PROTECTION ♞ h.p.

12. A Matter of Trust

Harry sat in a cushioned chair by the window, waiting for Ginny to finish her shower.

Unwilling to sleep, he'd watched over her until the sun began to creep across the horizon. When he hadn't been comforting her or soothing her back to sleep he'd been trying to make sense of everything that had happened.

Rubbing circles on his temples to soothe his aching head, Harry continued to turn the recent events over and over. His reassignment, the ministry, the storm...

So far, he'd been unsuccessful at figuring out what was going on. There were too many options...too many holes and what if's to make sense of anything.

Closing his eyes, his thoughts moved to what he'd seen in Ginny's mind. As an echo of the blinding wall of white, the jumbled images and the snake returned, Harry frowned in frustration.

What does it mean? He wondered, rubbing his hands over his face. If she hasn't seen a basilisk, maybe it was a regular snake, just magnified...or a figment of her imagination...

But it was behind the barrier, his mind pointed out and a deep line of worry stretched across his forehead.

He wasn't sure exactly what they were facing, but when he'd collided with it, the pain that had resulted was worse than anything he'd felt in the last few weeks.

His power had gone haywire, erupting inside of him faster than he'd been prepared to deal with it. The lack of control he'd had the night before still worried him, his insides feeling unsettled.

The strength of the magic worried him too. Absently, he rubbed the back of his head, sore where he'd hit the wall after being thrown from the bed.

Too strong for Malfoy, he knew. But if not him...who would put it there? And why? What's the purpose? What's it hiding...

There was only one wizard who came to mind with the skill and knowledge to create something so strong.

Dumbledore could do it, Harry acknowledged, but I don't think he'd ever do anything so invasive.

Thoughts of Dumbledore inevitably reminded him of what had happened at the Ministry. The only thing Harry could come up with to describe the way his friends and Ginny's family had acted was wrong. It was wrong.

They'd been furious and yet truly frightened for Ginny, but it hadn't been rational fear.

Being concerned because of Malfoy I could understand...but to willingly put her in more danger just to get her away from me doesn't make any sense.

Disappointment surged afresh and he squeezed his hands into fists. The idea they wouldn't know him well enough to realize he'd never allow himself to hurt her was devastating.

It was almost like they knew something I didn't, he thought. Or...or they weren't themselves...

His thoughts turned darker and his heart began to pound at the possibility they'd been Imperiused.

"That's impossible," he muttered aloud.

No one would be capable of Imperiusing so many powerful witches and wizards at one time, he reminded himself firmly. Well, probably no one, he amended with a frown.

He didn't have much doubt that if he ever wanted to try, he'd be able to do it. If I could manage it, maybe others could too, he thought, forcing himself to consider the possibility.

Harry was eventually drawn from his thoughts when he realized the water had stopped. Listening to the muted sounds of Ginny moving around inside the bathroom, he dropped his head back and stared up at the ceiling.