memento

It had been almost five years since Harry Potter left Hogwart... almost five years since Voldemort’s second downfall. He had become an Auror, and was currently working with a group of Aurors to catch the newest threat to the wizarding world – a man that went by the name of Morcus. Morcus was horrible man… killed many of the families of the witches and wizards that were now hunting him. Every now and then he would turn up out of the blue to wreak havoc. His most recent killing spree was only two weeks ago. The Ministry was certain that they would catch him this time, before he went back into hiding.

The sun was just setting, and Harry was sitting on his couch looking over files and folders. His apartment was dimly lit and scarcely furnished – a wooden desk was directly opposite the door, right below a large, curtained window; a large brown couch was to the right. The bedroom door was to the right just after the front door, and the kitchen was directly opposite on the left. His apartment was covered in old newspapers, clippings of suspects, and random, empty cups of coffee...

“Come in” he yelled at the sound of a knock on the door. He knew that knock. It was Ginny.

“Colton has a report stating that Morcus was spotted near Wales… I don’t believe a word of it though. Colton’s so anxious to get moving I wouldn’t doubt if he was sending in false tips. The man really has no patience…” Ginny ranted as she walked through the door, moved old copies of the Daily Prophet off the couch, and sat down beside Harry.

He smiled softly as he watched her.

“What do you think?” she said, handing him the report.

“An eye-witness… anonymous… Wales… small shop…” Harry vaguely read portions of the report out loud. He took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes, “So far, he’s been spotted in Nottingham, Aberdeen, Bristol, Lincoln, and now Wales – I don’t think Morcus is that foolish. Moving around so often within the course of a month,” he said tiredly as he put his glasses back on.

“Maybe he isn’t…” - Ginny began to cough harshly…

Harry moved closer to her. “Are you okay?” he asked as he placed a hand on the small of her back. She’d had a chest cold for sometime now but her cough was never this bad.

It stopped as suddenly as it began. Her skin was very pale and her breathing sounded labored.

“Can I use the bathroom?” she asked, folding her hands together evasively.

“Of course,” Harry replied in a concerned tone.

Ginny stood up and walked toward the bedroom – the bathroom was connected off of it. She entered the room, which was much cleaner than the living room. With her wrist she opened the door to the bathroom and closed it behind her with her foot. Again, with her wrist she turned the tap on. For a moment she stared at her hands… they were tainted with blood. Grim thoughts flooded her mind, but she pushed them away and let her hands run under the cool water. She turned the tap off and stared into the mirror for what seemed like ages… Ginny gazed at her reflection – she didn’t seem to recognize the thin, pale woman before her. Or maybe she didn\'t want to recongnize the woman... Her hands grasped the edge of the sink as a sudden dizziness flooded through her veins.

“Ginny? Is everything okay?” Harry called, knocking softly on the bathroom door.

Quickly she dried her hands and opened the door smiling.

“I was just washing up,” she replied brightly.

Harry nodded his head. “You should really get that cough checked out,” he said, gently touching her cheek.

“Well, actually, I saw Neville a few weeks ago. He said it was just a common cold… nothing to worry about,” Ginny faltered slightly as she spoke the last part.

At that, a tall man, with short brown hair and a small mustache apparated into the room… “Harry, we’ve got Bentley,” the man spoke urgently.

“What?” Harry questioned, obviously surprised by the sudden interruption.

“C’mon, the two of you… they caught him down in Knockturn Alley. He’s putting up a bit of a fight, but he won’t last long…” the man said quickly and disapparated.

Harry looked to Ginny quickly – she nodded her head, and in the space of a second they were gone.

Knockturn Alley was a very questionable place. An Auror could catch twenty Dark wizards at a time there – the only problem was that, with most things, there was no concrete evidence that what was bought and sold was going to be used specifically for the Dark Arts. But Thomas Bentley was a known Dark Wizard – and not a bright one at that… to show up in Knockturn Alley only epitomized his stupidity. Bentley was also a close friend, or more appropriately, minion, of Morcus.

By the time Harry and Ginny arrived at Knockturn Alley, which was only but a few seconds, Hermione Granger had already managed to stop the wizard with a simple stunning spell, but that was only after an outright battle had been going on between Bentley and five other Aurors. Neville Longbottom was there also – he was a healer who had been called in to tend to Bentley’s wounds before transportation to the Ministry. Ron Weasley and Seamus Finnigan were now binding Bentley and preparing to bring him in for questioning.

“You caught him?” Harry asked, nodding his head slightly as he walked toward Ron and Seamus.

They both smiled in satisfaction.

“We caught him,” Ron replied.

Bentley was tied by thin silver ropes, and was sitting propped up against the wall of the alley. Harry kneeled down on the dirty cobblestone and stared at the captive.

“Where is he?” he questioned sternly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Bentley replied angrily.

Harry stared at the pug-faced man for the longest time, then stood up and addressed Ron, Seamus, and Hermione, who had now joined the group surrounding Bentley… “He knows. It’s in his eyes,” Harry said looking back at Bentley.

“About his eyes…” Ron began awkwardly.

“Bring him back to the Ministry, we’ll give him…” - Harry stopped. Ron, Seamus, and Hermione slowly followed his uneasy gaze…

Ginny, who was a few feet away, talking to Neville, was coughing again – not as violently as she had before but she was coughing. Harry could see that Neville tried to pass her a small thin bottle. She shook her head and smiled softly, “I’m fine…” she began to protest, but Neville pushed the bottle into her hands… “Just take it.” Harry heard him whisper.

At that, Ron and Harry shared equally concerned glances.

Neville left Ginny taking to Colton, the man that had interrupted she and Harry earlier, and began walking toward Bentley.

“Who hit him with the blasting curse?” Neville asked as he bent down to look at Goyle.

“I did,” answered Seamus.

“His eyes are blood-shot. Was that his own doing or was it the Conjunctivitis Curse?” Neville looked around for an answer.

“Curse,” Ron muttered carelessly.

Neville continued to go through the list of various curses performed the man, healing him as he talked.

“I’d like to get back to St. Mungo’s, any other minor injuries?” Neville asked; Ron saw him glance quickly over to Ginny.

“No. I don’t think anyone else got hit,” Seamus replied, shaking his head casually.

“Well, call me if I’m needed,” Neville said tiredly just before apparating.

“Okay, bring him in for questioning,” Harry directed Ron. “I think Ginny has the veritaserum ready…” he looked quickly around the alley… she wasn’t there.

Harry called out to Colton, “Where’d Ginny go?”

“I think she went back to the Ministry to write up the paperwork,\" Colton replied.

Harry sighed heavily, and without another word he apparated.

* * * *
There she was. Sitting at her cubicle, but she wasn’t writing up the paper work – Ginny was fiddling with the small bottle Neville had given her. A rippling sensation on the back of her neck gave her the awareness that someone was watching her. Ginny quickly put the small bottle into the top compartment of her desk, and turned in her chair to see who’s footfalls were approaching her.

“Harry. I thought you’d be questioning Bentley… Is something wrong?” she said as she stood up from her chair and began scanning the desK.

“We need the veritaserum,” Harry responded quickly.

“Oh, yes…” she replied dreamily as she rummaged through her desk for a moment… when she opened the top compartment Harry could see the bottle Neville had given her rolling around.

“Here it is,” she said brightly, handing him a long, blue bottle.

Harry’s gaze was still directed toward her desk.

“Do you have a ink bottle in your desk?” Ginny asked peering into his green eyes as he leaned against her cubicle.

“Yeah,” he answered distractedly.

Ginny stared at him for a moment, trying to read the wistful expression on his face, then moved to her left into the next cubicle to retrieve the ink. She was back in front of him a minute later. Her breath caught in the back of her throat when she saw that Harry was standing in front of her desk holding the bottle of liquid Neville gave her…

“What is this?” he asked, concern filing his voice.

“Oh, that… well, it’s for my cough,” Ginny answered, trying to sound nonchalant.

Harry smiled, “Good, I’m glad you’re finally taking care of that… I was starting to get worried” he replied contentedly, slowly reaching up to push a strand of long, red hair away from her face.

His hand lingered on her cheek for a moment. His fingers traced the lining of her lips. Harry leaned down slightly... but pulled away suddenly at the sound of Ron, Hermione, Seamus, and Colton leading Bentley into the Auror’s Headquarters.

“Bringing him to the back room?” Harry asked Ron as the crew stopped in front of them.

“Yeah, are you two coming?” Hermione questioned.

“Yeah,” Harry turned to look at Ginny.

“The paperwork” she muttered, smiling softly.

Harry nodded his head... “Colton... I need you’re help,” he said brightly, putting his hand on the young man’s shoulder.

“Anything, sir,” Colton replied proudly.

At that moment Harry was reminded of the ever-ambitious Percy Weasley.

He frowned slightly to himself. “This paperwork needs to be written up, signed, and on my desk by tomorrow morning,” he said, trying to make it sound very important as he walked away with the others.

There was one metal chair in the middle of the room, and the walls were painted a dark gray. Seamus, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny stood against the wall to the left; Bentley sat on the chair facing them... Harry stood in front of him – forcing the veritaserum down his throat.

After a moment he began to question him, “Where is Morcus?” he asked calmly.

“Don’t know,” Bentley answered in a low, gruff tone.

He should have known. Why would Morcus trust this bumbling idiot with such a secret? . Although feeling a bit disappointed, he continued, “What were you doing in Knockturn Alley?”

Bentley’s dog-like face contorted, “Shopping.”

Harry stared at him blankly, obviously at a loss for words.

Ginny sighed deeply, “Shopping for what?” she asked in a false good-natured tone that indicated weaning patience.

“Wart remover,” Bentley responded dumbly.

“You risked incarceration for wart remover?” Hermione asked incredulously.

“Yeah,” Bentley responded as though he thought that what he did was what any wizard would do.

Harry stood open-mouthed for a moment, not sure what to ask next.

And then, breaking the awkward silence, Ginny asked, “Can we see the wart?”

Everyone in the room, including Ron, stared at her.

“What?\" - Ginny said in response to the awkward glances - \" If the man was willing to risk his life for it, then I suppose the wart must be something worth seeing, don’t you?” she asked, looking around the room for verification.

Harry smiled and shook his head.

“I think she has a point,” Seamus declared.

Hermione looked at him like he was crazy.

“I think I’d like to see it as well,” Ron voiced.

“Very well. Let’s see it,” Harry said briskly, though shrugging slightly.

“You need to take my shoe off,” Bentley said just as Colton entered the room.

“Colton, just the man I wanted to see... Take his shoe off,” Harry commanded awkwardly as he moved back against the wall to stand beside Ginny.

Colton gaped at him for a moment, “Why?” he asked in an affronted tone.

“Evidence, Colton... Are you a team player or not?” Harry questioned in a mock-serious tone.

“I’m… yes, I certainly am a team player,” Colton replied rather pompously, then bent down at Bentley’s feet, “Um, which foot?” the young man asked timidly.

“The right,” Bentley responded, moving his head in the direction instructively as though he didn’t think Colton knew left from right.

Colton removed the shoe and sock… sure enough there was a large, quarter-sized wart at the bottom of big toe.

“That is disgusting,” Ron remarked as he adjusted his head to see the wart clearly.

Seamus made an awkward expression that seemed to mingle between curiosity and repulsion.

Hermione turned her head, rolling her eyes slightly, refusing to be involved in such a ridiculous act.

And Ginny nodded her head understandingly. “Alright, that’s enough. Colton, put the shoe back on. Contact someone over in Azkaban to come get him, and then get some wart remover for Mr. Bentley,” Harry ordered quickly.

“You want me to get him wart remover? Sir, he’s a Dark Wizard why are we trying…” Colton began to object…

“C’mon, Colton. That is a nasty wart. Just get the wart remover – as a personal favor to me,” Harry replied awkwardly, still eyeing Bentley’s exposed foot.

“Yes, sir” Colton replied in degradation as he left the room.

Closing the door, Harry looked back to Ginny. Her pale skin looked chalky, and she was breathing hard.

He walked closer, “You want to lie down?” he whispered once he was beside her.

She looked white as a ghost.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” she said in a nauseated tone…

“Where’s she going?” Ron whispered, leaning closer to Harry.

“Bathroom,” Harry replied, still staring at the door.

Ron nodded his head, \"She\'s been acting a bit funny lately... and she\'s had that cough for a while,\" he said.

\"She saw Neville about that -- he gave her medicine,\" Harry said quietly.

* * * *
Soon, an Azkaban guard was at the door… the foul soul-sucking Dementors had once been the guardians of the wizard prison, but after Voldemort’s second rise they sided with the Dark Lord. Today, just regular wizards guarded the cells of Azkaban. The man at the door looked tired, but still he managed to get Bentley out of their hands.

“Did Ginny come back from the bathroom yet?” Harry asked, looking over at Hermione.

“I don’t think so,” she answered, shaking her head and continuing her conversation with Seamus.

Fifteen more minutes and no return - Harry began to get worried.

“Maybe we should go check on her,” Ron muttered.

Harry nodded, “It’s probably nothing you know,” he replied, trying to sound optimistic.

They made their way to the bathroom and knocked on the door with the “Witch” sign hung above it. No one answered. Slowly, Harry and Ron walked in. There was a small cove to the right with a couch, to the left was twenty toilet stalls, and after the cove the wall was lined with sinks and mirrors. The wallpaper was covered in lilacs, and the room smelt like cinnamon.

“Why do women always get nicer bathrooms?” Ron asked, frowning slightly.

They looked around the bathroom again - no one was there. Just as they were about to leave they heard the sound of someone vomiting; it came from the stall at the back of the room.

Quickly, they ran back and knocked on the door, “Ginny?” --- they heard a woman groan.

“Why are you two in here?” she questioned as she began to cough.

After a minute she stopped.

“Is everything okay?” Harry asked, concern evident in his voice.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she responded before vomiting again. Her stomach ached horribly.

“Do you have a fever?” Ron questioned, trying to think of what could be wrong.

“No, Ron… It’s… a woman’s thing,” she replied, trying to stop him from asking more questions.

She knew neither of them would investigate too much into cramps.

“Didn’t you have that last week?” Harry asked awkwardly.

Damn it, was he keeping track of her monthly now? “Harry, I think I would know when I’ve had it,” she responded breathlessly as she forced her self to stand.

Ginny wiped her mouth with a paper towel, leaned her back against the wall, and closed her eyes.

“Everything okay?” Ron asked after a moment silence.

She forced herself to take deep breaths. Then she flushed the toilet, and opened the door of the stall.

Ginny was very pale, but she managed a small smile. “I’m fine, Ronald, now if you don’t mind I think you two should leave,” she said in a reprimanding tone.

Ron nodded sheepishly, but Harry frowned slightly at her evasiveness. They both left the room awkwardly.

Ginny washed up in the sink, splashing water on her face and letting it run down her neck. She didn’t like lying to either of them, but at the same time she didn’t want to burden them with her problems. Pushing grim thoughts aside, she left the bathroom…

There he was, leaning against the opposite wall waiting for her to come out... “I told you I was fine, Harry,” Ginny muttered.

He didn’t respond.

Harry walked forward and stood in front of her, his hands rested on her sides. He smiled to himself for a moment at how much shorter she was than him – he stood at 5’ 11” and she was almost 7 inches below him.

\"You don\'t look fine,\" he whispered.

Ginny sighed heavily, and leaned against his chest. She knew she wouldn\'t be able to convince him that she was fine.

“You should go home. Sleep,” he whispered softly, stroking her hair.

“I’m not tired,” she replied dreamily.

That was a lie. She was exhausted.

“C’mon, we should check Colton’s papers,” Ginny said serenely, but not moving away from him.

Harry shook his head, “Colton knows how to file paperwork. If anything, that’s all he can do,” he replied mockingly.

They stayed like that for a while. Harry held her against him tightly… it felt so right to have her in his arms, to comfort her.

“There’s something we need to talk about,” Ginny whispered shakily, moving uneasily in his arms.

She cringed at the thought of what she was about to say.

“Is something wrong?” Harry asked concernedly.

She looked up and stared into his green eyes… she’d been struggling with this for over two months, and each time she tried talk to him she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. It was the same with her family… being an Auror was a consuming job, the little time she spent with them was precious – she didn’t want to take that away.

“Never mind… it was just… something… in the report,” Ginny whispered, her broken sentence revealing a lie.

“What is it?” Harry questioned again. “Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing, really,” she replied assuringly.

A sudden mixture of pain and guilt flashed through her body. How could she tell him it was nothing?

* * * *
Moonlight poured in through an open window, illuminating the room. Her throat began to contract and her breathing came in sharp, ragged pants. Ginny abruptly sat up in bed, coughing harshly. It felt as though someone had been choking her. She gasped for air as the coughing subsided. She held her face in her palms for a moment, still trying to catch a breath. Finally her breathing returned to normal. Although her lungs felt as though they would explode. Ginny leaned over, switched on the lamp that sat on the table beside her bed, and rubbed her eyes as they adjusted to the light. A bit shakily, she stood up and walked toward the door. In the dark she made her way to the kitchen. A small table stood in the middle of the room; cabinets lined the lilac patterned walls just above a long, gray counter. Ginny walked toward the cabinet and reached for a glass. But dropped the thin goblet as a wave of nausea flooded through her body. Small shards of glass flew through the air. Ginny instinctively brought her hands to her face, shielding herself from the glass. She stared at the broken mug for a moment, imagining herself as a tiny glass figurine that had broken into a thousand pieces. She had never thought of herself like that before now – she had never thought of herself as fragile.

She turned, careful not to step on the glass, and reached for another cup. Cool liquid ran down her parched throat, soothing her body but not her mind. Without bothering to clean the broken glass, and slightly disoriented, Ginny slowly walked to her bedroom. She sat down on the bed and pulled the covers back. A small spot of blood stained the pillowcase. She immediately touched her face. Blood tainted the tips of her fingers. Ginny sighed deeply as she got up and walked into the bathroom, which was adjacent to the bedroom. She flicked on the light. A large bathtub sat to her left; the toilet bowl and sink just along side of it against the wall; and a large cabinet was to her right. For a moment she stood before the mirror staring at her reflection. Her nose had been bleeding. Quickly, washed the blood from her fingers and face. She pulled open the doors of the cabinet and pulled out a new pillowcase. She made her way back to the bed and began to change the stained bedding.