Story: Moira
Chapter Forty One: Owner of The Cloak

It had been precisely three weeks since the three schools parted. The closest of pals still wrote owls, two or three times a week.

Harry and Ginny had lost touch for a while, immersed in finding more clues about the mysterious symbol. So when a brown owl landed at the windowsill of his room in The Blackthorn Manor, Harry was surprised.

Dear Harry,

I hope you are doing well. 

I think I have found something that could help us with this symbol. Unfortunately, I can not trust it in a letter. The twins had a close encounter with Bellatrix at the Diagon Alley. Fortunately, they managed to avoid her using several of their own merchandise.

She's on the hunt for us, Harry. Stay safe. Don't worry about me, I have my invisibility cloak. 

This weekend, mum's asked me to invite all of my friends for a sleepover at my place. And she wants you to come as well along with Ron and Draco. I'll send them a letter too, no worries.

Now, the main purpose of writing this letter is: I need you to come over to discuss about the new lead I have found. Your stay will be under the context of the sleepover but we need to get this done and over with. 

Reply as soon as possible.

Yours,

Ginny x

Harry sighed as he closed the letter and pocketed it. He hoped against hope that this lead would not arise more questions than necessary.

He had been locked up in his room with several books, trying to decipher the meaning of the triangle eye but in vain. He had even checked out the symbol at Durmstrang and it matched. If Grindelwald had something to do with the symbol, was Dumbledore having connections with the Dark Wizard? Why would the symbol be used, almost fifty years hence the events of the American Wizarding War? 

Harry had no answer to all these questions. He meticulously jotted them down in a notebook but no notebook could help him complete his destiny. Moira had made sure that whatever he was up to, he would have to face a lot of challenges to the summit.

__________

It was a warm and sunny May day: the date of the sleepover. Hermione had arrived early via Apparition and Ginny was delighted to finally have a girl to talk to. Living with her brothers surely had its cons. 

Neville arrived by the Floo network and Luna and Astoria used a joint Portkey. The Durmstrangs were the last to arrive. Dragging Sirius along with them, they had Apparated to a small hill along the street of The Burrow. The twins had guided them to the topsy-turvy homely building.

"Oi!" Ron shouted as a greeting and Hermione immediately hugged him. 

"Oi!" Draco echoed. Unfortunately for him, Astoria mock angrily turned away, telling him off for not greeting her like a gentleman. Neville, Luna, Sirius and Harry shared a laugh at the blonde boy's expense. 

"Where's your girl?" Sirius asked Harry who shrugged. Molly Weasley took this moment to enter. 

After another round of greetings, Molly took Harry aside. "Harry dear, how are you doing?" she asked in her kind voice.

"I'm good, Mrs Weasley," Harry replied back, confused as to why she took him aside from the group.

"That's – good to hear. I just – can you do me a favor, dear?" Her voice was really soft, almost pleading that Harry nodded before he could even consider. "Ginny is really put out after you know. . . losing Albus. She rarely comes down and Hermione could not really get much out of her."

"Okay?" Harry asked, perplexed.

"I was wondering if you could help her. . . you both have something going on between you if I am right," Molly guessed, looking nervous. Harry scratched his neck: he had never been in such situations before. 

"I will – I will try my best, Mrs Weasley," Harry replied in as much a convincing tone as he could muster. As far as he knew, Ginny was not the one to succumb to a long time melancholy.

"She is in her room on the first floor landing, dear. Good luck." With that, the Weasley matriarch was gone. Harry groaned before making his way upstairs. He was never the consoler.

Harry reached the first floor landing and politely knocked on the only door. He could heard shuffling sounds before he heard her voice shout, "Come in, Hermione!"

He opened the door and walked in, only to find it a mess of clothes and books. Thinking something else, he immediately looked down, a blush creeping to his cheeks. "I–um, I'll come later –"

"Oh, Harry! It's you!" she shouted delightedly but Harry did not look up. He hoped he had not walked into her getting changed. "Do you find my floor interesting?"

"Um, no. Not really. I'll just come la–"

"You stupid prat, look up. I'm reading!"

"You are reading, right." He finally looked up to see her hands full of books. "I just assumed – well – the clothes – err."

Ginny sighed dramatically. "You amaze me. I can't believe you were raised by Riddle."

"Hey!"

"Yeah, hi Harry. Finally decided to greet me, eh?"

"I–just," Harry stuttered. He mentally hit himself. Why was he stuttering? Oh right, it had been weeks since he had interacted with his crush.

"The privacy charms, please," Ginny said and shuffled some books from her bed to make place for him to sit. Harry nodded and whipped out his wand. He placed some privacy charms around the room and remained standing. "Do I have to request you to sit down, my Lord?"

Smiling sheepishly, he sat down on the bed as she settled down opposite of him on a chair facing the desk. She took out a book and handed it to him. It was old and a little bit tattered; it's cover was pale. Harry flipped through it, confused as to why she gave him a book, until he saw it: the triangle eye symbol was sitting on top of a page.

"This!" Harry pointed at the symbol.

"Yes, that," Ginny told. "is The Tales of Beedle The Bard. I told you I have seen it in the book. It's not printed in, it's carved in."

"You reckon Dumbledore carved it in?"

"I s'pose. I think that story is the clue."

Harry looked down. It was a heading of runes reading 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'. The complete story was written in runic language. "What's this story about?" he asked, impatient to read it and find out himself. Ginny snorted before answering.

"It's about three brothers who encounter Death, as in the deity. They 'impress' him," she air-quoted the word impress. "and he wishes to award them. The eldest brother asks for a wand like no other, unbeatable and undefeatable. Death makes a wand using a nearby Elder tree. 

"The second brother asks for a stone to bring back the dead and Death picks up a stone and gives it to him.

"The youngest and the wisest brother desires for an invisibility cloak which would help him to leave the place without being seen by the deity and so, Death gives him his own cloak of invisibility.

"The three brothers part ways. The eldest is killed by his own wand after he bragged on about killing a man he got into fight with. The middle brother kills himself after being unable to live with the deceased love of his life. The youngest, however, dies only after he reaches a high age, only passing the cloak to his son and greeting Death as an old friend."

Harry was left speechless. This seemed like a fairytale woven after centuries of rewrites. Dumbledore could not have possibly left them to decipher a fairytale. But there was a mention of Death, the one who had supposedly asked Moira to let Harry live, or was it the other way around? Harry could not clearly remember the events that took place whilst he was in 'limbo'.

"D'you think these three creations of Death exist? Are they the ones we must find?" Ginny asked, looking serious. Harry scratched his head as he looked at the book.

"What does the box contain, then?" Harry asked, more to himself. "The wand? Because no rock can bring back the d-dead and there are several invisibility cloaks nowadays."

"No Harry, you don't understand. The properties of invisibility cloaks wear off after a few years. Death's cloak isn't like that. Its been passed down since years!" Ginny explained, looking fascinated. Harry, however, was confused.

"How'd you know about it?" Harry asked.

"That's because I own it! I mean. . . Master gave it to me in my third year telling me that I might require it. It's probably somewhere in my trunk and ugh! I can't get through this mess."

"Okay? How do you know it is Death's invisibility cloak?" Harry asked suspiciously. 

"Oh, come on! It's supposed to be someone's cloak who gave it to Master when he asked. They were murdered by Riddle and so the cloak came into his possession. He told me that this cloak was the family heirloom of – of –" Ginny stuttered, looking nervous.

"Who?"

"The Potters. I-I am sorry, Harry. I know you are angry with your parents and all but – oh damn it!" she swore. Harry looked at her with amusement before reassuring her.

"It's okay. I am no longer angry with them. I think we sorted that out when I was 'dead'," Harry assured. Ginny looked up guiltily, her tongue sticking out. 

"And you made me blabber for that?!"

"I never asked you to blabber, Miss Weasley," Harry retorted back. "And, I was wondering what you did to leave your mother under the impression that you are still. . . y'know, sad about everything."

Ginny looked startled. She then slumped heavily unto her chair. "I wanted to make sure that we would get much time to discuss this. Mum keeps a nasty eye on me and so do my dear ol' brothers. I haven't stayed in this house for long as I had training with Master even during my vacations. Now that he is n-no more, they think I'll spend more time with them but I can't. We can't rest till we have solved this mystery. 

"Mum thought I would come around when Hermione or Luna arrive but I acted nonchalant so she would send you next and we could get away with this act of consoling as well as discuss the things," Ginny explained, looking ashamed.

"Oh well. That's a – a nice idea, I s'pose."

"You are lying. I know you are."

It was impossible to prove otherwise so Harry spilt the truth. "Your mum. . . she's under the impression we are – err – dating, I guess would be the correct word."

"And you are bothered by that?" Ginny asked with narrowed eyes. Harry shook his head. "What are we, exactly?"

"Dunno really. One moment you say you love me and the other you call me an idiotic prat. What, am I supposed to play along?" Harry asked, looking around the room instead of facing her. 

It was completely messy with several books piled up on each other and clothes thrown haphazardly. The opened window provided light and ventilation to the room which was almost empty besides the scattered mess. A small desk sat to the side and looked unused. A bunk bed and a camp bed sat to the side of the small room; Harry was on the other bed. 

"I don't know what this 'other half' makes us," Ginny replied. Harry shrugged. "This is all too confusing! Why is it my life is so complicated?!"

Harry knew, at that precise moment that she was finally about to break down after weeks of staying strong so he got up and hurriedly rushed to her side. She latched herself from the chair and clung onto him. The floor beneath them provided no comfort but Harry was rather glad to have her in his arms. However, her sobs made up the depressing atmosphere and it proved to be contagious.

After moments of silence, Harry backed away a little and offered her his handkerchief. 

"Let's –" His voice cracked. "Let's get out of here. We could go to some other place. I-I think that would lift our spirits," he suggested. Ginny nodded. He got up and offered her a hand which she took gladly. Together, they set off towards the orchard of The Burrow, passing Molly who looked worried. Harry gave her a reassuring smile but he was not sure if she would believe him.

Okay, it ends there! I hope you guys still find this story entertaining and not think that a silly girl is blabbering something lol.

Thank you for reading!

Miyoko x