Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 98: Limited Time
Charlie seemed to wake up from his stupor and finally looked away from the shelves. "Huh, wait… what was I doing?" He felt disoriented, and it took him a minute to remember where he was. "The shop!"
He looked around and found his brothers, as well as Hermione. They were all holding some objects and looking at them with smiles on their faces, and their eyes glazed over.
Charlie then found the one responsible. Lady Rose was sitting on a chair next to the couch where Harry had been left. Ginny was also sitting there, but he could only see her back from where he was standing. "What did you do to us?" he demanded to know.
Lady Rose, who had been intently staring at Harry, lifted her eyes to glance at Charlie. "Back already? You must have strong mental defenses."
Charlie frowned. He pulled his wand and pointed it at the shop owner.
"That would be the worst decision of your life, boy," Lady Rose said calmly. "I am not your enemy, unless that is what you want me to be."
Charlie felt shivers when staring into her eyes. For some reason, this woman scared him more than any dragon he had had to deal with in the past. "You did something to all of us, didn't you?"
Lady Rose nodded. "Just a harmless charm to keep you occupied for a bit while I had a proper conversation with this lady," she responded, pointing at Ginny.
"Gin!" Charlie moved closer to her and went to put a hand on her shoulder. "Ginny, can you h—"
Lady Rose stopped him, grasping at his arm. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Not if you wish for your sister to never wake up again."
"What are you…" Charlie moved around and noticed that Ginny had her eyes closed. She appeared to be in a deep sleep. "What did you do to her?!"
"Nothing that she didn't want to do in the first place," Lady Rose responded. "She is currently on a journey into the mind of her loved one." She signaled to Harry.
"She is inside Harry's mind?… why?"
"The girl is trying to bring him back," Lady Rose said. "A difficult task, to restore a broken mind. But she wanted to try nonetheless. Must be nice… to be cared for so much."
"Bring Harry back?" Charlie repeated. He turned his head toward his brothers. First, he approached Ron and took the shirt from his hands, placing it back on the shelf. "Wake up already, Ron!"
"Huh? Hey, that's mine!" Ron reacted, trying to push Charlie away. "What do you… wait… what was I doing?" he asked, sounding very confused.
Charlie went on to awaken his other brothers and Hermione. Just like Ron, they were all confused and disoriented for a couple of minutes.
"Was that a compulsion?" Hermione asked. "I couldn't take my eyes away from that book." She glanced around the shelves as if she were trying to find it again.
"Hey, the sun is out," Ron pointed out. "How long have we been doing that?" They had arrived at Knockturn Alley around four in the morning.
"Almost twelve hours," Lady Rose responded, shocking everyone present.
"Twelve hours?!" the twins exclaimed.
"Merlin! My mother is going to kill me," said Ron.
"What's wrong with Ginny?" Hermione finally noticed the other girl. "Why is she sleeping on that chair?"
"Don't touch her," warned Charlie. "Ginny is…" He tried to explain the situation to everyone.
"Inside Harry's mind?" Ron said. "How does that work? Can you get into someone's mind?"
"You can, with something like Legilimency," Hermione told him. "Have you forgotten about Harry's lessons? He told us about it."
"He only saw a few memories from Snivelus. It's not the same thing," Ron answered.
"Okay, so how long is she going to be like that?" George glanced at Lady Rose.
"As long as necessary," the shopkeeper responded. "These things cannot be rushed. It is up to her to leave Mr. Potter's mind. If anyone tries to pull her away forcefully, you may end up with an empty shell. A body without a mind is just that."
The group looked at each other.
"What are we doing now?" asked Ron.
"I'm not leaving without my sister," said Fred with an unusually serious expression.
Charlie nodded. "Me neither." He glanced at Ron. "But someone should go back home and explain the situation to our parents and Dumbledore. They are probably worried sick about our whereabouts."
"Fine…" George said. "I'll take Ron and Hermione back. You two stay here and look after Ginny."
"Are you sure?" asked Fred, and George nodded.
"Okay, just get on your brooms and fly straight out of here. Don't wander around Knockturn Alley. Even during the daytime, it is not a safe place," Charlie told them.
George, Ron, and Hermione said their goodbyes and left the shop, got on their brooms, and flew away.
Charlie and Fred remained there, looking at their little sister with concern.
"How long would something like this usually take?" Charlie asked Lady Rose. This time, his tone was more gentle and respectful.
"As I said before, there is no way to tell," Lady Rose responded. "However…" She glanced at Ginny. "Her time is more limited than the boy's. She had no charm protecting her bodily functions. If she cannot make it out in less than thirty-six hours, her physical body may perish, and her mind will remain forever trapped inside Mister Potter."
Fred and Charlie looked at each other.
Meanwhile, Ginny was able to leave the realm of memories and access a different part of Harry's inner mind.
"Ahhh!" Ginny cried. She had been flying into a sea of clouds, and all of a sudden, she found herself falling hard on top of a bookshelf before finally hitting the hard floor.
Despite not being in her physical body, she felt a sharp pain in her head. "What the… where did the sky go?" She sat upright and scanned her surroundings.
Everywhere she looked, she saw rows upon rows of bookshelves. All of them were filled to the brim with tomes of all colors.
"What am I doing in a library?" She wondered why there was such a place inside Harry's mind.
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