Improbable Works

Series #3 : Hogwarts Hearts

written by Shaun G.

Disney and Squaresoft own Kingdom Hearts. JK Rowling owns Harry Potter in
any incarnation and form. I hold nothing but characterization sacred, and do
my best to portray reactions and type casting in the boundaries that have
been set. If you want a story that is completely serious, filled with angst,
horror and slash, forget it. You won't find it here at all.

Admittedly Ginny-centric, set in her Fourth Year, which is Harry's Fifth
Year.


Chapter 1 : Diving into the Heart

=============

'You are the one.... who will open the door....'

Ginny Weasley sat up with a start in her bed. Heart thumping heavily, she
panted softly for a minute while brushing a lock of red hair away from her
face. Scrambling for her diary, she lit the candles beside her bed with a
quick charm and pulled her diary, a quill and her ink well.

The frantic scratching on her quill lasted for about five minutes until
Ginny set down her diary and sighed.

In the pages of the diary, was drawn a few diagrams of various things. The
wand and shield she had chosen, drawn in vivid detail. And even the
disturbing monster with the heart shaped gap in its chest looming in a page.

Ginny settled down in her bed, extinguishing the flame of her candle as she
sighed. But sleep did not come to her for a long time.

=============

"Ginny? You feeling well?"

Ginny snapped to attention as she blushed. Harry was looking at her in a
concerned manner. "Oh, I'm fine, Harry. Thank you."

Harry nodded, a bit uncertain as he worked on his breakfast. Ginny looked at
herself in the reflection of the gold platter. She was a mess, red hair
mussed and eyes sporting bags under them. She could barely stop yawning.

Finishing her breakfast, she gathered up her books and headed for her first
class of the day. Ron, who had watched Ginny since the morning, frowned and
said, "What do you think is wrong with Ginny?"

"She isn't sleeping well," Hermione said, munching on her fruit and toast.
"Sometimes when I go down to the common room to pick something up at night,
she's there, writing into her diary."

"I would think she wouldn't keep one after that Riddle incident," Ron
remarked into his cereal.

Harry frowned. "We should at least make sure that she is all right."

=============

"Class dismissed. Do not forget to read chapter two for tomorrow's lesson.
And Miss Weasley, may I see you for a moment?"

Gathering up her books into a pile, Ginny waited for everyone to leave the
Transfiguration classroom. Professor Minerva McGonagall watched the young
girl with the bloodshot eyes. "Miss Weasley, twice you have almost fallen
asleep in Transfiguration in the past three days. Is there anything wrong?
Shall I call Madame Pomfrey?"

"I haven't been sleeping well, Professor," Ginny admitted.

McGonagall pursed her lips in thought. Ginny Weasley had quite the encounter
during her first year. She was put under the power of an enchanted Diary,
written by none other than Tom Marvello Riddle, soon to become Lord
Voldemort in his later years. "Are you having nightmares, Miss Weasley?"
McGonagall asked kindly. "If you are, then perhaps Madame Pomfrey can give
you a Dreamless Sleep Potion for use."

"No.... they are not nightmares." Ginny sighed and explained her dreams.
After she was done, McGonagall had gone a sheer white color.

"Oh dear," McGonagall said. "This is most serious. Miss Weasley, come with
me. We must speak with the Headmaster."

"I am not in trouble, am I, Professor?" Ginny asked, worried.

"No... but we might all be." McGonagall answered cryptically.

The trip to Headmaster Dumbledore's office was a quick one, McGonagall and
Ginny making good time through the hallways and the various moving stairs.
Soon, they came to the gargoyle statue as McGonagall spoke the password
("Smarties"), and the Gargoyle leapt aside to reveal the door behind it.

Striding up the stairs, they were greeted by Albus Dumbledore, the
Headmaster of the school. Albus was a man well into his hundred years of
life. He had long white hair and a long beard that was tucked into his belt.
He wore bright robes and a pointed hat. On his crooked nose, he wore half
moon spectacles that he peered over at the pair of witches. "Hello Minerva,
Miss Weasley. What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"Albus... Miss Weasley, has been having The Dream."

Dumbledore nodded as he circled around his desk. His blue eyes met her brown
as she fidgeted under his look. "As I suspected. It is about time. Miss
Weasley, what I am about to tell you could change your life forever. Do you
wish to know?"

"Please Headmaster, if there is anything about these dreams that are
important, I think I should know." Ginny answered.

"Very well." Dumbledore straightened up and said, "There is an old story,
more like almost a legend dating back to the time of the Founding Four;
Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin.
There was a group of wizards, dark wizards though not commonly known as
dark, for dark and light wizards had no real distinction back then, who
wished to experiment with the human heart."

Dumbledore cast a glance at the paintings of the previous Headmasters and
then at Fawkes who slept soundly on his perch. "The experiments that they
did on the human heart were about channeling the inner darkness of each and
every heart. Many died in their attempts to breed and cultivate the
darkness. But from the ashes of the darkness, a most peculiar creature was
born. It was born, living, yet not. It had no heart of its own, and sought
to devour other hearts. Those without hearts. They were then called the
Heartless."

"A war ensured, as the light wizards clashed against the dark wizards, in an
attempt to control the Heartless who had begun to spread across the world.
It was in this hour, when all hope had faded, and the Heartless had even
spread as far as the gates of Hogwarts, that the Founding Four created a
weapon to defeat the Heartless, and seal them away from the power of the
Heart of the World."

"A weapon?" Ginny asked, amazed at the story Dumbledore was telling her.

"Yes. A weapon, that could be borne by the strongest heart. It was a Key, a
Key that could unlock and lock the Heart of the World. They called it, a
Keyblade." Dumbledore pushed up his glasses and continued. "The Keyblade
selected its master, a young boy no older than you. His name lost to time,
he fought the Heartless with two others, their names lost to time as well.
He succeeded, and locked the world away from the Heartless."

"So why am I having these dreams, Professor?" Ginny asked in the awkward
silence that followed.

"It is a test, the Keyblade chooses its master, and deems who is worthy to
wield it. Now that the lock is starting to become undone, the Keyblade
realized it is time for another master to be found." His intense gaze locked
on Ginny whose eyes widened in shock.

"Me? But I can't be a master of anything!" Ginny protested.

"You have a strong heart, Miss Weasley, and that is why the Keyblade is
seeking you out." Dumbledore said. "You have a lions heart, Miss Weasley. I
think you would make an excellent Keyblade Master."

"But what about Harry?" Ginny protested. "Obviously he has more experience
with things such as this."

"It is true, young Harry has experience, but his destiny lies elsewhere."
Dumbledore smiled at Ginny as he sat down behind his desk. "Your destiny, if
you accept the challenge, will lie down the path that we have spoken of."

"I... see," said Ginny slowly. "May I be excused, Headmaster? I would like
to think about all of this."

"Of course." said Dumbledore.

=============

Herbology lessons for that day cumulated into a stormy afternoon. By the
time Ginny had entered the castle, she had been soaked to the bone by a
downpour. Trudging up the stairs towards the Gryffindor Tower, she was glad
that Herbology was the last class for the day. That, and the mud that caked
her brown work smock was mostly rinsed off by the torrential rains.

Turning a corner into a particularly dark corner, a low chattering caught
her ear. Blinking, Ginny turned but there was nothing there. Feeling a sense
of unease, she made her way towards the portrait of the Fat Lady. Giving the
password of the week ("Monty Python", a joke from Dean who had been hitched
on the comedic group since last summer and got the Fat Lady involved), she
stepped into the common room for a quick change out of her wet clothes.

Entering the common room after toweling off her hair, Ginny found it alight
with students. In the corner, Fred and George were working on a order form,
presumably for Weasley Wizard Wheezes, along with Lee Jordan, a tall black
boy with his hair in dreadlocks and the beginnings of a fine mustache.

To the other corner, the Creevey brothers, Colin and Dennis were conversing
quietly, sneaking glances at Harry Potter whom they idolized without
question. Both had old style muggle cameras, designed to work at Hogwarts as
Digital Cameras did not work at Hogwarts.

Dean and Seamus were arguing about the logistics of Football and Quidditch,
and how Dean had been insisting that they should give it a try. In another
corner, Pavarti and Lavender were working on something, and with the
presence of the crystal ball, most likely Divination homework. Those two
idolized Professor Trelawney. Ginny, for the life of her couldn't see how
someone could idolize Professor Trelawney. Ginny did abysmal at Divination
during her third year, much more preferring to take Muggle Studies in her
fourth year. Ron and Harry, who hadn't the common sense to switch out to
something sensible, were still making up constantly increasing tragic events
for the Divination class.

There were several from her own grade in the common room, but she had very
few friendships in that area. Ginny, due to her experiences in the first
year of her schooling at Hogwarts, was much more mature than most of the
giggling girls of the fourth year, and the childish boys of the third year.
Even with the dangerous events of her second and third year at Hogwarts, she
had kept a level head and watched from a distance, not wishing to get
involved.

Sinking into a chair, the door to the common room opened to allow Hermione,
Ron and Harry. Ron and Hermione were lightly bickering about something while
Harry wore a bemused expression on his face.

"Two days of detention! I'm glad you learned something about trying to get
back at Malfoy," said Hermione. Ron sported the remaining appearance of
someone who had just gone through a powerful hex.

Ron snorted. "It wasn't so bad, and he was tormenting Harry!"

"You tried to turn him into a ferret!" Hermione exclaimed shrilly. "Hasn't
your experiences with Transfiguration taught you anything? It's lucky that
Professor McGonagall was near by to reverse Malfoy's tail!"

"He deserved it!" Ron retorted.

"Lets just get some homework done before the day is over," Harry put in
before the argument could turn into a full row.

Ginny smiled at that as she reached over to the end table and removed a
thick book from the table. It was her old, very old and very battered copy
of The Lord of the Rings. High fantasy was her forte, and she spent every
free moment reading and immersing herself within the story of Hobbits, Men,
Elves and Dwarves.

Three chapters into the book, Ginny felt the sensation of something.
Something was approaching Gryffindor Tower.

Sitting upright, her hand eased into her robe pocket for her wand. The
sensation had grown stronger, and it was dark, and malevolent.

Suddenly, a scream was heard outside the door. The Fat Lady. People jumped
to their feet as an armored figure burst through the portal, through the Fat
Lady. It was dressed in blue and black, with a helmet on its head and two
glowing yellow eyes staring out from behind it. It looked around, and
pounced on the nearest person to the doorway; Ginny.

Struggling with the attacker, she threw it off with a giant heave. The
creature made no sound, but made to lunge at her again. A chorus of
"Stupefy!" filled the air as spells hammered into it.

The attack blasted the creature into the wall where it exploded into golden
crystals and green glowing balls. Ginny sat up, panting, staring wide eyed.
"What was that?" Ron exclaimed, helping up his sister.

Before anyone could say something, the shadows on the ground darkened as
almost twenty small little creatures materialized around them. They leapt
into the fray, and spells started to fire all over the room.

Ron punched an attacking shadow but two more grabbed his neck and hauled him
away. "Ron!" Ginny screamed.

Her yell attracted seven of the small creatures, and they all leapt onto
Ginny, clawing. One of them reached into her chest and Ginny felt her world
going black.

"GINNY!" Hermione shouted as she struggled with two more shadow creatures.

Suddenly, the shadows exploded into golden crystals and green balls as an
incredible glow emitted from Ginny. Ginny stood up shakily, unharmed but in
her hand, she carried a giant key.

The key had a golden haft with a white blade to it. Teeth in the shape of a
crown adorned it. Ginny held it up and the glow penetrated the room.

The shadows screeched as they abandoned their attacks and rushed towards the
youngest Weasley. As they leapt towards her from all directions, Ginny
gripped the weapon and spun in a circle. The blade of the key slashed
through the bodies of the enemy, and before long, they were decimated. Only
the remaining golden crystals and green balls were left.

Ginny, after destroying the last one, collapsed to her knees, panting and
heaving. The giant key was clutched in her hands, its gold and white color
sparkling in the light. Ron, Hermione and Harry were at her side
immediately, supporting her to a chair. After sitting her down, Ginny said
in a shaky voice, "I can't believe it happened so quickly."

"What was all that about? You, with that glowing big arse key in your
hands!" Ron exclaimed, holding up her hand with the key in it. "What were
those things? How did you kill them? What the bloody hell is going on here?"

"Ron, calm down. You're going to make her dizzy with all those questions."
Hermione said. "Do you need to see Madame Pomfrey, Ginny?"

Ginny shook her head. She lifted her hand to look at the giant key she held
in hand. "Life, has just gotten a lot more dangerous."

============

Authors Notes : Admittedly Ginny-centric, and hey, come on, she needs a
story all to herself.