobody, 221; replied Ginny. “A Hippogriff, madam?” asked the owner of the Flying Creatures Repository. “There are several Hippogriffs here.” “But this one has been here for almost a year,” said Ginny desperately. She already had pangs of remorse for having forgotten about the poor animal, but she knew that if she couldn’t find Beaky now, she’d never ever forgive herself. “Oh, a male one with grey feathers, isn’t it?” said the owner. Ginny’s face lit up. “Yes, that must be him!” “This way, madam.” The owner led the two young witches through the repository. Amrita kept pointing at magical creatures and asking what they were. “That’s a winged horse, dear. That other one, too. And that’s… ooooh!” “Ooooh what?” Frowned Amrita, following her companion with her eyes. Ginny was walking towards a stormy grey Hippogriff that seemed to be cuddling with a snowy white one. Around them at least six or seven young ones were twittering, flailing their tiny wings. “Beaky?” whispered Ginny as she approached. The grey Hippogriff looked up from his young and did not seem to recognise her. Ginny slightly bowed. “I know you must be terribly angry with me, Beaky, it was horrible of me to forget about you… but please, recognise me. It’s Ginny, Ginny Weasley.” Buckbeak’s orange eyes widened. “I know my hair’s weird, I just charmed it to be brown,” continued Ginny. “You know… I’ve fled from my husband.” The Hippogriff gave her a questioning look, and gave her the feeling that he actually understood what she’d said and was awaiting an explanation now. “You want to know why we never came back for you, right?” said the young woman. Buckbeak looked at her with an expression of sheer interest. “So… Harry… Harry couldn’t come back for you… because he died.” Amrita, who had been observing the little Hippogriffs, now looked up at Ginny. Had she just mentioned ‘Harry’? Oh, surely she had been talking about another Harry, there could be a thousand Harrys out there… “Yes, Beaky…” Ginny carried on in a slightly wavering voice. “We’ve lost him. And I… I was under such pressure that… that I just didn’t think of having left you here… I’m sorry.” The Hippogriff leant a bit forward, and Ginny thought for a second that it’d attacked her, but instead the animal only pressed its head to Ginny’s. “Ooooh… he’s crying,” muttered Amrita, who had never thought that a huge beast like this could show emotions like a human. “It’s… it’s okay, Beaky. He’s happy now,” hiccoughed Ginny, who was fighting back tears. “And I see that you’re… you’re happy, too. You have a family. And so does Remus. Imagine, he has a little son!” Buckbeak gave her a questioning look again, as if asking ‘and you, Ginny Weasley’? “I don’t have a son, if that’s what you mean,” whispered Ginny with a sad smile. “I had one… he died.” She reached out to pat the Hippogriff’s head. “But don’t worry about me, Beaky, I’ll manage it somehow. You want to stay here with your family now, don’t you?” Buckbeak nodded his head and sent his mate a loving look. Ginny turned to the owner of the repository. “I presume I owe you quite a sum of money for keeping Buckbeak here for ten months. I’d like to settle my debt and I’ll keep sending you money in the future, for Beaky seems to want to stay here.” “No need, madam. You know, Esmeralda here is my own Hippogriff...” The owner pointed at the white female. “…and I was delighted when she hooked up with Beaky. She had always been too choosy, you know, but when she chose Beaky, I sort of adopted him, too. Now he’s part of our family… I ask no money, madam.” “Thank you.” Smiled Ginny and turned back to the Hippogriff. “I’ll visit you whenever I can, and I’ll send Remus a message, telling him that you’re thriving, so that he won’t be worried anymore. Take care, Beaky.” “WHAAAAT???” Voldemort bellowed, pointing his wand at his old servant Wormtail. “The child has disappeared,” Bellatrix repeated Peter’s previous words, adding: “and it’s this idiot’s fault.” “I’m so sorry, My Lord!” whimpered Peter, kneeling on the ground and quivering. Bellatrix had forced him to come along to Athens to report his own failure to their Master personally. “I just…” “I bet she disappeared while you were examining yourself in a mirror, wearing my earrings!” spat the female Death Eater. “What?” This time the Dark Lord looked surprised rather than mad. “Nothing,” said Pettigrew in a small voice. “I just… I just went to Knockturn Alley to get some asphodel… because we’d run out of it… and I knew it was the main ingredient of your favourite asphodel-curry pizza, My Lord… and I couldn’t leave the child alone at home, could I? So… so I took her with me… but Ronald Weasley and his Muggle-born girlfriend recognised me and I had to flee… and Amrita… she just… got lost.” “Why didn’t you go back to look for her if you’d been stupid enough to lose her?” growled Voldemort, slightly swinging his wand, indicating that he was itching to use it. “I did, My Lord, I did! But she couldn’t be found anywheeere!” sobbed Peter, knowing what was next. “Cruc…” “No, My Lord, let me,” said Bellatrix. “Don’t waste your precious powers.” “You’re right, Bella.” The Dark Lord stepped back and lowered his wand. “I have to spare my energies until we find the little brat. And actually I think I have an idea how we could find her…” “How, My Lord?” Mrs. Lestrange raised an eyebrow, her wand pointing at Pettigrew. “Er, yeah, Crucio!” While Peter kept writhing on the ground, Voldemort squinted at Spiro, who was being held in place by Goyle and Macnair. “He’s going to help us.” “I’m not going to get you the book, if that’s what you think!” snapped Spiro, but as Voldemort’s red eyes narrowed, he paled. He had had enough of the Cruciatus himself… “Actually, I’ve changed my mind,” replied the Dark Lord. “Changed it?” Bellatrix knitted her eyebrows, while Peter’s shrieks filled the air. “Yes, Bella, changed it. He’s a member of the Circle of Hermes, you know…” She nodded. Voldemort had managed to find it out from Spiro by using Legilimency. “And…?” “All members of the Circle are taught to resist the Imperius, Bella. Pathetic member of the Circle he may be, he can fight it off after about a minute - I tried it on him while you were in Britain, and he did fight it off.” Spiro gave Bellatrix and Voldemort a triumphant grin. However, his grin faded as Voldemort carried on. “Once I let him out of my hands, I can’t control him with the Imperius and make him bring us the book, for the Imperius doesn’t work for more than a minute on him. However, if I keep him constantly under it, if I keep renewing it every minute, he will have to comply.” “In other words…?” Frowned Mrs Lestrange. “In other words, my dear, if our friend Spiridon can’t bring us the Book of Athena, then we will have to escort him into their Headquarters and take it ourselves.” “Malfoy?” Harry raised an eyebrow at his wife. “Well, that’s a surprise.” “Listen, Harry, I… I was totally beside myself when I thought you’d died, and… it just happened…” “You don’t have to explain things; I know what it is like when it just happens… it just happened to Ginny and me, too.” “Did it?” She crossed her arms. “Didn’t you say that nothing had happened between you two?” “I fibbed. To make sure that Draco wouldn’t hurt Ginny until the effect of The Fates Charm were lifted… which must have happened…” His gaze shifted to a calendar hanging on the wall, “yesterday. She’s free. Actually…” He started to chew his lower lip. “I wanted to meet you in the first place to tell you that it was over between us, forever. I want to get divorced, Phaedra.” The baby in the crib started to cry again and the young witch scooped her up. “It’s okay, it’s okay, sweetie… It’s okay, Harry. I can’t insist that you stay with me when I cheated on you with a man… whose wife had cheated on him with you… my gosh, this is funny, don’t you think?” “What?” R 20;This… cheating. You shagged his wife and he shagged yours.” Harry grimaced. “Yeah, really funny. But Ginny doesn’t have a child from me, while you have one from Malfoy. Does he know?” “Of course he doesn’t.” Phaedra shook her head. “And he’ll never even get to know.” “Why not?” “Because… because I don’t want him to know! He’s a jerk, a total asshole, a disgrace to the name of wizard, the greatest git I’ve ever met…” “…yet you let him knock you up,” Harry finished her sentence. “How eloquent,” she wrinkled her nose. “Well, anyway, I thought he couldn’t be a good father for my daughter, and then I thought of his wife – she wouldn’t have been happy to know it either.” “No, Ginny wouldn’t have been happy,” Harry admitted, remembering what Ginny had told him about not being willing to raise a bastard of Draco’s. Surely Phaedra wouldn’t have let Draco take her child for Ginny to raise – she would rather have killed Draco in cold blood – but if she had consented to Draco occasionally visiting the child or even taking her to visit Malfoy Manor once in a while, it would have been rather painful for Ginny… to see the child of her husband while she couldn’t have one of her own. “You know,” he carried on, “I don’t think that Draco would be a bad father. I can’t imagine him being a model daddy, but… one thing is sure: a Malfoy never lets his children go needy. Your daughter would be treated like a princess.” “She’s a princess already.” Phaedra smiled. “My little princess.” “What’s her name?” “Dora.” ̶ 0;Means a gift from God…” added Harry, then reached out to touch the baby’s tiny hands and the little one instinctively grasped his index finger. It had been ages ago that he had last touched a baby… suddenly he felt a pang of jealousy. He was jealous of Phaedra; jealous of Draco… he’d never have a child of his own… Ginny was barren, after all. As for his daughter… he doubted if he’d ever have the chance to see her grow up. It was also possible that he would have to sacrifice her for the greater good… he didn’t dare imagine what it would be like to deliberately let his child die, or even… kill her personally. But Voldemort had to be stopped, and the only way was to make sure he’d never get any more blood-supplies from Amrita… “Harry…” ; whispered Phaedra, seeing that he was silently crying. “Nothing,” he sniffed and released Dora’s hand. “I want you to know that I’m happy for you. She’s really a gift.” Phaedra didn’t know what to say, whether to try to console him or not… she didn’t even know what was hurting him. He had never opened up for her, never told her about his firstborn daughter and Voldemort’s blackmail… he and Phaedra had been partners in fighting, partners in sex, but in nothing else. The only link between them had been Daphne, and after she had gone and Harry had ‘died’, Phaedra had begun to realise that her relationship with her husband had never been what she had believed it to be… she had deluded herself that they had loved each other, but she had to realise that he had never loved her. And slowly she began to realise that she hadn’t loved him either. Now that she finally got him back, she realised that she was ready to let him go. “Um, Phaedra, I was telling the truth when I said I had been playing Seeker for Elysium…” he spoke up after minutes of silence. “I met Daffy down there. She’s happy. She lives with my parents and my godfather. Everybody loves her. I… I just thought you should know.” She leant closer and pressed a kiss on his cheek. “Thanks, Harry.” “You look sad,” Amrita remarked as she and Ginny were travelling on the bus back to Athens. The bus wasn’t full, and they were sitting at the very back, where no one else was sitting. Ginny had decided to not spend the night in Pireus where she didn’t know anyone, but rather in Athens where she at least knew Nikias. She glanced at the child to see an unusual seriousness on her face – the seriousness of children who had had to grow up quicker than others of their age. Ginny wondered what this girl had gone through to behave like a little adult rather than a child. Of course, the child-personality had occasionally ‘come out her’ as she had gaped at the magical creatures or the sea, but Ginny put these down to the fact that Amy hadn’t been to exotic places before and hadn’t seen much of the world. The little girl was some sort of a mystery for the young witch, and she couldn’t help answering: “You too look sad.” “Really?” Amrita said. “Yes.” Ginny nodded with a small smile. “Care to tell me why you’re sad? Because of your parents? Perhaps I could help.” “Not likely.” Amrita shook her head. “I… I’ve been really nasty, Ginny.” “Nasty?” 220;Yeah.” The little girl made a grimace and looked out the window, as though quite interested in the trees flashing by. “I lied to you.” “Have you?” Ginny frowned, though she didn’t feel a bit surprised. For hours she had had a feeling that Amy hadn’t told her the truth. “And what have you lied to me about?” Amrita took a deep breath. “I’m not an orphan. Just half-orphan. My daddy lives, and I want to find him. That’s why I’ve escaped from my grandpa.” “You escaped from your grandpa? But why did you live with your grandpa if your father is alive?” “Because… I have never met my Dad. For a while I even thought he was dead. But he isn’t dead, and Grandpa was very angry when he learned that Dad was alive. You know, Grandpa doesn’t like my Dad because Dad had th… thw… I don’t know that word, but it means that Dad prevented Grandpa from carrying out his plans.” “Thwarted?” Ginny helped. “Yeah, that’s it!” Amrita nodded enthusiastically. “Daddy thwarted Grandpa’s plans and Grandpa wasn’t too happy about it. Of course I shouldn’t know about this at all, but my friend told me about it. I shouldn’t have told you, either, so shhh, this is a secret!” She pressed her index finger to her lips, making Ginny have a hard time to fight back a chuckle. “And you?” said Amrita. “Why are you sad? Is it because Harry died?” “How do you know?” Ginny’s eyes widened. “I just heard what you said about a Harry to the Hippogriff. Who was this Harry? Your friend?” “Actually… he was the love of my life. A very special person. Courageous, generous…” “Just like my Daddy.” Nodded the child. “He’s very brave too, and Grandpa hates it that Daddy’s brave. He’d be happy if Daddy was a bloody coward. But according to my friend Daddy was a griff, so he couldn’t be cowardly…” “A griff?” Ginny blinked. “Or something like that, I could never remember it. It’s something like griff… door?” “Gryffindor.” “Oh, yeah, that’s it!” Amrita’s eyes flashed. “Daddy was a Gryffindork. But Grandpa was a Slitherout.” “Slytherin, 221; Ginny corrected. “In or out, does that count?” This time Ginny really had to giggle. “Actually… I don’t think a Slytherin would be too happy if you called him a Slitherout. Draco surely wouldn’t.” “Draco? 221; “My husband.” “And where is he? Why isn’t he travelling with us?” “Because… I’ve escaped from him, Amy. We are both on the run, it seems.” “And aren’t you mad at me for lying to you?” “No, I’m not. But promise me that you won’t lie again.” Ginny reached out and ruffled the child’s curly locks. Amrita beamed up at her. “You know, Ginny, if I could ever have a Mummy, I’d be happy to have one like you.” “And I’d be happy to have a daughter like you, young lady.” Ginny smiled down at the kid. “But I fear I can’t keep you.” “Why not?” “Because you have a father, sweetie. You’ll have to live with him if you find him. By the way, do you have any idea where to look for him at all?” “Not really. He could be anywhere.” “Then it’ll be a bit hard to find him, don’t you think?” “Yeah, maybe. But until I find him, I can stay with you, can’t I? I like being with youuuu…” She yawned and bent her head on Ginny’s chest. Carefully Ginny put an arm around her and gazed out into afternoon sunshine. Have I made the right decision in bringing her with me? she wondered, fondly glancing at the child who had fallen asleep in her arms. She couldn’t help feeling sympathy for the child, and something else, too… yet she couldn’t have defined what it was. It didn’t even occur to her that the child’s features were familiar… even if she had had realised it, she wouldn’t have been able to tell whom Amy reminded her of. “No…” Amrita suddenly groaned in her sleep. “No, please… I don’t want to! Wormie, I won’t go to him!” “Amy, dear.” Ginny gently patted the child’s arm to wake her up from her nightmare, but she didn’t awake. “Evil… Grandpa… Voldemort… evil…” Ginny thought that she had been slapped in the face. Incredulously she stared down at the girl whose nightmare must have ended, because she kept sleeping but had stopped moaning. Wormie… Wormtail. Grandpa Voldemort… Amy… Amrita. Her father being a Gryffindor and thwarting her grandfather… The child’s huge green eyes… that inexplicable feeling she had awoken in Ginny when she’d first seen her… Ginny’s heart skipped a beat. She was holding Harry’s daughter in her arms! Then something else struck her: the child had said her father wasn’t dead. It made sense: it would rile Voldemort beyond imagination to learn that Harry – whom he’d believed to be dead – wasn’t dead after all. But could it be possible? Suddenly she remembered a dream she had had back in September… Cedric had told her that Harry was alive… She hadn’t been able to see the Thestrals, either… Could this mean Harry was really alive? If so, why hadn’t he returned to her yet? Ginny’s soul was in turmoil when their bus rolled into the station in Athens. “I’ve talked to people and someone said he’d last seen Spiro around Nikias’ tavern,” Jason announced after having returned to the Circle Headquarters. He was giving Harry funny glances, as if not believing his eyes to see him alive. “And who exactly told you this?” questioned Nausika. “A street-sweeper.” Shrugged Jason. “He’d seen Spiro come out of Nikias’ tavern and turn left on the corner. The attackers – if there were any – must have got him after he’d rounded the corner.” “What do you mean by ‘if there were any’?” Frowned Leto. “What I mean, honey, is that your brother is famous for… getting himself into trouble. No offence, but he’s a bit of an idiot.” “Is not!” snapped Leto, her eyes sending flashes of lightning at her boyfriend. “The truth is that he is,” interjected Harry. “It is possible – as my dear brother-in-law here has assumed – that he just got himself drunk and is lying in a stack of hay somewhere, dreaming of frolicking with a bunch of sirens, but…” “He’s not the type!” said Leto exasperatedly. “Yeah, whatever.” Waved Harry. “The point is that even if he’d drunk himself unconscious, the Tracking Charm should be able to find him. However, the charm has been disabled, the connection between Spiro and you, Leto, has been severed, and it must have taken great magical ability to sever this sort of charm. I don’t think many wizards would have been capable of it, but I wouldn’t put it past Voldemort to do it.” Every single Circle member around the table gasped at the sound of the name, but Nausika remained indifferent. She, as a leader, couldn’t let herself seem weak, could she? “Hey, have we missed something?” came a mellifluous voice from behind. Harry didn’t need to turn around to see who had entered the Circle’s Council Chamber, but he thought he’d fall off his chair in surprise. Three beautiful, slender women entered, all of them had long, brown hair and wore lilac robes. “Come on in, girls, have a seat,” Nausika motioned to them. The three women sat down facing the door, and this way facing Harry, too. As they caught a glimpse of him, their eyes widened. “Well, if it isn’t Neville.” Grinned the eldest-looking one. “Actually it’s not Neville… it’s Harry,” replied Harry. “I used to be a member of the Circle. And you three? What are you doing here?” “We are members of the Circle,” replied the youngest one. “How come you’re allowed in here when you’re no longer a member?” “I have good connections.” Harry winked at Nausika. “Also, one of the members is my wife,” he cast a meaningful glance at Phaedra. “Wife?” gasped the eldest of the three. “So that’s why you resisted our charms… but you know,” she looked at Phaedra, “your husband has a great singing voice.” “The sisters joined us two months ago,” said Nausika. “We had a bit of trouble with pairing them off… Shortly after you left, Harry, Jason’s pair got hit by a curse that addled his brain and we had to give up on him, so Phaedra and Jason, both in need of a pair, formed a new pair. However, there were three of the sisters, so with them we made a little exception: they aren’t in a pair, they are in a trio, and all three of them are connected to each other by the Tracking Charm. Ladies,” she said, turning to the three sirens, “time to fill you in. Spiro has disappeared and the Tracking Charm between him and Leto has been severed.” “Severed? How is that possible?” Nymph, the eldest siren knitted her finely shaped eyebrows. “No one knows.” Jason shook his head. “But we suspect Lord Voldemort,” added Harry. “Speak for yourself, Potter!” snapped Phaedra’s brother. “Potter?” Nympha’s eyes widened. “You mean Harry… Potter?” “That’s my name.” Shrugged Harry. “Holy Zeus, we almost shagged Harry Potter!” whispered Nympho, fanning herself with her hand, as if she was going to faint with pleasure. “Could we talk about my brother at last?” whined Leto. “He might be dying out there, and all you can discuss is sex?” “What did you expect, honey? I told Nausika that this would happen when she let these three into the Circle,” grunted Jason, then bit into his lower lip as Phaedra kicked him on the shin under the table. “Well, all we can do is go and look for Spiro,” stated the Chief-of-Circle matter-of-factly. “Jason, Phaedra, you go and investigate in the eastern quarter of Athens. Trio, you do the northern part. Gaia, Pasiphae, you go to the southern part, Nessus, Iphicles, yours is western Athens. Harry, you come with me to Nikias’.” “And me?” Pouted Leto. “You stay here, take care of your son and Phaedra’s daughter, and wait for your brother in case he returns.” “Oh… okay,” said Leto, somewhat dispirited. Draco, remembering the last time when he’d come to Athens with Phaedra, tapped the statue of a pretty woman with his wand twice. The statue suddenly came to life and sprang aside to reveal a cobblestone street. “Kalimera,” Aphrodite’s statue greeted them in Greek. Fred and George exchanged a confused look. “Oh, yeah,” said Draco. “What was that spell… Parsley… Parley… Pardon… Pendragon… aha! Pange Lingua!” He pointed his wand at the twins. “If I did it all right, you’ll be able to understand all human languages and make foreigners from all over the world understand whatever you say in English.” Fred’s face lit up and he bowed before Aphrodite. “Pleasure to meet an angel like you here, my dear. How are you doing?” Aphrodite giggled. “Fine now, with such a handsome gentleman around…” “A handsome gentleman?” added George, looking slightly hurt. “Actually, I think there’s two of us here, milady.” “Three, you mean,” commented Draco with a wry smile. “Well, time to move on, Weasels, if you ever want to find your sister.” “You said that as if it were only us who wanted to find her,” George pointed out. “But it was you who wanted to find her in the first place. We are only accompanying you, to make sure you don’t put a toe out of line, ferret boy.” Draco gave the twins a look of disgust and marched into the street beyond Aphrodite. “S’ry, fair lady, we’ve got to follow this idiot,” said Fred, bowing to the statue again. As they stepped onto the cobble-stoned street, the entrance closed behind them. “Where now, ferret boy?” asked George jauntily. “Nikias. He’s the only one I know here,” grunted Draco. “And stop calling me ferret boy!” “So, where are we goooing?” asked Amrita between two yawns. She never used to feel so sleepy this early in the evening – it was only six o’clock, after all – but she had never in her life experienced so much in one day: the visit with Wormtail to Diagon Alley, Wormtail disappearing and not coming back for her, Ginny helping her out, travelling to Greece on a fantastic aeroplane, seeing the Mediterranean Sea… She felt extremely exhausted and kept yawning every tenth of a second. “We’re going to find a nice hotel, dear,” replied Ginny, leading the child through the colourful and noisy crowd of Falaf Alley. “What is a hotel?” “It’s a place where you can sleep and eat.” “Uh-huh… Is the hotel far away?” asked Amrita, rubbing her eyes. “No, dear, we’re almost there.” Ginny shook her head, wishing they were up in a cosy little room at last and would be able to get some sleep. She hadn’t slept a bit the night before: she had after all gone through the underground passage with the elves, frozen Draco and fled to Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes when every normal human being had still been asleep. Finally they arrived in front of Nikias’ tavern and entered to see it full of people – it was dinnertime. Two waiters were criss-crossing among the tables, serving gyros, tzatziki, mousakas, kalamaria and mpifteki. Ginny headed for the counter at the end, where Nikias was madly hitting the buttons of a till. “These stupid, stupid Muggle devices!” he cursed as the machine refused to open its drawer. “Can I help?” asked Ginny, bending over the cash register. “I think you have to push this one.” She pointed at a red button. She remembered that Fred and George had had the same problem with a similar machine after having opened their joke shop. She had seen her father on several occasions, ‘playing’ with the till, as though it had been the most wonderful Muggle invention ever. She had to hide a grin at the memory, wondering whether she’d ever see her father and brothers again… Nikias hit the red button and the drawer sprang open. “Thank you missy!” The restaurant owner beamed. “Er… do I know you?” “I was here about ten months ago, Mr Nikias,” replied Ginny, “with Ha… Colin Creevey.” “Oh…” Nikias’ smile vanished. “You are Colin’s cousin, then.” “Um… sort of.” “You know, you don’t seem to be mad in the slightest,” remarked the owner. “Mad?” Ginny raised an eyebrow. “Er, well, you know, your cousin’s wife and their blond friend said you were a raving maniac… but I think they might have got it wrong. You look quite sane to me.” “I’m glad I do.” Smiled Ginny as Amrita leant against her, barely able to support her weight. She had already closed her eyes, as though she had fallen asleep. “Actually, Mr Nikias, I’d like to have a room for two, and…” Ginny couldn’t finish her sentence, for suddenly Nikias’ eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he stared over her shoulder. “Hello, Nik, long time no see,” said a familiar voice. “Have you heard about the kidnap that happened not far from here during the night?” Ginny thought someone had cast the Tempus Glacietur charm on her, for she found she couldn’t move; she was simply rooted to the spot. This couldn’t be! It couldn’t be him! Then again, Amrita had said her father wasn’t dead and so had Cedric in her dream – had it been more than dream? “C…Colin…̶ 1; stammered Nikias. “Are you alive?” “I think I am,” came the answer from behind Ginny’s back. “I’m investigating the case of a friend who is likely to have been kidnapped by Death Eaters.” “Death Eaters? Here, in Falaf Alley?” gasped the restaurateur. “Holy Heracles, I hope you’re wrong!” “I hope I’m wrong, too,” sighed ‘Colin’. “Well, Nausi?” “I’ll just remain here for a while and make some inquiries,” replied a resolute female voice. “You don’t mind, do you, Nikias?” “Ehm…” The restaurant owner seemed to hesitate. “Don’t worry, I won’t scare your clientele away,” said the determined female voice. “All right.” Shrugged Nikias. “Good. I’ll investigate the nearby streets,” said ‘Colin’ and Ginny heard the floorboards creak as he turned on his heels to walk away. Creak… Creak… The sound of steps growing fainter and fainter… Time had indeed frozen for Ginny; it was as though she had been watching a slow-motion picture: Nikias raised his hand to his nose to scratch it, but it seemed to take him half a minute; a couple of flies flew by, but they seemed to be rather slowly drifting through the air… Stop this, break out of this! Her mind screamed, and suddenly Amrita shifted by her side, groggily tugging at the sleeve of her cloak… That single tug was enough to break the ice, to unfreeze the frozen moment and make Ginny twirl around and shout: “Harry!” ‘Col in’ stopped dead in his tracks. He knew this voice… Again it seemed a slow-motion picture as he turned around to face the brunette whom he hadn’t even given a second glance while standing behind her and talking to Nikias. “Ginny?” he breathed, feeling as though his mouth had gone dry. She was as pretty as a picture, even with her hair dyed brown. He felt like running up to her and gathering her into his arms, but as his glance shifted to the child clinging to her, his heart sank. It was the little girl he’d seen in visions about Voldemort… his daughter. His daughter, whom he’d have to sacrifice. Author’s note: thanks to: the only paige black, Sara, Erin, ally, Marissa, CAncan227, Meganne, emily, ChocoltSweet, vietgurl0607, lulu, melodybelle, Delani, Mery, Katherine, hermioneweasley Aislin: your review made me blush. Thanks a lot! :D meeker: yeah, I know that the last chapter wasn’t my best and this one wasn’t either. You just have to endure one more ’not so interesting’ chapter, and after that three really good ones will come, I promise you! Fire: there WILL BE a happy ending. You have my word for it :D I have never written a fic with a sad ending yet and I don’t think I ever will. Ethan Feld: I don’t like the ewoks either :) Angie: not *that* tacky ;) No, I wasn’t plugging the Ella Enchanted movie, I haven’t even seen it. The Star Wars reference was what Voldemort told Spiro about his emotions for his sister. |
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