Chapter 23
Harry managed to get a mile down the road before having to pull over. He turned off the engine and sat in the car, shaking.
To his right, the ocean churned and dashed itself on the shore. Harry tried to let the murmur of the waves soothe him, but it wasn’t enough. He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car, circling around to lean against the passenger door. He stared out to sea, taking deep breaths of seaweed-scented air. On the other side of the car, traffic continued to flash by, but it might as well have been in another universe.
Ginny knew. She knew.
Harry ran his hands through his hair, yanking at the roots. How could he have been so stupid? But he’d taken every precaution! How was he to know that Ginny would come back?
Dear God, what was going to happen now? Was he wrong to trust Ginny to keep silent about him tonight? Had he just condemned both Severus and himself to the Dark Lord’s mercy?
But then Harry recalled Ginny’s reaction to his frantic pleading: “What? You think You-Know-Who rules the magical world?”
What had she meant by that? Of course the Dark Lord ruled the magical world. Harry and Severus had lived in hiding for fifteen years because of the Dark Lord! But Ginny had seemed genuinely surprised by Harry pointing that out. Not just surprised—astonished.
Did the Dark Lord…not rule the magical world after all?
Harry felt like his head was caught in a vise. If the Dark Lord didn’t rule, then he and Severus had been hiding from nothing all these years. They could have rejoined the magical world at any time. How could Severus have been so mistaken? But Severus had said the Dark Lord had cast spells to force his subjects to keep quiet. Was that all it was? But Ginny’s incredulity had seemed so real…
Harry’s phone buzzed, making him yelp and jump. His phone fell to the pavement face-up. Harry gulped when he saw the caller ID.
With shaking hands, he picked it up. Any progress? Severus had texted.
After a confused second, Harry remembered what he was actually supposed to be looking for at the Weasleys’. Yes, he typed back, because, he recalled, there had been. I know where the One Ring is!
Excellent! came Severus’s response. Tell me more when you get home.
Home. Harry’s heart thudded. The last place he wanted to be right now was home. Can’t get away yet, he typed, but I’ll be back soon.
All right, but get back quickly, Severus replied after a moment. You’ve done well.
Thanks, Harry typed, and put his phone away. He lowered his face in his hands with a groan.
When had things become so complicated? When had lying to Severus become such a habit? I should tell him Ginny knows. But if he did that, what would Severus do to Ginny? Harry’s heart clenched as he realized he did not trust Severus not to do something terrible. Severus cared nothing for Ginny Weasley, and he wouldn’t hesitate to employ violent magic if he thought Harry was in danger.
How in God’s name was Harry going to face him tonight?
Harry closed his eyes, took a deep breath and counted to ten. He listened to the sigh and shush of the waves. No matter what else happened, he reflected, the ocean would still be there. It was an oddly reassuring thought, and it allowed him to calm down enough to think clearly.
Ginny was not going to tell her family about him. Harry wasn’t sure how he was so certain of this, but he was. Ginny would keep her word, and his secret. She would also come to Shadowed Planet tomorrow, and she would take the Veritaserum. Again, Harry wasn’t sure how he knew this, but he did. She’d given her word, and Harry trusted her.
He felt a kick of guilt, thinking of tomorrow’s operation. Veritaserum was dangerous stuff. But he couldn’t think how else to cut through the tangled bramble of questions and confusion and fear. Without the Veritaserum, he couldn’t be certain of anything Ginny said, and this was too important not to be absolutely certain. He would be very careful, he promised himself: just the tiniest drop. The effects wouldn’t last more than a few minutes, on such a small dose. He’d ask what she knew about the Dark Lord, whether she had told anyone about him and Severus, what she planned to do next.
And then what would he do?
Worry about that later. When he had Ginny’s Veritaserum-proven answers.
Harry took another few deep breaths and walked back around the car. He climbed back in, mind already racing, trying to figure out how to swipe some of the potion tonight while Severus was asleep.
When Harry made it home, he was in a much calmer state of mind. He’d stopped in an indie coffee shop on the edge of town, to order a hot chocolate and a cookie. He’d sat eating and drinking slowly, letting the chocolate and calories do their magic on his shattered nerves, and worked out exactly what he was going to say to Severus when he got home. While he was eating, he’d received a text from Ginny.
Are you okay? she asked.
Harry was touched. She’d been so scared, he’d demanded she take Veritaserum, and still she was worried about him. I’m fine, he texted back. You?
I’m okay. See you tomorrow. Then, after a pause: Your secret is safe with me. I promise.
I know, Harry replied. Thank you. He put his phone down and leaned his elbows on the table, holding the hot ceramic mug to his aching head.
His phone buzzed again. Where are you? Severus demanded.
Harry’s heart thudded. On my way home, he responded, and hurried out of the coffee shop.
Now, back on Mesquite Drive, Harry parked and got out. The air hung still and scorching, wavering with heat, making the house look dreamlike. Harry took a deep breath of hot, dust-scented air and headed across the yard.
Inside, Severus was sitting in the living room. He immediately threw aside his science journal and jumped to his feet when Harry came in. “Harry! Did you find the One Ring? What happened?”
Oh, nothing. I only got caught with my wand out by Ginny, who now knows we’re both wizards, and then she told me some very weird tales about the Dark Lord not actually ruling the magical world and I persuaded her to take some Veritaserum which I plan to steal from you tonight… “I didn’t find the One Ring exactly,” Harry said. “But I know where it probably is.”
“Where?” Severus was practically vibrating with eagerness.
“There’s a sort of loft thing in the living room, where Ron sleeps,” Harry explained. “I think it’s up there. But I didn’t actually see it,” he added. “I got interrupted before I could really go up and investigate.”
Severus’s gaze sharpened. “They didn’t find out…?”
“No.” Harry swallowed his guilt at the lie.
A sharp, brilliant grin grew on Severus’s face. “Good. This is very good, Harry.” He stepped closer and gripped Harry’s shoulder in that old gesture. “Well done.”
Harry couldn’t help smiling at the praise. “Thanks, Severus.” He hesitated. “I don’t have to try and look for the One Ring again, do I? I didn’t actually see it…”
“No.” Severus shook his head. “If you know where it is, that’s all we need.”
“For what?” Harry asked curiously. “What happens now?”
“I’ll tell my contacts, and they’ll come take it away.”
“They won’t hurt the Weasleys, will they?” Harry asked with a lurch of worry.
“No, they won’t. They know the Weasleys are innocent in this.”
“Good.” Harry sighed in relief. “But who are these contacts of yours, anyway?”
Severus removed his hand. “It’s better if you don’t know that, Harry.”
“Come on, Severus, I’m almost seventeen!” Harry folded his arms. “I think that’s old enough to know.”
Severus sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Harry…just trust me on this one, all right? You’re better off not knowing.”
Harry scowled. It seemed to him that Severus thought he was better off not knowing a lot of things. But getting into a fight about it wouldn’t help anything, especially since Harry was planning on swiping a powerful potion tonight and needed Severus off his guard. “Okay, fine. As long as this thing goes away, I guess.”
Severus seemed to relax. “Indeed. Speaking of your birthday,” he said, as if in a peace offering, “do you know what you want to do for it?”
Harry blinked. In the stress and excitement of the last weeks, he’d completely forgotten about his upcoming birthday. “Well, we’re going to Comic Con, aren’t we?” Comic Con…it seemed so unreal right now, that he’d ever even thought about going.
“We do that every year. This is your seventeenth birthday. That’s when wizards come of age. We ought to do something special.”
“Wizards come of age at seventeen?” Harry had never heard of this before.
“Yes. It’s traditional to give a watch for a wizard’s seventeenth birthday, at least in Britain.”
A smile tugged at Harry’s lips. “Don’t suppose we could change that to the latest smartphone instead?”
“Right, Harry.” Severus rolled his eyes while Harry guffawed. “Just think about it, all right?”
“All right, Severus,” said Harry, though he still couldn’t imagine even caring about his birthday right now. “You know, we should celebrate your birthday sometime,” he couldn’t resist needling.
“I am not a birthday sort of person, Harry,” Severus said, as he did every time Harry brought the topic up.
So what sort of person are you? The thought came to Harry unbidden. The sort of person who kept secrets, that was for sure. The sort of person who employed ruthless methods. The sort of person who would…lie?
“You think You-Know-Who rules the magical world?”
Would Severus lie about the Dark Lord still ruling the magical world? But why? What would Severus possibly gain from telling such a lie to Harry? No, if the Dark Lord truly had fallen, then Severus was simply—mistaken. Misinformed about the true state of affairs.
Harry felt a wave of relief at the thought. The idea that Severus was that misinformed was unsettling, but much better than him lying to Harry. He brightened as another idea occurred to him: maybe he could bring back proof of the Dark Lord’s downfall to Severus! How happy Severus would be, that their enemy was gone and it was safe for them to emerge from hiding!
“Something the matter, Harry?” Severus’s black eyes were fixed on his face.
“Oh—no,” said Harry, hastily damping down his smile. He had no proof of the Dark Lord’s downfall yet, he reminded himself. “I’m just glad we’re going to get rid of the One Ring, that’s all.”
“Me too,” said Severus with such weary fervor that Harry, whatever his doubts, had to believe him on this one.
Stealing a vial of Veritaserum was almost disturbingly easy.
Harry snuck down well after midnight, when he was sure Severus was asleep. Pointing his wand at the threshold to the workshop, he whispered, “Specialis Revelio!” Only the usual protection spells, already keyed to Harry’s presence, showed themselves. Harry ghosted in, scooped a vial from the cauldron of Veritaserum by the light of his wand, and left again, noiselessly.
He put out his wand-light before heading back up the stairs, skipping the step that creaked. But, passing the closed door to Severus’s room, he hesitated.
There was something about the closed door that struck Harry as odd. For a moment, he couldn’t think what. Then he realized that no light was seeping out from underneath it. Normally there was at least some ambient glow from the street, which would have driven Harry bats if he’d tried to sleep in it, but which Severus said he didn’t mind.
Not tonight. Tonight, the blackness and silence of the door were absolute. And yet Harry had the strange feeling that Severus was not asleep in there. He was awake and watchful.
Harry strained his ears but heard nothing. For a suicidal moment, he actually considered knocking, but then Severus would demand to know what Harry was doing out of bed. He also did not dare any magic.
After a moment, Harry withdrew softly to his own bedroom. He hid the Veritaserum away, went to bed, and tried not to wonder what Severus was doing with a magical shield over his room so late at night.
The next day at noon, Harry was waiting outside the comics shop.
He’d had a terrible time keeping calm and acting normal this morning. He’d done his best, serving customers with a smile, ringing up sales, restocking shelves, but the hours had crawled by with excruciating slowness. Good thing it was Mike and not Miguel on duty: Miguel would have sensed something was wrong immediately and wormed it out of Harry before he could blink. Mike, on the other hand, merely took a look at Harry’s face and grunted, “Get more sleep, kid.” Harry managed a smile and promised he would.
Now his lunch break had finally come. Harry had snuck out the back and now stood in the baking-hot alleyway, shifting from foot to foot, looking back and forth between the two ends of the alley, every sense alert for Ginny’s arrival. In his pockets, his wand and the vial both seemed to pulse and burn.
What if she didn’t come? What if she’d told her elders about him and Severus? Horrible possibilities swirled through Harry’s head, each worse than the last, so urgent and vivid that he was almost shocked when movement came at the end of the alley and Ginny appeared.
She walked up to him unsmiling. Her face was shaded by a wide sunhat and she looked almost ludicrously normal. Just another tourist. All save her grim expression. “I came,” she said. “I didn’t tell anyone about you last night.”
Harry’s shoulders came down in relief. “Thank you.” He paused. “Ginny, I’m sorry about this…”
“It’s okay.” She took a deep breath. “This is something you need to do.” She looked around. “Where’s the potion?”
Harry took it out. It gleamed, a colorless potion in a clear glass vial. They both fell silent, staring at it.
“Just one drop, remember,” said Ginny at last. Her voice was as stiff as her face. “And no personal questions.”
“I promise.” Harry unscrewed the lid. “Hold out your tongue, I guess.”
Ginny stuck her tongue out. Harry stepped closer. This near, he could feel Ginny’s body heat, sense her frantic heartbeat, the nervousness radiating off her.
With infinite care, Harry poured a single tiny drop of Veritaserum on Ginny’s tongue. Ginny swallowed.
The effect was instantaneous and alarming. Immediately, all thought and personality drained out of Ginny’s face and posture. She stood stiff and expressionless as a porcelain doll, all those tiny signs of humanity that Harry barely noticed sucked away. He swallowed. Severus had described the effects of Veritaserum before, but it was something quite different to see it in real life, let alone on a girl he liked.
“Can you…understand me?” Harry asked tentatively.
“Yes.” It came out flat and toneless, not at all how Ginny usually spoke.
Harry took a deep breath, steeling himself. “Ginny, did you tell anyone that—that Stephen and I are wizards?”
“No.” She drew a deep, shuddering breath. “I knew telling anyone would hurt you, so I didn’t. And I’m afraid of what Stephen might do.”
Harry let out a noiseless sigh of relief. “Do you plan on telling anyone that we’re wizards? Or telling anyone where we’re hiding?”
“No.”
Harry steeled himself again. “Would you tell the Dark Lord about us?”
“No. There is no Dark Lord.”
For a moment, Harry wondered if his ears were working properly. “What…what do you mean by that?”
“There is no Dark Lord.” Ginny still spoke in that flat, robotic tone. “You-Know-Who was defeated fifteen years ago. He disappeared when he tried to kill the Potter family. No one knows why, or what happened to him. They call it the Potter Mystery.”
The Potter Mystery. Harry struggled to breathe. “What do you know about the Potter Mystery?”
“You-Know-Who tried to kill the entire Potter family. He went to the village where they were hiding and got past their magical defenses. He killed the parents, Lily and James. But no one knows what happened after that. He and the baby both vanished.”
The baby. The ground rocked beneath Harry’s feet. It was a moment before he could go on. “Does…does anyone know what happened to the baby?”
“No. But they think something about him defeated You-Know-Who. No one knows what, though. There’s plenty of conspiracy theories, but nothing is known for certain.”
“So…so the Dark Lord doesn’t rule the magical world?”
“Of course not.”
Of course not.
Harry didn’t realize he’d stumbled back until his back met the hot brick wall. It was impossible to breathe. Of course not. The words echoed in his head. Of course not.
Voldemort didn’t rule the magical world. He wasn’t any kind of threat at all. He hadn’t been a threat since the night he’d tried to kill Harry, fifteen years ago.
Harry and Severus had been hiding…from nothing. For nothing. All these years, all the care they’d taken, all the lies they’d told…for nothing.
How could Severus have been so wrong?
But.
But there was no way Severus could not have known.
He’d been there that night. He’d taken Harry away. He’d taken Harry and he’d…lied. He’d lied to Harry. He’d lied about the Dark Lord. He’d lied about what happened that night. About everything.
Ginny was starting to blink. Through the shocked haze of disbelief and pain, Harry remembered this was a sign that the Veritaserum was beginning to wear off. He scrambled for one last question. “Ginny, do you know about the Dark object in your house?”
“What?” Ginny looked faintly confused, another sign that she was coming out from under the influence.
“There’s a cursed magical object in your house. Something strong with Dark magic. Do you know about it?”
“Dark object…? I…I…” Ginny teetered on her feet. “Ron…Ravenclaw…I…”
Ginny’s jaws began flapping wordlessly. Her blank eyes rolled up in the back of her head. She collapsed, knees giving way underneath her.
“Ginny!” Harry swooped down to catch her before she hit the ground. He lowered her down, so they sat side by side on the cracked lintel to the back door of the shop, Harry cradling her limp body. “Ginny, Ginny…!”
Finally, to his utter relief, Ginny’s eyes flickered and rolled back into place. Human expression flooded back into her face: fear, confusion. “Harry…?”
“You’re okay!” Harry embraced her, nearly crying with relief.
“Yeah, I…” Ginny broke away. “Just a minute.” She gripped her head and focused on the asphalt, taking a few slow, deep breaths.
When she looked up, her face was a much healthier color, but she looked more lost and frightened than ever. “Harry…what did I say?”
All of Harry’s relief evaporated, replaced by icy shock and a deep, welling horror. He huddled around himself, curled up as though against a storm.
“Harry!” Ginny sounded near-frantic now. “What did I say while I was under the potion? What did you ask me about?”
Harry searched for words. “I asked you about the Dark Lord.” His tongue felt thick and heavy, his voice reluctant. “I asked you whether he ruled the magical world, as Stephen told me. You said…you said he didn’t. You said he’d been gone for fifteen years, ever since my parents—” He broke off.
“You’re that baby, aren’t you?” Ginny said after a moment. “You’re the baby that disappeared the night the Dark Lord fell. You’re Harry Potter.”
“Yes,” said Harry. It felt so strange, so fearful and yet so marvelous to say it, to speak his real name for perhaps the first time ever. “I’m Harry Potter.”
Ginny’s eyes were huge in her blanched-pale face. “But…how?”
“Stephen took me away.” Tears stung Harry’s eyes. “He—he said he was my parents’ friend. He said he fought off the Dark Lord but couldn’t kill him. He said Mom named him my guardian and we had to flee and hide to stay safe from the Dark Lord. He—lied. About everything.” The sobs were coming on hard and fast now, shuddering through him, and there was nothing he could do to stop them.
“Oh, Harry…” Ginny’s arms came around him, and he leaned into her embrace, unable to stop crying.
“Why would he do that?” he demanded, voice echoing sharp and anguished in the alleyway. “I trusted him and he lied to me my whole life…”
“Harry, it’s okay, I’m here…” Ginny held him close, letting him weep, there in the heat of the abandoned alleyway.
Neither noticed the small calico cat watching them, then turning silently away to find her master.