It was half two in the morning and Ginny Weasley couldn't sleep. Her body was exhausted, but her brain wouldn't shut off. She tossed and turned in her four-poster bed trying to find a restful spot to fall asleep, but none of her regular positions helped her to relax. It was impossible to find a comfortable position as Ginny couldn't stop shivering. She couldn't quite remember her dormitory being this drafty last year.
Ginny grudgingly got out of bed and headed to her wardrobe in search of more layers. She threw on a jumper, another pair of sleep bottoms and a pair of thick wooly socks.
Ginny looked around the room envying her sleeping dorm mates. How dare they be able to sleep soundly in their beds while she was freezing and wide awake. She dove under her covers and rolled on her side in the foetal position tucking all her blankets under her body. She closed her eyes and lay there as still as possible. Clutching her stuffed dragon to her, Ginny willed her body to get warm and her brain to shut off.
But her brain constantly went back to what had happened that afternoon on the Hogwarts Express. A Dementor had glided into her compartment, chilling her to the bone. It had been a cold unlike anything she had ever experienced. The cold had penetrated her body, filling her lungs trying to suffocate her.
Upon thinking of that horrid creature, a familiar voice echoed in her head. A voice she hadn't heard since last May in the Chamber. It was a voice that relished in retelling all her fears and insecurities.
"They're not your real friends, Ginevra."
"Look at them, they fear you, pity you, and resent you. Look at the Mudblood. She still hates you for what you did to her last year."
"Harry Potter will never be your friend. Don't you realize he only saved you because you're his best friend's little sister?"
"Your skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever."
Ginny had tried to ignore Tom, tune him out, fight him off, but his voice had been so loud in her head. She had tried to hold onto the simple fact that Tom had been wrong about everything and that the diary had been destroyed. He couldn't hurt her anymore.
However, the silky voice had continued and soon his words had begun to chip away at the truth she had been holding onto all summer. She had begun to believe him and doubt herself, and her friends, just like he had wanted.
The disembodied voice hadn't stopped until Professor Lupin had given her and the others in the compartment some chocolate. As soon as the chocolate had hit her tongue, Ginny had started to feel the warmth seep back into her body. But somehow the old insecurities of last year had returned, all because of that stupid Dementor.
She wished she still had some chocolate on her, but she had eaten it all in the carriage ride up to the castle.
Shaking from head to toe, Ginny got up from her bed still clutching her stuffed dragon. She put on her dressing gown, wrapped herself up in a blanket and made her way down to the Common Room. At least there she could warm up by the fire and maybe sleep a bit on the sofa.
She made it down to the dark and quiet Common Room and lit one of the lamps near her. Ginny placed her stuffed dragon on the sofa and quickly made her way to the fireplace. She grabbed a log and placed it on the hearth lighting it with her wand. The fire slowly sparked to life. She knelt closer to the fireplace and placed her hands over the small fire, desperate to feel the heat from the flames. It helped a little but not enough to ease the cold from her body, so she threw another log on the fire hoping the extra log would do its job and warm her up.
"C'mon hurry up, please," Ginny pleaded, stoking the fire frantically.
"Be careful or you will burn yourself."
Startled, Ginny turned around to see Harry Potter walking toward her. Immediately she could feel her cheeks flush in embarrassment. She didn't say anything to him, she couldn't. Exhaustion and shame seemed to consume her along with the cold that had settled in her chest. She returned to the task of stoking the fire.
"Er…can't sleep?" Harry asked, sitting on the sofa with her stuffed dragon.
Ginny shook her head, keeping her eyes focused on the fire.
"Me neither."
Ginny knew why Harry couldn't sleep. After Harry had been revived in the train compartment, he had looked completely drained of any colour. She had heard him ask Ron and Hermione who had been screaming. At first Ginny believed it might have been her, but her throat didn't feel raw.
They sat in awkward silence. The only sounds permeating the room came from the crackling of the fire. Ginny wished she could say something to him, but words failed her. She was terrified that if she did decide to say something she might say the wrong thing and scare him away.
"So...how was Egypt?" Harry inquired, breaking the silence.
Ginny's scrambling thoughts started to coalesce at the simple query of her holiday. This was a straightforward question she could answer.
"It was…alright," Ginny replied and cringed internally. She wished at that moment she could say more, but her brain wouldn't allow her to elaborate.
In her nervousness, Ginny could feel her cheeks start to heat again and now her heart was starting to beat hard against her ribcage. She was convinced Harry could hear it too.
"Did you see anything good?" Harry continued.
Ginny got up from her spot near the fireplace and crossed to sit on the other side of the sofa, draping the blanket over her front. She picked up her stuffed dragon depositing it in her lap.
"The pyramids were nice. I didn't get to see too much of the tombs. Mum wouldn't let me, but it was a good holiday. How…how was your summer?"
Ginny instantly regretted the question. She had heard from Ron how horrible Harry's summers were with his Muggle relatives. Hermione had told her that this year was probably the first year he had received birthday presents. It had only been a few minutes and she already said the wrong thing to him. Now Harry would never talk to her, so much for being polite and conversational.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Harry." Ginny said quickly.
"No, it's all right," Harry smiled. "It wasn't all that terrible. The last two weeks were brilliant. I got to stay at the Leaky Cauldron and Fortescue gave me free sundaes any time I wanted."
Ginny giggled.
"Who's your friend?" Harry asked, motioning to Ginny's stuffed dragon.
"Heinrich the Hungarian Horntail," Ginny answered, looking at her worn childhood toy. "Charlie brought it back for me after his first summer in Romania."
Harry inched closer to her, so Ginny took that as a sign to continue to talk about Heinrich.
"His tummy would warm up when you squeezed him, but the charm wore off ages ago. I forgot to have Mum recast it before we boarded the train."
Ginny started to shiver again as the incident on the train came to the forefront of her mind.
"Is that why…you can't sleep?" Harry asked.
Ginny's eyes darted around the room as if the answer to his question rested somewhere on the walls. Her mouth opened several times, but nothing came out.
"You don't have to answer me if you don't want to, Ginny."
She found it a bit sweet that Harry would let her off the hook so easily. He wasn't prying like her Mum and Bill, or coddling like Charlie had done. He wasn't cracking jokes like Fred and George, ignoring her like Ron or trying to fix her like her Dad and Percy.
"No it's all right." Ginny mumbled, clutching her stuffed dragon to her chest. "I…I haven't felt right since getting off the train. I can't seem to stay…"
"…warm," Harry finished.
"Yes and…" Ginny started, but she couldn't bring herself to finish. Harry would think she belonged in St Mungo's if she told him about hearing Tom's voice in her head.
She could feel tears starting to burn behind her eyes.
"You…you heard Tom in your head didn't you?" Harry asked.
Ginny nodded as the tears now started to cascade down her cheeks. She quickly turned her face away and wiped away the tears with her sleeve. Instantly she could feel movement from the sofa shift and hear footsteps running up the stairs to the dormitories. Ginny turned just in time to see the back of Harry heading up the stairs.
Now she had done it.
Well done, Ginevra. You just managed to scare off Harry Potter by crying and admitting to hearing voices in your head. Brilliant.
However, before Ginny could thoroughly berate herself for giving in so easily to her tears she could hear footsteps returning to the Common Room. She turned to see Harry carrying a fairly large slab of Honeydukes finest chocolate and what looked to be his Charms textbook in his hands.
Harry seated himself back on the sofa right next to Ginny and handed her the entire bar of chocolate. She could feel the familiar flush in her cheeks return as she realized how close Harry was sitting.
"Here, this will help with keeping you warm." Harry said, handing her the chocolate before opening the book and thumbing through it.
Ginny was truly speechless, which wasn't something unheard of where Harry Potter was concerned. She hadn't expected him to give her an entire bar of chocolate the size of her arm. If she were truly honest with herself, she hadn't expected him to come back down the stairs.
Say 'thank you', Ginevra.
"Thank you, Harry," Ginny said. "But are you sure? This is a lot of chocolate."
"Of course," Harry shrugged. "You're my friend and you need it."
"I'm…I'm your friend?" Ginny surprisingly asked.
Harry stopped turning the pages and paused to look at Ginny.
"Well…yeah," Harry answered.
Ginny could feel her cheeks begin to heat again, but for the first time she welcomed it as it was slowly starting to warm her. She was Harry's friend. Tom had been wrong. Breaking the chocolate bar in half, Ginny handed the other half to Harry.
"I'd like to share my chocolate with my friend."
"Thanks," Harry smiled, taking his half of the chocolate.
They both proceeded to break off small pieces and eat.
Sweet relief came the moment the chocolate hit her tongue. Ginny could feel the warmth return to her body from the inside out. The despair that came along with the cold in her chest melted away.
"What are you looking for in the Charms book?" Ginny asked.
"I'm trying to find out how to do a warming charm, so Heinrich can be warm too," Harry answered. "I can make blue bell flames, but I don't think you want me to set him on fire."
"Harry, you don't have to do that, it's okay. The chocolate was more than enough."
"It's no trouble, Ginny, I want to. Besides, it will stun Hermione when she sees that I can do a spell we haven't learned yet," Harry joked.
Ginny giggled.
"Here it is," Harry said, tapping his finger on the page of the book. "May I see Heinrich for a bit, I promise to not set him on fire?"
Ginny handed Harry her stuffed dragon in the hopes that he wouldn't accidently set him a blaze.
"Sursum Tepido." Harry muttered, pointing his wand at Heinrich's tummy.
It took a couple of tries at the charm for Harry to get it right, but on the third attempt, a subtle soft glow settled around the stuffed toy's midsection at the command of Harry's spell. Soon the brightness dissipated and Harry handed the dragon back to Ginny with a doubtful grin.
"Hermione could've done a better job," Harry shrugged. "But it should hold for a couple of weeks."
"Thank you, Harry," Ginny replied, pulling Heinrich close to her chest. "He's perfect."
Harry responded with a smile of his own, before returning his attention to his Charms book.
Pleasantly full with chocolate, Ginny began to feel her eyes get heavy with sleep, but naturally she attempted to fight it. She was really enjoying this time with Harry and didn't want it to end.
"Close your eyes, Ginny. I'm not going anywhere for a while," Harry said, pulling the blanket up over Ginny's shoulders.
"Promise?"
"I promise," Harry smiled.
"Thanks, Harry," Ginny yawned. "For everything."
Ginny rested her head on the arm of the sofa, closed her eyes, and let sleep take over.