MetaFic

((A/N: This will answer 1 question a number of people have been asking.))

Chapter 8 - Hunting and Gathering

It was a week before Christmas and things were going well, Ginny thought. Exams were now over and she knew she had done well on them all. She still dreaded having to tell Ron she would be joining him in his year of school, but being able to be in the same classes with Harry would be worth the difficulty with Ron.

This morning’s Daily Prophet main story was about Amelia Bones’ interim position for Minister for Magic becoming permanent. Ginny was not sure why it had taken the Wizengamot so long to do that. The safe answer was probably a lot of political infighting and a Wizengamot that was evenly split on both sides. The first thing the new Minister had done was to make Kingsley Shacklebolt’s interim position over the MLE permanent. Ginny thought that was probably a good thing.

More interesting than all of that was the behavior change in their Potions teacher. Ginny was very amazed at his change. Granted, it has not been a total reversal over-night. No, he had still been a royal pain in the ass for the next month had he had returned from his attack, but it was immediately obvious that he was trying to change. Sure, he would never win a Congeniality award, but he was actually teaching Potions.

The first noticeable thing was that he had stopped hovering over people, silently goading nervous students into making mistakes. He still walked around and made comments, but his comments were now warnings about safety, something he had never done before.

Then McGonagall had shown up in a few classes and stood at the back of the room. She never said anything, but she was there watching. Harry and the other second years had asked around and it seemed like she had monitored his class more than any other, but she showed up in various Potions classes over a two week period. Percy had said she had even shown up in his sixth year Potions class. The most useful result from that was Snape started explaining more things. The most important result was that he no longer had as much bias for the Slytherins or let them sabotage anyone else’s potions.

Snape was still no saint and he still had a slight bias for the Slytherins, but his class was mostly tolerable and they actually learned something from him. Harry said Snape watched him a lot, and still glared at him from time to time, but at least he had stopped all the insults and undeserved punishments. Ginny decided that she would not have to make him have a Potions accident after all.

As she and her friends sat down for dinner, a common topic for the last couple of weeks came up -- again. She would have thought that her brother had worn this one out, but apparently not.

“Ginny, are you sure you and Harry aren’t going to come home on the train?”

She could not help it, she had to roll her eyes and she made sure he saw it, because she knew he was really asking why she was staying behind. “For the last time, Ron, no. I’ve already explained that we have some extra credit work here at the school over the holidays, but I will be home for Christmas. Mum and Dad both approved it.”

“I just don’t know why you won’t tell me,” he said sullenly. “You never used to keep secrets from me.”

Ginny was “this close” to sending a Bat-Bogey hex his direction. “Sorry, Ron. The guilt trip route won’t work on me, and it won’t work on Harry either.” At least now that I pointed it out to him she mentally added.

“But you’re making my best friend stay here and I don’t get to either,” he huffed.

“Ron, I told you that everything would be explained Christmas morning.” She now glared at him. “Now just shut up before I hex you.”

Hermione sighed with an expression of long-suffering, which Ginny ignored. Even Hermione had tired of the argument and given up, as neither Harry nor Ginny had budged in their explanations. Even worse for the brunette, she was forced to wait until she got back from her trip to France with her parents before she found out, a mere few days before the next term started. Ginny almost told her anyway, but decided it was best not to.

The next morning, as most of the students went to Hogsmeade to catch the train home, Harry and Ginny walked to the Headmaster’s office. There, they found a small crowd. In addition to the Headmaster and Snape, which they had expected, they also found Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout.

“Good morning, Harry, Miss Weasley,” Dumbledore greeted them. ”Thank you for being prompt. I’d offer you a seat, but I believe we will not be staying here. Am I correct?”

“Yes, sir,” Ginny told them. “Am I to assume that the other Professors will be with us for the hunt and salvage operation?”

“You are quite correct, Miss Weasley. In addition, once I told them what we were doing, well, you could say that curiosity overcame them,” Dumbledore said with a slight chuckle. “Let me pick up this box and we can be off.” A single scratching sound came from the small box, about one foot on a side.

“I hope you have a rooster in there, Professor,” Ginny said as she led them out of the man’s office.

“Of course, Miss Weasley. I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that I’ve even successfully made it crow. I thought that a useful test.” Dumbledore was carrying on as if it was all a joke at a party.

The more she was around him, the more Ginny had to agree the man was somewhat barmy. “That’s good to hear, Professor. The other ways I’ve read about to kill a basilisk sound less than pleasant.” She heard a snort behind her, but from its direction, she thought McGonagall had made the noise. The thought of her usually stern teacher doing that made her smile. Glancing over at Harry, who was walking beside her, she saw him grinning too. He would not be grinning if he had known how he had killed the basilisk in the other timeline.

A few moments later, the group was at the second floor girl’s bathroom.

“The entrance is in here?” McGonagall asked, sounding scandalized.

“Yes, Professor. I would have thought that both you and Professor Dumbledore would have figured this part out, as you were both here the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened.” Ginny thought Sprout would have been too young, but she looked at her Charms professor. “Professor Flitwick, were you here fifty years ago?”

The little man smiled at her. “No, Miss Weasley. I had already graduated ten years earlier. However, I am impressed by your research to have found this. What was your most significant clue or clues?”

Ginny gave a knowing smile and opened the door to the bathroom and walked in. “Hello, Myrtle? Are you in here?”

A ghost stuck her head through a stall door. “Ginny? You came back.” The ghost smiled. “And you brought more friends. Minerva! I haven’t seen you in a long time.” She looked around at the rest of the group. “Ooh, who’s the boy, I like him. He’s cute.” Harry blushed and all of the Professors softly chuckled.

“To answer your question, Professor Flitwick, Myrtle is the reason I figured it all out. She was the last victim of the previous time,” Ginny explained.

“You’re not going to tell them about my end, are you? That’s so depressing.” Myrtle returned to her stall and they heard a splash and gurgling.

McGonagall shook her head and quietly said, “She was actually quite nice before the accident -- quiet, but nice.”

“You knew her?” Harry asked incredulously.

“Yes, Mr Potter, I knew her, even though she was two years behind me and in Ravenclaw. That incident came at the end of my sixth year.” McGonagall stated very matter-of-factly. She turned to Ginny. “Miss Weasley, did she tell you anything of importance?”

“Yes, Professor. In talking with her, she said that the last thing she saw was two large yellow eyes from over by the sinks. Given that, I knew to search for the entrance there. That was also verification that the monster is a basilisk, the king of serpents, and probably pet of Salazar Slytherin.”

“Good show, Miss Weasley,” Flitwick complimented her. “Take ten points for Gryffindor for your research and well-thought out logic.”

“Thank you, Professor.” Ginny turned to Harry. “Your turn is next, good sir,” she said with an impish smile. Walking over to a sink, she pointed to a faucet. “You can see an image of a snake here. Try asking it to open.”

Harry walked over and stared intently at the faucet.

“I don’t understand why Mr Potter is doing this,” Sprout said.

“Open!” Harry commanded, although everyone else just heard hissing.

Sprout gasped, while McGonagall exclaimed, “Oh my!” Flitwick was bug-eyed. Snape’s eyebrows were at the top of his forehead. Only Dumbledore showed no sign of surprise, and that was because he already knew Harry could speak Parseltongue. Everyone watched the sinks move and reveal a large hole in the floor.

Harry looked down it first, since he was standing right there. “We have to slide down that?” He did not sound very excited.

“Since I don’t see a way back up and there must be one, ask for stairs, Harry,” she instructed him. Foreknowledge was so great, she told herself. Harry hissed again and they all saw stairs slide out from the side of the tunnel. Shrugging Harry started walking down the stairs, lighting his wand as went.

Before his head was below floor level, Snape finally spoke up. “Potter, an adult should go first. There’s no telling what may be down there.”

Harry shrugged. “If you want, Professor.” He walked the half dozen stairs back up and let the Potions teacher go first, then followed him down. Ginny considered that while not friends, and she was sure the two never would be, at least they were not at each other’s throats.

Ginny stepped forward and followed Harry. The rest followed, McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, and finally Dumbledore at the end with his rooster in a box. While far less messy, the stairs took a long time to get down. As she remembered it, there were lots of rat bones at the bottom. They were quite distasteful to walk on.

Once everyone was at the bottom, they continued on to the anteroom. There, they found the shed snake skin Ginny had seen last time. It was over twenty feet long.

“Impressive,” Snape dryly commented. “That alone is worth several hundred Galleons.”

At the other end of the room, they saw a door with snakes around the edges. Harry hissed again and the snakes moved, unlocking it, allowing the door to split in half and open. Again, Snape took the lead and walked through the doorway. The rest followed. It was a big room, cavernous -- in both meanings of the word. In the distance, they could hear water dripping.

“Harry, try asking for lights and see if that gets us anything,” Ginny whispered. It seemed wrong to talk.

Harry hissed and torches all around the very large cave turned own, momentarily blinding everyone. As Ginny got her sight back, she noticed that Harry was looking at the other end of the cave, past a number of pillars holding the ceiling up, towards a face carved into the very stone wall. “What is it, Harry?” she quietly asked.

“I thought I heard someone talking. It sounded like I heard the word ‘hungry’.”

Ginny could not stop the shiver that came over her. “That’s probably the snake, since you heard it as a voice and I did not.”

“Where did the voice come from, Harry?” Dumbledore asked, looking around like everyone else.

“From behind the statue.” Harry stood transfixed, as if not sure what to do next.

Dumbledore lightly cleared his throat. “I believe this is the point that everyone but Harry and I should return to the other room. Harry, if you would stand behind one of these pillars, when all is ready, you can command it to open and then I shall make the rooster crow.”

The others started going back, except for Ginny. She walked over to Harry. “Please be careful, Harry.” He nodded. “If a plain ‘open’ doesn’t work, try things like ‘Slytherin says open’, or ‘Speak to me Slytherin’, and things like that. In the books, Slytherin is portrayed as egotistical, so it may be some flattering phrase.” She had to make it look like she did not know everything. After he nodded again, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Good luck.” She enjoyed his blush for a few seconds before she turned and left to join the others.

Ginny stood at the doorway, close enough to see Dumbledore and Harry, but far enough back she could not see the other end of the room. McGonagall stood behind her with a hand on her shoulder to make sure she could go no further in.

“Whenever you’re ready, Harry.” Dumbledore looked and sounded like this was a normal everyday event. Ginny did not know how he did it, as she was very nervous. This should not be hard, but there was always that chance that something could go horribly wrong.

She heard Harry hiss, but nothing happened afterwards. He hissed something else and waited. After his fifth try, she heard stone grinding in the big cave. As she saw Dumbledore pulled the cover off of his box, McGonagall pulled her backwards further into the anteroom. She heard Harry hiss some more and an answering hiss, as well as a sound like leather on stone.

After what seemed like the longest twenty seconds of her life, she heard more hissing and then Harry say “Now” in English. A few seconds later, a rooster crowed three times while she heard a lot of leather on stone noises. The snake was thrashing, obviously in its death throes. It did not take long for even those sounds to cease and it became eerily quiet.

“Harry?” she called out, not caring that her normal voice sounded very loud.

“You may come out, Miss Weasley. It is safe now,” Dumbledore told her.

Pulling herself from McGonagall’s grasp, she ran into the big cave and over to Harry, pulling him into a Weasley hug.

“Ginny,” he gasped, “I need to breathe.”

She let up but did not let go. Suddenly, she felt his arms go around her and her world was perfect yet again.

“Merciful Merlin!” The squeak from Flitwick surprised her and she let go of Harry to look over her shoulder. The four heads of house were all shocked by the sight in front of them.

Snape recovered first and walked toward the dead beast. He stared in at it from up close, as if giving it respect, before he shook his head and started walking towards its tail, taking very measured steps. A minute later, he shouted from the other end of the cavern, “I make it nineteen yards, a bloody fifty-seven feet,” he swore as he walked back.

Ginny had to suppress a laugh. If they only knew that Harry had killed this thing with a sword and a little help from Fawkes.

“Tilly!” Snape suddenly called. Nothing happened. “Where is that blasted elf?”

“Uh, Professor?” Ginny said tentatively, as he seemed to be in a bit of a temper at the moment. He turned and glared at her. “Professor, we’re very deep underground and based on the water, quite possibly under the lake. Unless you have a personal bond with her, she may not be in range to hear you.”

Dumbledore chuckled. “Well argued and probably correct, Miss Weasley.” He turned to the Potions master. “Severus, why don’t you start with the containers you have on you and I shall find your house-elf and send her down to bring more containers to you.” He looked at the snake again before he looked at her. “Well done, Miss Weasley, very well done.”

“Headmaster?” she called before he could go. “I have a suggestion and a question.” He nodded for her to continue. “Professor, this Chamber seems like such a significant find, I think it should be opened permanently, especially now there is no longer a monster down here.”

Dumbledore smiled and started slowly nodding as he thought about it. “Yes, a capital idea, Miss Weasley. Some work would have to be done, but that might make a good project for some of our NEWT students. What do you think, Professor Flitwick?”

“Oh, absolutely!” He looked overjoyed at the idea.

“Professor McGonagall?”

“I would agree, Headmaster,” McGonagall said with a small smile. “I can easily think of several things to be done for safety and then to make it a nice place to visit. Although, I believe part of it should remain natural to show the original condition.”

“Yes, yes. I can hardly wait to start working on this,” Flitwick agreed. “Of course, we shall have to wait until Professor Snape is done harvesting before we can open it up to very many people.”

“I quite agree, Professor Flitwick,” Dumbledore said. “Miss Weasley, you also had a question?”

“Yes, Headmaster. When do you expect the first sale to take place?” Ginny asked eagerly. “I was hoping to have some money for Christmas shopping.”

A chuckle escaped Dumbledore. “I would expect some of the more volatile parts will be sold over the next few days, but if you would like, I can loan you some money until then.”

“As can I,” Harry softly added.

“Harry, I was going to use some of that to repay you for the other loan,” she quietly whispered. Turning to Dumbledore, she said, “Thank you for your offer, Headmaster, but as long as the first sale happens in the next few days, that will be soon enough.” She turned to her friend. “Ready for work, Harry?” He nodded and they walked over to Snape, who was already expanding shrunken containers that had been in his robes.

“Professor McGonagall, I believe you have the first watch until lunch.” She nodded to the Headmaster. “Very good, then I shall see about sending some elves down with containers and at an appropriate time, some lunch.” He walked back towards the anteroom, with Flitwick and Sprout following him.

Ginny turned back around just in time to watch Snape pluck a giant yellow eye out of the snake. It almost made her sick to watch.

“Magnificent,” Snape said reverently. “The two eyes should be worth nearly fifty thousand Galleons considering the size of them, although, to maximize profit, we shall have to put one of them in stasis for several months so we don’t ruin the market.” He continued talking to himself over the parts, while Ginny recorded what was harvested and Harry did mostly manual labor, moving the containers around to speed Snape up.

Ginny glanced back and saw that McGonagall had conjured a chair and small desk, allowing her to grade papers while her presence as a chaperone was required. Ginny assumed the box of essays had been shrunk and carried in the professor’s robes.

Several hours after they had started, McGonagall called to them. “Lunch is ready.”

“In a moment,” Snape irritably replied. “I’ve got to at least finish the barrel of blood.” It was their second full-sized barrel.

Ginny and Harry walked over to McGonagall, who sent them into the anteroom. “I had the elves set up lunch in here. I don’t think I could eat while looking at that snake.”

Even though Ginny was now used to the sight of a ‘messy snake’, she still agreed with the woman.

“If you’ll hold out your hands, I’ll clean them for you.” McGonagall cast a cleaning spell over both of them.

Professor Snape joined them a few moments later.

He seemed to be in an odd mood, Ginny noted. He seemed to be both upset and excited at the same time. She assumed the excitement came from working on this opportunity, but the hint of anger was harder to place. It would have been easy to say that he did not want to be interrupted in his work, but he had been like this most of the time he was down here. He had kept his temper and not been insulting, which was a wonderful thing, but there was definitely an edge to him that was hard to identify.

Lunch was fairly quiet, as three of them were heartily eating, having worked up a real appetite. McGonagall was mostly picking at her food. Ginny assumed that was influenced by the location they were in.

“Miss Weasley.” She looked up at Snape. “Would it be possible for me to have some samples of these ingredients? With having access to the whole basilisk, there are some potions I would like to try that I would not normally be able to attempt, due to the rarity of the parts or the cost being prohibitive.”

She looked at Harry, who only shrugged at her. “Well, Professor, would this be for Hogwarts use or for you personally?”

He stopped eating and stared at her as if it was a question he had never thought about, or perhaps he had not expected her to be so exacting. “Some of it would be for Hogwarts, to support Madam Pomfrey,” he finally said. “But most of it would be for me to personally experiment with.”

“I see. And if these experiments were successful, then what?” While she could brew quite well, Ginny knew she was not the best in theory, and therefore, would never be a potions master. She was not sure what he might want to do with them.

“Many of them would allow me to recreate and better understand potions there were once thought lost. Some of them would potentially expand the art of Potions, and would also be written up in a Potions journal.”

He still looked on edge to her, but at least he had been very polite in the conversation. She wondered how much of that was his new personality and how much of it was due to McGonagall sitting here. “Is there much commercial prospect from this work?” she asked.

Snape looked surprised at the question. “For a few, possibly; but for most of them, no. They require ingredients that are almost impossible to obtain or are in such limited quantities that not much can be done with them. Basilisk ingredients are very hard to find. Commercially raised basilisks are usually quite small, less than a yard long. Bigger ones become hard to control or simply take too long to raise to make it worth it. Also, most basilisks that are raised are blinded immediately after hatching to make them safer.”

Ginny nodded. “I see. I understand from my research that there are very few who raise them, due to the danger, and the difficulty in getting a license.”

“That is very true,” he agreed.

She looked at Harry and said, “Maybe a cooperative agreement?”

“I’ll trust you,” he told her.

Ginny noted that his comment seemed to surprise McGonagall. She supposed she could understand, since he appeared to be deferring to an eleven year-old girl. “Professor Snape, Hogwarts owns forty percent of what we’re harvesting. I would suggest you ask the Headmaster for part of that forty percent for ingredients that will support Madam Pomfrey, or that will be used to expand educational work that might increase Hogwarts’ reputation.” Snape nodded and she assumed he had been thinking similar thoughts. “For the work that has commercial value, we could give you those ingredients from our portion and we would split the profits fifty-fifty.”

“Sixty-forty, I will be doing all the work,” he countered.

“But we are taking a risk by giving you ingredients that we don’t know if you will be make something useful out of or not, as opposed to selling them where we know we will make a profit.” She wondered how long it would be before one of these two asked her how old she really was, but many wizards were lacking in common sense. She could only hope that held to these two where she was concerned. Really, how many first-years understood the basics of economics?

“I still say sixty-forty. I’m sure you will receive more by backing me than by only selling the parts. It is possible that Mr Potter will directly benefit as well, since one of the potions correct deficiencies of the eyes.” Harry suddenly looked interested. “The catch is it requires eye of the basilisk. That is so hard to get, almost no experimentation is done with it.”

“But you said that each eye could be worth like twenty-five thousand Galleons.” She hated to admit, but she was not following his logic.

“I did, but once I’ve perfected the Potion, each dose of the restorative could go for a thousand Galleons.” He turned to Harry. “Tell me Mr Potter. If you could have perfect vision again, would you pay one thousand Galleons?”

“Yes, sir,” he said without hesitation.

With a know-it-all smirk, Snape turned back to Ginny. “There you go, Miss Weasley. I know that not every person could afford that, but there are enough that could around the world that we would never have enough of that Potion. In fact, we should charge more just to limit the market and maximize our profits. The other fact that I’m sure you fail to understand is that one of those eyes would easily make fifty or more eye restorative potions. So you see, the finished product would be worth double what selling the raw material would bring you.” He leaned back with a very satisfied looked, as if daring her to refute his logic and plan.

At the moment, she could find no hole in his logic, other than if they sold the eye “raw”, they would get all of the profit, although from a smaller sale. But if the eyes were used for potions, they would only get a portion of the larger sale. Which sale would be bigger?

“It’s an interesting proposal, Professor. I’m afraid I can’t make up my mind at the moment, but I do think we should discuss this with the Headmaster. It might be best to sell neither of the eyes and make potions from both of them.”

He tilted his head slightly in acknowledgement. “A valid proposal as well. I also agree that the Headmaster should be included in the discussion, as he represents the third partner. Perhaps this evening?”

“Assuming time and energy allows. I heard you say that you planned to put a stasis spell on them. I think that will give us enough time to come to a decision,” Ginny said.

“It will.”

“Professor, may I ask a Potions related question?” Ginny asked tentatively. The conversion was going so well, she felt emboldened to try to answer a mystery.

“You may, Miss Weasley.” Snape looked at her with what almost might be respect.

“Professor, I’ve found a book called ‘Fundamentals of Potions’ that has helped me greatly in understanding many of the whys in Potions, and well, I’m wondering why you don’t recommend for all first years?” Ginny hoped he did not take the question as a slight against him.

“You mean the book by Jacobsen?” he asked. Ginny nodded and saw him honestly consider the question. “I assume by your question, and by your good marks, that you feel it has helped you significantly?”

“Yes, sir. It has given me the background information on why Potions work the way the do, why ingredients interact with some but not others. It’s told me why it’s important to have uniform preparation of the ingredients, and so on. If it has helped me, who came from a Wizarding home, then students who are Muggle raised would really benefit from it,” she explain fervently.

Snape considered her explanation. “I would have thought that sort of information would have been obvious from the homework I assign throughout the year, but upon reflection, I do see your point that this information might be useful if known all at the beginning. I will give it serious consideration, Miss Weasley.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

Snape nodded solemnly, as if unused to receiving praise. “We seem to be done with lunch; we should return to work. We will be lucky to be done before you leave for Christmas.” He stood and briskly left for the other room.

Ginny mentally and physically sagged. She was also quite sure the back of her blouse was damp with sweat from the negotiations. This had been a most unusual lunch. In fact, given that Snape had been civil to them the entire time, it was downright weird. As were the looks McGonagall was giving her and the fact that her head of house had said almost nothing during the entirety of lunch.

“Professor, do you have any advice for us? We could use any help we could get.” She asked, hoping this would allay any thought McGonagall might have of her being too old.

“Only that you also consult your father as well. He should be present to help protect your and Mr Potter’s interest.”

“Of course, Professor, I was planning on having him join us,” she said with a smile, so she would not sound so much like a know-it-all.

“You have exceptional parents, Miss Weasley. I believe you should rejoin Professor Snape. Professor Flitwick will be along shortly to supervise the afternoon, although I’m not so sure it’s needed now,” she mused.

“It’s hard to tell,” she looked in the direction of the Postions Master, “but he has changed for the better since the contract was originally agreed to. Ready Harry?” Ginny asked. He rose with her and they returned to work. Yes, it had been a very unusual lunch.

---

The afternoon was progressing well, although it was obvious they would be very tired that evening. They would almost have Gryffindor Tower to themselves too. Only two seven year girls were staying as well, and they had stayed only so they’d have more time to revise for their NEWTs, so they were almost never seen. If she and Harry had only been about three years older, she would have been overjoyed to have the Tower to themselves like that. She would have snogged Harry on every couch and chair in the common room, and then conjured a fur rug in front of the fireplace. Those images made her grin.

Ginny glanced over at Flitwick while she waited for the next container to come her way. She was amused at the little table and chair he head conjured for his work; they were sized perfectly for him, as they would be for a young child too.

“Mr Potter?” Snape’s voice called from the other side of the snake. “I need a one gallon barrel and the shoulder-length dragon-hide gloves. It is time to milk the venom sacs.”

“Yes, sir.”

She watched Harry levitate the items to Snape. Harry was at the front of the snake, where she could see him. Snape was not visible.

“Mr Potter?”

“Yes, sir?”

Ginny blinked at the realization that Snape had used ‘Mr’ for Harry all day long, instead of just his surname. It was a pleasant surprise and she thought a good indication that Snape really was changing. Her surprise turned into panic as the man asked his next question.

“Would you tell me about your childhood?” It was a bland tone, but that did not matter. It was a subject a person did not talk to Harry about unless he volunteered it, but Snape did not know that. The problem was compounded by the fact that it was Snape asking, the one who had continually insulted him and his father for over a year.

“My childhood -- sir?” Panic and dread were starting to creep into his voice, but Ginny was not sure Snape would recognize them as such, especially as he was concentrating on his harvesting task. Ginny slowly pulled her wand out in case she had to use it. She wondered if there was such a thing as a “Calming Charm”, but she could not ask at the moment without drawing attention to herself, and a glance showed her that Flitwick was oblivious to the potentially volatile situation.

“Yes, the time before you came to Hogwarts. There are so many rumors about you, but I’d like to know the truth,” Snape went on, still ignorant of the mine field he was walking in. Ginny had once seen a person in the other timeline, who had barely known Harry, try to get a nineteen year-old Harry to answer this sort of question. The accidental magic that had happened to the person, even though Harry had said nothing and had not drawn his wand, required nearly a dozen potions to fix. The man who had asked the question never asked Harry another question again -- about anything. Of course, the man had picked a particularly bad time to ask when Harry was already upset, but Harry’s reaction had added to his already legendary image.

Ginny paled as she saw a very slight glow start to surround Harry’s fingertips, something that she had not seen until he was eightteen in the other timeline. She considered and then threw out the idea of a Cheering charm, guessing that it would be useless to calm him. A non-verbal Stunning spell seemed like the best bet if he did not calm down soon. That would have been suicidal even for her in the other timeline, but this Harry was not that advanced yet so she should be able to stop him. Still, accidental magic could do incredible things, so she readied herself for anything that might happen.

“I lived with my relatives,” he slowly ground out, “my Muggle relatives who hate me.”

Snape went precariously on, much to Ginny’s horror. “Ah, that would explain much.” Harry’s glow increased and covered his whole hands, not that he was aware of it. Ginny raised her wand, hoping she could stop Harry before he did something everyone regretted. “Based on what I have seen of you, I assume they don’t like the Wizarding world either, do they?” Snape asked, still in a monotone.

“No, they hate it too,” he said forcefully. “I didn’t even know of the Magical world or about my parents until my Hogwarts letter.”

Ginny was starting to cast the Stunning spell when Snape said, “Then I am truly sorry for many of the things I’ve said to you, Mr Potter.” She barely managed to abort the cast as she saw Harry’s magical aura around his hands dissipate. “I’m afraid I fell victim to the same disease as others in assuming that your childhood was one of privilege, just like your father’s. You may not know that he and I fought all throughout our Hogwarts years, but it was so. That and your appearance, which looks so much like him, caused me to treat you like him. However, in the last month or so, I have paid much more attention to you, how you appear and how you act, and I will say that you act much more like your mother than your father.”

“Thank you, sir,” Harry said slowly, “I appreciate it.”

Ginny was not sure what he was appreciative of, but finally decided it was probably everything said. She started to shake slightly as her adrenalin went away, so she looked around for a place to sit down. In her search, she saw Flitwick motioning to her. She walked over a little unsteady, and was grateful when he conjured a chair for her beside his.

“Miss Weasley,” he said very quietly. “May I ask what first-year spell you were about to cast to save Mr Potter? Or were you about to try a spell you have never done before?”

She was about to be upset with the little man, until she realized he was only concerned with Harry’s welfare. That she was about to admit to considering a second year charm would not be good. “I was considering a Cheering charm, but decided at the last minute that might not be a good idea. I would have liked to have a spell that did the same thing as a Calming Drought, but hadn’t heard of one.”

He nodded for a moment. “Yes, very lucky that you did not cast that charm, Miss Weasley. A Cheering charm on an angry person will usually provoke them into an immediate fight, as it gives them a false sense of confidence. In this case, I’m not sure who would have been hurt worse, you or Professor Snape.”

Ginny closed her eyes and hung her head, thankful she had avoided the Cheering charm. There would have been nothing wrong with the Stunning spell, but she could not admit knowing a fourth year spell to the Professor.

“Take five points for your excellent wand control in being able to stop the spell in mid-cast, but please be careful of your charm selection in the future.” She meekly nodded. “And give Mr Potter a little room to make mistakes. They may be painful at times, but sometimes that is required and the only way to learn a lesson. He may also surprise you for time to time as he avoids a mistake at the last minute,” he said with a smile.

“Thank you for the advice, Professor. I’ll take it to heart.” She took a deep breath to cleanse the tension a little. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I need to go upstairs to the bathroom.”

“If you wish, but I believe the elves set up a temporary loo in the anteroom so you don’t have to climb all the way up and down.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll check it out.”

“One of them also wrote ‘Porta-loo’ on the side of it, which I find very strange. If you come up with any insight into that, please pass it along.”

Ginny wanted to giggle, but he looked completely serious, which made her desire to giggle even stronger. “Yes sir, I’ll do that. Thank you again.” She turned and quickly strode out, barely able to contain her laughter. Ginny had to wonder which elf had been in the Muggle world as she entered into the little blue stall. This had to be the most bizarre day in her life -- either life.

Ginny and Harry finished late in the night on the twenty-third. They and Professor Snape were quite tired from the week of mostly twelve hour days. Even Professor Sprout seemed exhausted on the last shift, and all she had done was to sit in the Chamber and write Christmas letters.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, she and Harry used Professor McGonagall’s Floo to go home. Besides a bag of clothes and her book bag, she also had few a very special things she had owl ordered.

Professor Dumbledore had given a money bag to both she and Harry yesterday afternoon. It was the proceeds of their first sale. Understanding her desire for Christmas shopping, the Headmaster had given part of her money to her in Galleons, and the rest in a vault. He had also given her some blank bank drafts for transferring money to her parents. All in all, he had been very helpful. Now all she had to do was to convince her father to take her Christmas shopping.

As they came out of the Floo, they saw her father in the living room reading the Daily Prophet. He gave both of them a warm welcome and a hug. “Ginny, Harry,” he called as he drew them in. “It’s good to have you home.”

“Thanks, Dad. It’s good to be home.”

“Did your work go well?” he asked with a bit of excitement, almost as if he had discovered some new Muggle item.

Ginny looked at Harry who grinned back at her. “Yes, Dad, it went very well. In fact, can you take us shopping in Diagon Alley today? I need to get my Christmas presents.”

Her father smiled at both of them. “Do you need to go too, Harry?” The boy nodded. “Very well, then. Go say hi to your mother and drop your things off upstairs and then come back down and I’ll take you. Harry, you’ll need to bunk with Ron, as we should have a few visitors soon.”

“Thanks, Dad. Come on Harry,” she told her friend and grabbed his hand to pull him along. He laughed as she did, which caused her father to chuckle at them.

Once in the kitchen, Ginny dropped Harry’s hand and rushed up to her mother, wrapping her arms around her mother’s waist. “Mum! We’re home!”

“Ginny!” Molly returned her daughter’s hug and then gave Harry one too. “I’m glad you’re home.”

“Thanks, Mum. And guess what? We finished and don’t have to go back on Boxing Day. We can stay until it’s time to take the train back,” Ginny said excitedly, letting her little girl come out.

“Oh, I’m so glad,” her mother told her with unshed tears in her eyes. Ginny enjoyed the moment, glad to have it back, pushing the loss of the other timeline from her mind.

“Dad’s going to take us shopping, but we’ll be back in a few hours,” she informed her mother as she grabbed Harry’s hand to pull him up the stairs. Ginny heard more chuckling behind her as she left the room. She wondered why her parents thought everything was so amusing.

Fifteen minutes later, the three of them were using the Floo to go to Diagon Alley. For the next three hours, Ginny had a lot of fun buying things, things she could never have normally afforded. She was happy she had taken her father, as he only glared at her once for spending all the money she did. Harry seemed to be having a good time too, and that made the day just that much better.

Dinner that evening was a riotous affair, with all of her brothers there. Bill and Charlie had come home while Ginny and Harry had been out shopping. Fortunately, her older brothers seemed to accept Harry, at least after a few minutes and some glowing words from her father. Ginny was very glad for that.

The evening was spent wrapping gifts alone in her room, and then downstairs with her entire family. Even Percy seemed to have a good time. All in all, it was a wonderful Weasley evening.

Christmas morning, Ginny was awakened by Ron running downstairs shouting for everyone to wake up. It was typical Ron behavior, she thought as she got up, throwing on a sweatshirt and the first pair of jeans she could find. Deciding she probably had a minute or two, she also ran a brush through her hair. It was not that she was afraid of Harry seeing her with horrible hair, no, she wanted to look semi-presentable when her gift to her family and announcement were made. She still had a little fear about that, but she was also determined to go through with it.

Going downstairs, she saw that she was not the last one to come down, Bill and Charlie had yet to make it. Ginny grabbed a cup of hot chocolate and sat down beside Harry in the living room. She gave him a smile and was reassured when he returned it. He would be her friend and stand by her, no matter what happened. That is just the way Harry is.

When her oldest brothers joined them a few minutes later, chaos rained down on the living room. Gifts were passed out and opened with a frenzy. Ginny slowly opened hers, but she made sure she watched her family as they opened her presents. Charlie’s silver flame-proof suit was the most unusual and garnered a lot of attention. From that exotic gift to the more mundane family-size self-stirring cauldron she gave her mother, all of her gifts were widely appreciated. They all looked at her with amazement, wondering how she got them all. Ron was the most vocal.

As her slightly older brother opened his present, he exclaimed. “A broom! I got my own broom!” He ran his hand over the shaft as he read the designation. “A Cleansweep Five. Very steady and stable, great for Keeping,” he said softly, more to himself than to anyone else. After a few seconds of dreaming, he turned to her. “Ginny, it’s not that I don’t like this, because I do love it, but how? I mean how could you give this to me? No wait, what I really mean is…”

“Ron,” she interrupted him. “I know what you mean, and I guess it’s time for me to explain something to everyone.” She looked down for a short moment to gather her courage before she looked around the room. Everyone, but her parents and Harry, wore a curious look. “Near the beginning of the school year, I read an interesting story in Hogwarts: A History.”

“Not you too…” Ron said with exasperation as he rolled his eyes.

Ginny ignored him. “And in there I read a story, which I put together with a few things I’ve heard both here at home and at school. That gave me an idea that I researched in the library and finally figured out where Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets is.”

“WHAT?!” Bill was the most surprised and vocal, although his brothers were not far behind him. “That’s a legend.”

Ginny smirked at him. “Bill, you of all people should know that most legends are built on some truth, even if it is very hard to determine.”

“Or very small,” he reluctantly added. “Very well, I’ll concede it’s possible, but how did you find it when no one else had? And what does it have to do with all the expensive Christmas presents?”

“Why, don’t you like your Magic Detector, Bill?” she teased him.

“Very much! Not only is it practical, but it could save my life, as I can use it to find magic and still have my wand ready to protect myself. But you’re not answering the question,” he shot back. Charlie, Percy, and Ron agreed. The twins looked very curiously at her, but said nothing.

“Part of finding the Chamber was also figuring out what is in there, which I did -- a very old and very large basilisk.”

Silence ruled for several seconds until Charlie exclaimed, “A basilisk?! Please tell me you did not fight a basilisk.”

Ginny smirked. “OK, I did not fight a basilisk. How’s that?”

Charlie looked up as if asking for patience.

“I think you need to finish the story, Ginny, and put them out of their misery,” her father told her with a hint of humor in his voice.

“Right, so once I figured all of this out…”

“Wait!” Bill stopped her. “How did you know where it is? It’s never been found before.”

“I found it because I’m a girl, Bill,” she told him as if it should have been obvious. At her brother’s dumbfounded looks, she, Harry, and her parents laughed.

“And what does that have to do with it?” Bill asked through gritted teeth, his patience wearing thin.

“Everything, my brother, because the entrance is in a girl’s bathroom.”

Bill stared at her for a moment and then began to laugh. “And since all the Headmasters since it was last opened have been male and had no reason to go in there, they never found it.”

“Probably true,” Ginny agreed. “Anyway, once I figured it out, I created a magical contract splitting the work and the profits of the sale of the basilisk parts for potion ingredients. For my share, I kept a small part for me. That was how I could afford the presents.”

“And the rest?” Ron asked.

Ginny smiled at him and turned around and pulled an envelope off of the Christmas tree and handed it to her father. “I’m giving the rest to my family. We won’t become rich off of it, but we won’t have to worry about all the little things anymore.”

Her father opened the envelope, pulling out a letter. He gasped as he read the short letter. “Really, Ginny?” Her mother gasped too as she read over her father’s shoulder.

“Yes, Dad. That’s the first check, which has been deposited in the family vault. More is coming over the next year or so.”

“What does it say, Dad?” Ron asked with excitement.

“It says ‘Happy Christmas Weasleys’ on a deposit slip of 3840 Galleons,” he said with some excitement. He looked her right in the eye and opened his arms. Ginny did not hesitate and ran the few steps over to him and let herself be pulled into a hug, a hug that was also joined by her mother.

“Oh, Ginny,” her mother crooned, unable to keep the sniffles out of her voice.

“That is very commendable of you, Ginevra,” Percy told her.

Ginny smiled at her stuffy brother. “Thank you, Percy. I’m sure you would have done the same thing if you’d had the opportunity.” Percy nodded, then glared at Ron when he snorted.

“You knew about this, Dad,” Fred commented, looking very serious.

“Yeah, you were really only surprised at the amount,” George added.

“Yes, boys, I was. Someone had to sign the contract for Ginny,” her father explained.

Ron turned on her. “That’s why you stayed at school, wasn’t it?”

Ginny nodded. “Professor Dumbledore killed the basilisk a little after everyone left on the train, and then we spent as many hours as we could after that cutting up the snake for ingredients, packaging it, and storing it all off. Harry and I assisted Professor Snape.”

“Snape? You worked with Snape?” Charlie asked with incredulity.

“That’s Professor Snape,” Percy corrected his older brother, “and I’m sure it was an educational experience.”

The twins snickered, but said nothing after the glare their mother sent them.

“Actually, it was,” Ginny agreed. “He’s changed a lot over the last month or so. He’ll never be our best friend,” all of her brothers except for Percy snorted at that statement, “but he was civil and we learned a lot from talking to him while we worked.”

“Who do you suppose had the worst bite?”

“Tough one, bro. The snake was more venomous but the professor was alive.”

“Boys!” their mother barked, and the twins instantly shut up.

“How big was the snake?” Bill asked with curiosity.

“What did he say, fifty-seven feet?” Ginny looked at Harry, who nodded.

“Merlin’s ba--“

“Bill!”

Ginny had to stifle a giggle at her mother stopping Bill’s comment.

“That’s why you spent so much time in the library,” Percy said, suddenly piecing it all together.

“That was some of it,” Ginny agreed as she looked to her father, who nodded in understanding.

“Oh?” Percy looked at her for the rest.

Her father cleared his throat. “I believe now would be a good time for another announcement.”

“What are you going to do with the money, Dad?” Ron asked.

“Let it sit in the vault for now, Ron.” The boy looked disappointed. “I have a new topic, Weasleys.” They all looked at him, wondering what else was new. “It is with pride that I can announce that Ginny has done exceptionally well this last term, so well that the Headmaster has decided that she will join the second year classes when the new term begins in a couple weeks.” He beamed as did her mother. Harry was smiling at her, while her brothers were staring at her in surprise, although Ron’s expression was slowly changing, and not for the better.

“Congratulations!” everyone told her, all except for one.

“You just had to do it, didn’t you,” Ron told her scathingly. “I can’t have anything of my own. Not my classes, not my friends, nothing!” He scrambled up and ran towards the stairs.

“Ron!” his father called after him, but the boy stomped up the stairs, and a moment later they all heard a door slam.

“Well, that didn’t go so well,” Ginny softly said. Harry softly snorted and she looked at him.

A sigh escaped her father. “I believe your mother will have breakfast ready in a few minutes, so everyone go in and help set the table.” He looked at her mother. “I’ll go tell Ron breakfast is ready.” She nodded as he got up.

Breakfast was a quiet affair, although there was discussion about the presents and what everyone liked. An hour later, her father came back down the stairs with Ron trailing behind him. Ron looked around and nodded at everyone except for Ginny. Ginny was sad at her brother’s reaction, although she did understand. At least he was ignoring her for the moment instead of shouting.

((A/N: While I haven't finished writing the story yet, based on what I do have and my outline, it appears we're over halfway done. The final count will probably be 14 or 15 chapters, depending on how verbose I am and where I split things.))