Hiding in Plain Sight (A Hinny Fanfiction)

Coming to Terms

Harry stumbled into the dim, hidden office, sliding on his knees with his wand at the ready. Ginny scrambled into the far corner, narrowly missing a collision.

"Sorry, Harry. Guess I should've been more specific," she said through shallow breaths. He simply nodded and replaced his wand to the chest pocket in his robes. Once he got his bearings, he looked to the wall opposite him, the one with the frayed pictures of relics and art. His eyebrows knitted together as he glanced at Ginny, then took in the desk. His eyes widened at the book.

"I've seen this before. Dumbledore had a copy in his office."

This made Harry swing around to the other wall, the one with the surveillance photos. Ginny could see the color drain out of his face despite the uneven light. He looked from the photos to the book, then back again.

"Check out this map, too." Ginny held up the European map for inspection. Harry glanced over it before heading back to the pictures of an early adult Tom Riddle sightseeing in major cities around the continent.

"Of course," he whispered. "R.A.B." He turned back to Secrets of the Darkest Arts and ran his fingers over the red embossed leather cover.

"What's R.A.B.? Harry, what is this?"

Harry turned to Ginny as if he had just noticed she was in the room.

"Oh. Umm. It has to do with our project. Ron, Hermione, and me. Wow, she's going to love this stuff." He took one more appraising look of the room. "Tell you what? Let's just leave it alone until she can have a look at it." Harry took a step toward the exit and started crouching to make his way through. Ginny, on the other hand, slammed herself into the desk chair and flipped open the book. Harry turned back around.

"What are you doing, Gin?"

"Getting my own answers. Don't worry. I'm used to it." She tried to look purposeful as she whipped the pages back and forth, but the truth was she had no idea what she was looking at – or for.

"Ginny, come on. It's just one of those things. It's better if you don't know. Less for you to worry about when we go on our trip."

Ginny slammed the book closed. "No, Harry, you come on." It was as if you could see the pilot light ignite in her face. "I get it. I'm not in the trio. I'm not going on the trip. I know you wouldn't have it any other way. But, once again, you've forgotten that out of the two people in this room, you're a stranger to Tom Riddle compared to me."

Harry's mouth opened but nothing came out.

Ginny continued. "Harry, you're one of my best friends. I would do anything for you. I think I've proven that. At the Department of Mysteries – "

"Where you broke your ankle."

"And the Astronomy Tower – "

"Where I gave you Felix Felicis to keep you safe."

If Harry was trying to defuse Ginny, he was doing a terrible job. She took a deep breath before continuing.

"But I can't be lied to anymore. Can't you see that you're causing just as much damage as whatever Voldemort could do to me? At least I can expect him to mistreat me. Look down on me. Every time from you is a new experience." Ginny swung the chair around to the corner, taking the book with her. She willed her shoulders to stop convulsing.

"I'm sorry," Harry managed. Ginny started flipping pages again, more determined, wondering if she should start with "art" or "relics", then cursing softly to herself when she realized there wasn't an index or table of contents. A full minute passed of silence. Eventually Harry went back to the wall with the art pictures, holding up the map to the side. He tried to connect the dots, but it was hard when he kept looking over his shoulder.