emanating from — the wall. 'I think you managed to loosen one of the bricks by scraping at it, so I pulled it out of the wall. Can you see me?'
Ron at her side, Hermione stared at the wall until she found the dark opening Sirius had made. Then she scrambled towards it, bending down to stare, and found Sirius? bright dark eyes looking back from the other side.
'Sirius!' she gasped, both wildly relieved and horrified to see him at the same time. 'What are you doing down here?'
'Actually,' he said, and there was a note of almost-amusement in his voice, 'I was sketching. As to how I got down here, its a bit of a long story and I?m not sure you would believe me if I told you. The real question is, are you all right? Are you hurt at all?'
'I?m fine,' she said, a huge lump forming in her throat. 'I?m fine, not hurt at all-'
'And Ron?'
Hermione leaned back as Ron took her place at the wall. He looked just as relieved and shocked as she felt. 'Sirius!' he exclaimed. 'I?m fine, too, but what about you? How long have you been down here?'
'Few hours,' said Sirius briefly, an I-don?t-want-to-talk-about-it note in his voice. 'I was listening to you two talk for a while before I realized who you were. And none of us are going to die. All right?'
'All right,' said Ron, managing half a grin.
'And don?t worry about Harrys cloak. We?ll get it back.'
Ron nodded. 'Okay.'
'Oh, and Ron?'
'Yeah?'
'Don?t worry about the not having had sex business,' said Sirius magnanimously. 'You?re only seventeen. Good things come to those who wait.'
They sat facing each other across the small round table: Ginny on one side, Benjamin Gryffindor on the other. He had gotten dressed and was staring at her, as he had been since she had arrived, as if he had seen a ghost. The Gryffindor sword was still leaning against the table; every time she saw it, she thought of Harry, and of the rest of them, in the future where she had left them. It was so quiet here and so peaceful, with all the pretty multicolored tents among the green grass and the view of the castle over the hedge of brambles, looking as pretty and harmless as a picture from a history book.
'So let me get this straight,' said Ben, still looking at her, wide-eyed.
It was still a bit odd to see such dark eyes in a face that looked like Harrys. 'You want to borrow an army?'
Ginny sighed, and templed her fingers together under her chin.
'Look,' she began, trying to find the words to explain. 'We haven?t got the resources to face Slytherin in the future. We haven?t got armies like you do, and the Ministry doesn?t even believe that hes returned, mostly because they don?t want to.'
Ben looked at her quizzically. 'The Ministry? Is that like the WizardsCouncil?'
'Probably. Wait, let me see if I can remember my history. The Council was abolished in 1612 because-'
'Don?t. Don?t tell me too much about the future. I don?t want to know.' He sighed, and shook his head. 'I have to say I really never thought I?d see you again. I do actually remember you, even though I was only twelve.'
'Well, I remember you,' smiled Ginny, 'but thats because for me, it was yesterday.'
Ben nodded. 'Rowena said she?d given you the information you?d need to defeat — him — in your own time.'
Ginny shook her head. 'It wasn?t enough. I don?t know if she understood that in the future, the magical community just wouldn?t be prepared to deal with a threat like this. Hes got all the Dark creatures on his side — the werewolves and the trolls and the dementors — there are just so many of them.'
He raised his eyebrows. 'How do you know so much about Slytherins weaponry and the forces he commands?'
'From my friends. Its complicated…but…' Ginny broke off. 'Ben, where are the Heirs?' she asked abruptly.
Ben looked taken aback. 'Who?'
'The other Heirs. Besides you.'
'Well.' Ben ticked them off on his fingers. 'Rowenas daughter is eleven; she just started at Hogwarts. The rest of Helgas brood are all over in Ireland right now. And I?m here, keeping an eye on things. Just a few months out of the year, but somebody has to…'
'And the Heir of Slytherin?'
'Gareth?' Bens eyes flicked away from hers. 'Hes not around much.'
'Do you know him? Are you enemies?' Ginny demanded, suddenly fascinated, seeing as she did the possibility for a weird echo of Harry and Dracos complicated and often bewildering relationship.
'Why? Is this something to do with the Heir of Slytherin in your own time?' Ben neatly turned the tables on her, leaning his chin on his hand. 'Whats he like?'
'Draco? Hes…complicated,' said Ginny. 'He isn?t an simple person to know. Hes not very easy to be friends with, although hes loyal, and he never lies, even though he does conceal things. Oh dear. Its hard to explain. And he treats girls appallingly,' she added as an afterthought, pulling a face.
