It was the average summer night for Harry Potter at the Dursley's. Locked up in his "bedroom", (It was more like a storage closet for Dudley.), the temperature continued to climb to an almost unbearable heat. Harry lied down on one of Dudley's ratty, old mattress, thoughts emerging out of the back of his mind. Harry wished he could be staying at the burrow, even Hermione was staying with the Weasleys for the rest of the holiday. But no, Harry would be stuck here for at least another month. Dumbledore, for some reason, would not allow him to leave because of some sort of ward that needed to refuel. Whatever that means. Harry continued his train of thought to his friends, especially a certain red headed witch (Mrs. Weasley. Just joking.), named Ginny Weasley. After the Chamber catastrophe, Harry decided to get to know the youngest Weasley better. He felt that if he had looked out for her more that year then none of this would have happened. He was worried about how the chamber might have affected her, and hoped she was alright. He knew that that probably wasn't the case however, nightmares always came to him whenever something like the Chamber happened. With those worries rolling themselves over in his mind, he fell asleep. Harry's sleep was full of nightmares. He was back in the chamber, Tom Riddle was taunting him over and over Ginny's dead body, waving his diary in his face. Then came flashes of different people yelling or gloating in his face. "You actually thought you could save her didn't you Harry?" Tom hissed. "My own sister! You let her die Harry! You didn't try hard enough!" Ron yelled at him. "I expected more of you Harry, letting a fellow student die, tisk tisk," Dumbledore scolded. "She's dead Harry, DEAD!" Tom again. "How many other people are going to die because of you Harry? HOW MANY! You are not the son we wished you'd grow up to be." Those were his parents. "Just like your father, so cowardly, wouldn't even save you best mate's sister. Though I wouldn't expect anything less from a Potter." Snape this time. "You let us all down Harry! I can't bare to see the sight of you! I can't believe I thought you as good as a son! My poor baby, she was so young!" Mrs. Weasley sending a howler to him. "No, No, No! I tried, I'm sorry, I tried! I'm so sorry she died. It's all my fault! All my fault! I promise if Ginny would come back I'd do anything to protect her! Please!" Harry sobbed. Suddenly, Harry woke up as he felt another person fall into his arms. It was a girl and she was crying also. "It's all my fault. If I hadn't been so stupid, so gullible, Harry wouldn't have died trying to save me! I'm so sorry!" The girl was still asleep it seemed, and Harry realized who it was as he made out red hair in the darkness. "Ginny?" She began to shake and pant. Sweat glistened on her forehead, as tears started streaming down her cheeks. She was clearly experiencing a nightmare, and I hoped it wasn't of what I feared it was. "No! It's all my fault! It's all my fault, I'm so sorry Harry!" There was almost no denying it now, she was dreaming of that night in the dreaded Chamber. Not knowing what to do exactly, I tried to wake her up. "Ginny, I'm here, it's okay, we're alive. Wake up," I said the last part a bit desperately. I had no idea why she was here, (Not that I exactly minded the company, but I would prefer a different circumstance.) and seeing her this way was horrible. Knowing completely how she must be feeling, having this exact sensation only moments ago, made watching and not waking her even worse. "Ginny, you need to wake up, it's just a nightmare." No response. I ended up just trying to calm her down, rocking her back and forth, stroking her hair, and muttering words into her ear. "It's fine Ginny, we're okay." "Tom's gone." "Ssh, Ginny I'm here." Finally, her breathing slowed, and that calmed me down as well. A cocoon of calmness surrounding enveloping me, I fell into a peaceful slumber full of bright light and red hair. Ginny's POV: I woke up the next morning feeling peaceful for the first time since the chamber. My original nightmare was horrifying, Tom was telling me how stupid, how gullible I was. Then I was sitting on the stone floor, knees to my chest, crying into my hands. Tom moved in front of me, then split until there was seven Toms surrounding me, continuing the taunting. Out of nowhere, a voice came, causing the walls to warble caving inward and outward. Though the words were inaudible at first, until she heard clearly the words, "Tom's gone." Suddenly, all the Tom's dissolved, as did the chamber. "Ssh, Ginny, I'm here. The room was filled with a golden, warm, light. I woke up, yawning. I tried to fluff the end of my pillow, to get another hour in before mum came and got me. Too my surprise, it felt gushy. It's was somebody's face! "What the...?" Investigating further, I recognized the scar planted on this person's forehead underneath a mat of unruly black hair. "Harry?" "Naohomgrr," he mumbled and he grabbed me around the waist, pulling me towards him. He then turned on his side, me being tugged along, hugging me like I was a teddy bear, most likely thinking I was a pillow. Giving off the famous Weasley blush, I tapped Harry on the shoulder. "Harry," I repeated. Boy, this was going to be embarrassing. What am I even doing here! "Ginny? What are you... Oh! Oh, oh, oh! I can't believe I forgot..." Then I believe he realized he was hugging me. Turning a deeper shade than I was, he immediately let go and we both sat up. "Sorry," he muttered, utterly embarrassed. "I guess it's fine, I know you didn't mean to. You thought I was a pillow!" On the word pillow, I smacked him in the head with an actual one, laughing. "Right?" "... Yeah, right." Is it just me, or did I see a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. Eh, probably just my imagination. I was just glad I could actually talk to him normally, especially after what had just happened. Hermione had been helping me over the summer regain my speech around him. I was over The Boy Who Lived, ever since the chamber strangely enough. You'd think that experience would just make it worse. But actually, it made me want to get to know the real Harry Potter better. "Mistaking people for pillows Harry? Tisk, tisk. I do say I expected better," I mocked him. Then suddenly, the thought came back to me. "So, what the heck am I doing here?" Harry sighed. "I was going to ask you that. One moment, I was having a nightmare. Next suddenly you appear," "Well, all I remember is falling asleep at the burrow." That was the partial truth, I still remember that odd occurrence in my dream. Wait a minute, didn't Harry say he was also having a nightmare. I was about to ask him when he suddenly spurted out, "You're parents are probably worried sick about you! They will have no idea where you are, will they! I'll owl Dumbledore as soon as Hedwig gets back from hunting. Here, I'll grab some parchment." Harry bent over his side of the bed and bent to grab it. The back of his shirt crept upward as he did so, revealing angry purple bruises, scabbed cuts, and a few whip marks. "Harry!" I shrieked, making him almost fall off the bed. "What?" He looked at me, concern and alarm flooding his face. "What happened to your back?" I demanded. "Nothing." Oh, the nerve of him. If it was those Dursleys I've heard tell of from Ron, I'll kill 'um. "Harry, What happened to your back?" I spoke with a stern tone. "Uh... I fell. That's all, off the swing at the park," he tried to convince. Uh huh, sure. I'm so glad he's a bad liar. "Tell me the truth Harry." Suddenly, there was a huge BANG! Thump! Thump!, on the door. "Boy! Get off your ungrateful lazy arse out here this instant and cook us breakfast! Or, what happened to you two days ago will look like a game of patty-cake!" Was that his Uncle Vernon? How dare he speak to Harry that way! Oh... when I get my hands on him! Harry's POV: Thank goodness Uncle Vernon interrupted or else I might've had to tell Ginny about the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon lost his job recently, and Aunt Petunia started to work instead. This left Uncle Vernon to spend some quality time at home with Dudley, and unfortunately with me every day also. Aunt Petunia being present was always the only thing that kept Uncle Vernon form going over board with me. This fact with the combination of Uncle Vernon being pissed at losing his job led to a very abusive Uncle who encouraged Dudley to beat him as well. Every afternoon Uncle Vernon would have Dudley practice his boxing skills on his boxing bag a.k.a. me. They also found any reason at all to inflict pain on me, from whipping me with Dudley's old belt for putting it in Uncle Vernon's laundry pile to hitting me to the floor because 'I looked at them funny', and then sometimes they would lock me in my old cupboard with out food for days at a time while turning off the power to it. I was only making it through the summer by escaping to Mrs. Figgs for tea and sandwiches at every opportunity. "I'll be back as soon as possible, okay? Stay here, and don't let any of the Dursleys find you." I shuddered at the thought. "BOY! FOOD! NOW!" With that I slipped of to the kitchen. There I found Dudley and Uncle Vernon sitting around their large table that now looked quite small. It would take fifteen servings of bacon to fill their small family up. Half a serving for Aunt Petunia, seven and a half servings for Dudley, and six for Uncle Vernon. But Aunt Petunia wasn't here for the weekend, having a conference meetings at work. "You took long enough boy!" I didn't reply, and instead started on the bacon. Apparently, this was all the initiative Uncle Vernon needed. Standing up, he blumbered over behind me and shoved me, pushing me into the plate of hot, burning grease. "Ahh!" I cried out in pain and clutched at my now badly burned arm. "That should teach you to acknowledge me WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU!" "Sorry, Uncle Vernon," I spoke through gritted teeth, learning my lesson from seconds ago. "How DARE you even suggest that you are related to your filth you ***** *** *******!" Then he took the pan and proceeded to hit me in the back to the head with it, hard. Lights popped in front of my eyes as I hit the floor, as well as the sensation of burning enveloped the back of my skull. "Dudley, come here! It's time I taught you how to earn respect." Grabbing a metal spoon he tossed it to Dudley. "Let's get 'im good dad!" Where's my wand! Oh, no I must've left it in my room! Of all the stupid times to... The pain! Each blow sent a sharp piercing feeling down my back as I covered my head with my arms. The side of Dudley's spoon started cutting into my flesh, my back was now covered in blood. I could feel Uncle's pan thwack into my back, breaking and bruising bones. "Ginny!" I thought as hard as I could muster, she was my last hope, for I felt as if I would surely die. I began to yell, not being able to hold it in any longer, tears streaming down my face. Suddenly, someone else's thought entered my mind saying "I'm coming Harry!" I caught a flash of flaming red hair whip around the corner of the kitchen door frame, and then it all went black. Ginny's POV: I heard a bit of a disturbance, noises of banging and shouting coming downstairs. "It's alright Ginny, no need to blow the fact that you're here yet. If it escalates, then you'll go down," I told myself. The noise did escalate, and the words "Ginny!" rang through my head, sounding like Harry's voice. Not giving a second thought as to how Harry did this. "That's it!" I finalized. "Harry, I'm coming!" I sent back, having no idea how I did. With that I ran pell-mell down the stairs to the source of the noise; the kitchen. I quickly turned the corner and encountered a truly horrific scene. Harry was lying on the floor, drenched in a puddle of blood, bacon, and grease. Who I presume were Harry's cousin and uncle, were beating him with a pan and metal spoon. "HARRY!" I screeched. My shock quickly turned to anger, the feistiest and strongest anger I've ever felt. Dudley and Vernon wheeled around to look at me. "HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO EVEN LAY A FINGER ON HIM! I COULD KILL YOU, YOU *****************************!" While I yelled this like a banshee cacophony, an enormous explosion of accidental magic occurred. All the glass in the house shattered violently. I combusted, fire radiating off me, and Dudley and Vernon were thrown into the opposite wall, knocked out, bound by chains of Obsidian, and unleashed upon bat-bogeys. Ignoring all of this, I ran to Harry. Touching him, a golden and blue shield surrounded us, emanating power and then a golden phoenix swooped down, touched my head and we vanished and reappeared in a hall of light. "Harry!" I sobbed, kneeling next to him and grabbing his un-injured hand. "I don't know what to do! How am I supposed to help you? I don't even know where we are!" "He will heal, for here that is that is all he can do. The opposite is repelled outside the borders of this sanctuary," spoke an unknown female voice. "Who, who are you?" I asked, scared. "I am your bond guide. I am also in charge of this sanctuary. Here, eat, sleep, and let Harry heal. You will wake in one of our guest room here. It will appear almost normal, except the room itself will be surrounded in the fog. If you need anything, just call." The golden phoenix returned once more, bringing two dreamless sleep potions. Not caring that we got up only a few hours ago, I pulled of the stopper of one and poured it into Harry's mouth who swallowed it, then downed my own. When I woke up, I found myself lying in a king sized bed, next to the slumbering body of Harry Potter. He looked much better now, his wounds bandaged and cared for. I didn't wish to wake him up, so I just laid there, watching him sleep. Finally, he stirred, and opened his eyes groggily, revealing those green emeralds. "Feeling better?" I asked, hoping his answer was yes. "Yeah, loads." "Harry, why didn't you tell anyone what the Dursleys did to you?" A serious look appearing on my face. He looked uncomfortable. "I didn't want to be a bother, and I didn't know what to say. Hey Dumbledore, the guardians you sent me to live with are abusive, come save me please?" "One that's a stupid excuse Harry. Two, yeah that is pretty much what you were supposed to say. Three, do not ever, under any circumstances, consider yourself a bother!" I then leaned in and hugged him lightly, not wanting to hurt him. "So I've been told." "Well it's true." "Forget it, besides they didn't become abusive 'till this summer. They would only shove me in my cupboard without food for a few days." I gasped. "They used to starve you?" I could feel my anger flaming up again. "Ginny, please calm down, it isn't that bad, I'm used to it." It tried to calm myself, it worked, slightly. Then I realized he said that sentence in present tense, meaning... "Harry, when was the last time you've eaten anything?"