part 2/2.Pro Potter Mori: Sacrifice

The rest of the afternoon had passed in a blur and Harry could see the sun setting outside the window of the Headmaster’s office.  It would have been a breathtaking scene if Harry had the presence of mind to pay attention to it.  Instead, his thoughts were focused on both his, and his friends’, actions that afternoon.  

Tonks and Kingsley had been called back, after fruitlessly searching for him in all the wrong places.  Apparently, they thought Harry had gone towards the Space, Thought, or even Death chambers.  It would have made sense, sticking together, but that wasn't really his style.  Not anymore.

The Order members had indeed come to the students' rescue.  They had found Neville standing his ground, defending Hermione, against crucios from Bellatrix Lestrange who was just toying with him.  He and Hermione had managed to take down their foes several times, only to have them revived by the other Death Eaters. Harry made a mental note to teach these two some better spells.  In their hands, it might be worth something.  

After Luna realized that she could not overpower her pursuers, she led them on a merry chase through several sections of the department as though she had intrinsic knowledge of the entire facility.  Luna, in her usual way, insisted that she had never before set foot there in her life, and any thoughts to the contrary were “just plain crazy”.  She had been doing fine until Ginny's pursuers had decided to switch targets.  At that point, the Death Eaters had spread out and cornered her.  Incidentally, she had gotten herself cornered near a concealed Master Auror, and Moody was easily able to pick off the lackeys.  

Harry snorted at the memory.  When Moody had complimented her on her choice of position and her spatial awareness, she replied that “whimsical creature A” had displayed “imaginary behaviour B” resulting in the coincidence.  This produced a confused auror who decided that he was better off not knowing.

Harry’s mood turned sour however, as his thoughts moved on to the two Weasleys who had tagged along.

Ginny had taken the first alcove she could find and hid herself behind it, leaving Luna with two extra tails. 'What was she thinking, coming along?' Harry wondered.  She had only made the situation worse.

Nobody could tell him what happened to Ron.  Remus and Sirius had found him and his pursuers covered in some liquid with tentacle-brains hanging from them.  So far, Ron had yet to do anything other than giggle and say things like "cerebell-brain" or “primary touchy-feely place” but Dumbledore assured him his friend would be fine.  Harry grimaced in disdain; Ron had probably gotten smarter thanks to the ordeal.

Dumbledore.  Dumbledore finally entered the Department of Mysteries after everything had been resolved, late as usual.  This time though, he had a legitimate excuse.  A duel with Voldemort.

To Harry, that was a fairly good reason.  Personal experience and all that.

As his thoughts dwelt more and more on the events of the day, he started to screen out the details, leaving only the main points.  Now his concentration was all shot to hell as image after image flashed through his mind.  One image in particular kept returning to the forefront.  It weighed as heavily on his guilt as it did in his pocket.

How could he tell the man that his only chance at freedom (short of Voldemort's death) had been burnt to the ground, quite literally, by his godson?  Harry would have to make it up to him somehow.

By the time Dumbledore finally returned to the office, Harry’s mind was blank.  The captured Death Eaters were inconsequential, as was Fudge’s admittance to seeing Voldemort in the Atrium.  He also couldn’t care less about the prophecy or its implications.  

Love for his friends?  He doubted it.  After what he heard of his friends' performances, he decided that there would be a culling of the weak.  Some would be cut loose.  Others like Neville had earned his . . . respect?  No, the closest term would be grudging acknowledgement.  Definitely nowhere near love.

‘If only she hadn’t been going about it with all of Buckbeak's patience but none of Buckbeak's dignity’ he thought.  If Harry Potter wanted a quick lay, Harry Potter could get a quick lay.  One who did not look like his mother.

Still, he would keep her close.  Like a friend.  She was a friend right?  She was a Weasley . . . he liked Weasley's, didn't he?  After all, they were almost family.  But so was Sirius – even more so.  Yes, she was a friend.  And any friend of Harry Potter’s would have to be a useful one.

"Ginny?  That you?  Come on in."As she entered the room Harry had commandeered, she saw what Fred and George’s old room had become.  Nothing had changed, really.  The twins would use their room as the lab for their experiments.  There would always be potions brewing and notes strewn all over the place.  An organized mess.  Under Harry’s usage, the room kept all the defining characteristics.  It was still a little messy and was still being used for potions and spellwork.  

Nobody could really put their finger on what had changed, but they all agreed something had.  What was once a room full of life now exuded emptiness.  It came from the way Harry kept the curtains and windows closed, leaving the dark and stuffy atmosphere that he was used to at Privet Drive.  It was also the lack of sound coming from the room.  Whereas Fred and George created daily explosions followed by laughter, Harry kept to himself.  While he was not totally silent, people walking past the room would hear constant motion and muttered words that were just quiet enough to not be made out.  

The mood of the room gave Ginny chills, despite the summer heat, and it made her fidget in nervousness.  

Inside, Harry was amused at her squeamishness.  It looked like she was stalling for time by looking around the room.  He knew she could not see much in the dimness and most of the important things were placed in the murky corners.  He stopped his idle musings when it looked like Ginny was about to blurt out everything on her mind.  He was right.

"Harry?  What are you doing in here?  Eww, are those leeches?  And lacewing flies?  Merlin, Harry what are you up to?  It looks like you're boiling mud in that cauldron" she finished with a nervous giggle.  "Look Harry, I wanted to talk to you.  You've been acting weird ever since you got here about a month ago.  Mum asked me to see if you're alright."

Her comment went ignored for the most part.  Harry had a plan to follow.

"Ah Ginny, don’t worry about it, its nothing.  You're just the girl I wanted to see though" he said as he walked towards his work table at the side of the room.

Really, Harry did not blame the Weasley matriarch’s advice for Ginny.  It was her only shot at finding her daughter a halfway decent husband.  Too bad the little one just could not pull her own weight.

One sole comment from Harry lit up her face in a pretty blush.  At least, it would have been a pretty blush on anyone else.  She clasped her hands in front of her hips, tried to jut her chest outwards by sucking in her breath, and started fluttering her eyelashes.  She looked like a constipated hooker with an eye infection.

"What did you need me for, Harry?"

"I need a small favour, can you do that for me?"

"You know I would do anything for you, Haarrrry"

She tried to draw out the name in a purr.  The hooker now had a lisp.

"Right.  Well, I needed to test out this potion for a trial run.  Can you tell me how it is?"

As he was talking, Harry had his back turned to her.  She could not see what he was doing but when he turned around again, she was presented with a drab gray potion in a test tube.

"What is this?"

"You know, I'm not sure yet.  I'm experimenting with the theories presented in this potions text" he lied.  "Tell me what you experience.  The effects shouldn't last for more than an hour."

Anybody else would have questioned the potion.  Would have questioned Harry's skill.  Would have looked over the research and the process.  That was why it had to be Ginny.  That, and almost everyone else was actually useful in a fight.  

”You sound like you’re turning into Hermione, Harry” she tried to joke while looking warily at the potion.  Any reservations were lost when she saw the patronizing smile on Harry’s face.  She gulped it down with the stereotyped rashness and bullheadedness of a Gryffindor.  

Her features started to change immediately. The final ingredient had been a bit of a challenge.  Dobby had really pulled through for him.  In the end, no man could stay in an animagus transformation for over a decade.  For a house elf, with no magic restrictions in the summer, finding a single brown hair in a family of redheads was easy.

Ginny’s form started to grow, tearing at her clothes.  Her ginger hair shortened into a dull brown and her body seemed to almost double in weight.  The result was a nondescript, middle-aged man in tattered rags.  

"Hmm, I see the polyjuice worked.  Pity, you have an extra hand.  The hair must’ve been more than a year old" he mused.  He wondered if that would affect the potion’s quality.  Better not take any risks and finish this quickly.

"Polyjuice?  Harry what are you talking about?  Who did you turn me into?"

"You said you would do anything for me, Ginny.  I need to win this war.  It’s my purpose.  My destiny.  To do that, I need able bodies.  You understand, don’t you?"

"Harry, doesn't polyjuice only last an hour?  How will this work?"

"I see you don't understand, not yet” he sighed.  “Ginny, Sirius is a valuable asset to my war.  But he can't go out unless he’s innocent, meaning after we've caught Wormtail."

"Harry, you're not making any sense.  What’s that got to . . ."

"Wormtail died in the last battle, Ginny.  I killed him.  His body is gone.  Sirius . . . he's a fighter, he's an asset, but more than that, he's family.  My family.  You on the other hand, are a liability.  I can't have you at my back, Ginny."

As he talked, he picked up the long knife he used for cutting ingredients, before slowly moving towards Ginny.  Backing her away from the door, he made his move.

The knife flashed as he struck.  A trail of crimson in its wake.  The magically sharpened blade cut through flesh and bone without a problem.  Ginny could only look down and gape in horror as her wrist now ended in a stump.  Before she could make a noise, Harry had knocked her over and taken a pillow to her face.  He kept her pinned with the full weight of his body on her chest as he explained.

"You're right of course.  Polyjuice does only last for one hour.  There is an exception though.  Mrs. Crouch.  You remember the fake Moody don't you?  His father helped him escape Azkaban by having his ailing mother take his place.  She died in there, taking a dose every hour.  The Crouch family knew something about polyjuice however, they knew that at death the change remains permanent.  That's why when she was buried, everyone thought they buried Crouch Jr."

As he spoke, the asphyxiating body below him struggled less and less.

"When the others come up here, they'll find that 'Scabbers' returned home but got caught.  Sadly, I was too late to stop him from kidnapping poor Ginevra Weasley, but I managed to kill him without magic.  I even have the silver hand to prove it.  They'll applaud the mourning hero and the public will rally behind me, supporting me in my fight.  More importantly, Fudge will have Sirius declared innocent to save his political career.  You're just collateral damage.

"With that said, the knife plunged down once, twice, three times.

Love? No, not love. Maybe sacrifice - not his own, of course - but maybe not. Certainly not love though.

And that’s that.  Sorry for the wait.  I know I said a couple days but I forgot I had two term papers due that week.

Honestly, I had a bit of trouble keeping it in 3rd person for the second part. I found myself talking about Harry in the first person. Guess I really don't like Ginny eh?

Always been fascinated by the idea that polyjuice is permanent if the drinker dies before the hour is up.

I originally wanted Harry to put a water insoluble poison into the test tube with the potion but I had a bitch of a time looking for a poison that wouldn't affect a potion (I'm guessing that most potions are water based) and would kill the ingester in under an hour.