Lost and Found

Harry and Ron

Harry Potter was being shaken awake. He groaned, not moving, and whoever was trying to rouse him said impatiently, "Come on! Bloody hell Harry, get up! We both have a meeting this morning!"

It was Ron, Harry's best friend. The worked together as Aurors, wizards who fought against the dark arts.

Harry sat up, groping around for his glasses and stretching. Ron started throwing his robes at him, and when Harry found his glasses saw that Ron was fully dressed already.

"A meeting this early?" Harry grumbled as he pulled on his robes. "What's so very important they have to -"

"Remus sounded pretty shaky," said Ron. "I doubt it's something small if he's concerned."

Harry nodded. Remus was Head Auror, very dedicated. If Remus was calm - in most cases he was - then everyone else was. But if the boss is shaken, that's something you have to worry about.

Harry's right shoe was still untied, but Ron dragged him to the Ministry anyway, and Harry had to tie it there.

They got into the designated room for meeting, and Remus excused them from being late. They took their seats.

"As most of you know," said Remus, "I led an investigation with Tonks, Sirius, and Kingsley three days ago."

Sirius gave a small wave to Harry, but he looked grim.

"We investigated an abandoned mansion in a forest on the edge of Scotland. Most of the house was deserted and empty, but we went on to observe the basement." Remus sighed, then trained his eyes on Ron. "There was a woman in the basement who had been there for ten years."

Harry narrowed his eyes, and everyone else looked bewildered.

"This woman," said Remus, "was tortured daily by the Death Eaters, and when we found her she hadn't been acknowledged for weeks. I believe if we had found her any later, she would had died. She is in St. Mungo's at this moment, slowly recovering."

"Who was it?" Harry asked, and Ron nodded.

"She told us... her name was Ginny Weasley."

Harry flinched, the old name hitting him like a pile of bricks. Ron's mouth fell open.

Ron then stood up so hard his chair fell over. "What the bloody hell are you talking about?!"

"Sit down, Ron," Sirius told him.

"No, I will not -"

Harry pulled Ron down and asked, "What are you talking about, Lupin? She died ten years ago."

Remus shook his head and sighed. "No, Harry. We thought she died. She disappeared, it was never confirmed she actually was dead, we never found a corpse or anything that proves she died. We just assumed. This girl could very well be Ginny Weasley."

"That's bull," Ron let him know angrily.

Harry put his head in his hands, thoroughly scared. He couldn't believe this. He had watched her die. He had heard her scream as Tom Riddle killed her, so how could she be alive? He had nightmares for years after watching her die -

"Ron's right, that is bull." He was the one to stand up then. "She died right in front of my face, Remus! I watched her scream, I watched -"

"Would you like to see for yourself?" Remus was standing up as well.

Ron stood up next to Harry. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I would."

*

Ron and Harry's mouths were hanging open in shock. They were at St. Mungo's. Tonks, Sirius, and Remus were with them. Tonks was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding the woman's small, pale hands in hers.

She was pale, the tips of her fingers trembling before Tonks took them, keeping her hands warm. There were bruises on her neck, face, and arms, contrasting horribly with her white-as-snow skin. Her lips were purple and trembling, and there were cuts and gashes all over her visible body. Her eyelids were light blue. She looked like she would shatter any moment, and her extremely long, matted auburn hair spilled onto the pillow.

"This... can't be my sister," Ron said shakily, bit he wouldn't take his eyes off the girl.

Harry bit his lip. He had very faint memories of Ginny Weasley - he remembered her having red hair and pretty brown eyes. That was mostly all. But he did remember how she had a crush on him - the whole elbow-in-the-butter-dish scene he wouldn't ever forget, along with his singing valentine.

Suddenly he had an idea.

"Wake her," Harry said. "Just so she can answer some things for us. Then she can rest all she wants."

They looked unsure, but Remus gave a small nod to Tonks, who squeezed the girl's hands and put a hand on her shoulder, lightly shaking her. "Wake up, sweetheart."

Her eyes suddenly shot open, revealing huge doe-like chocolate eyes that were haunted and worn with fear. A look of terror masked her face as she saw the man and woman around her bed - she scrambled to the edge of the bed, hugging her legs.

"We're not going to hurt you," said Remus, holding his hands up in alarm. "Remus, remember?"

The girl slightly relaxed, and said shakily, "You - you saved my life."

Remus nodded. "We're Aurors. We fight Death Eaters. You're safe with us."

"I know what an - what an Auror is," said the girl.

Sirius said, "Good. Now, these two knuckleheads over here want to ask you questions. We'll leave you to it."

Tonks, Sirius, and Remus began to leave. The girl grabbed ahold of Tonks's sleeve, looking terrified at the thought of being left alone, so Tonks stayed.

"It's okay," Tonks assured her. "They're Aurors too, and my friends. You can trust them, I promise."

"Don't leave," the girl pleaded.

"I won't."

"Whenever you're ready, we'll start," said Harry, sitting in Sirius's vacant chair by the side of the bed.

The girl sat up, ran her hand through her hair - which was obviously washed the day before - and said she was ready, blighting her lip.

Ron began asking questions so quickly Harry had to cut him off.

"Let's take it slow, Ron... What is your name?"

"Ginny Weasley," she said, gulping.

Harry and Ron shared a glance.

"Are you sure?" Ron asked. She nodded. "Positive? Absolutely -"

"Yes." Ginny glared at him. "And who are you?"

"Do we look familiar?" Harry asked, pointing to him and Ron. "At all?"

Ginny studied Ron, shrugged, then looked over at Harry. Her eyes widened, and she nodded. "You both look... very familiar. But I know who you are." She looked straight at Harry. "You're Harry Potter. You tried to save me in the Chamber."

No one spoke, so Ginny did. "He took me, and tricked you. He trikes you into thinking that girl who did die was me, when I was already gone. He - he took me, and he put me in that basement - and... I never - I never came back out."

"Until three days ago," said Tonks.

"Yes. The Death Eaters - they abandoned me there, and I - I couldn't get out. I was so scared. I thought they would be up there - up there waiting for me -"

"You really are her, aren't you?" Ron was in awe.

Ginny nodded.

"Ginny," he said, "I'm Ron."