I Love The Night (Snogging Edition)
Synopsis: With Dumbledore's murder at the end of his 6th year, Harry has some choices to make. To bad a young vampire will be making most of them for him…
Disclaimer: I'll let you know if I own any of this, but as far as this chapter goes I own nothing. None of what you see her is mine. It belongs to J.K. Rowling, except the quoted song which the boys in Blue Oyster Cult (and their label) own.
Harry sat alone with his folded Invisibility Cloak in a worn, squishy, red armchair staring into the roaring fire in the dark Gryffindor Common Room. His fellow classmates had all turned in early as the depression from events the night before, along with the unseasonable cold weather for early June, and the manic exertions of the day caused many to seek the comforts of their own (or their loved one's) bed.
Or they're parents had come to take them home early after the events of the night before had hit the news.
That morning the students of Hogwarts had woken up to the fact that their Headmaster had been killed in the night by their Potions Master, and that others had been injured when Death Eaters had joined in an assault on the school.
Naturally, the students knew this not because of any official announcements but rather due to the school's fast flowing and fertile rumor mill. By the time the students had congregated in the Great Hall for their breakfast the wild theories concerning the events of the night before abounded, and the official announcement made by the remaining staff did little to curb the panic.
With the exception of those in Slytherin, the students of Hogwarts had considered the likelihood of surviving the coming summer and chosen to 'seize the day' as it were. So when students began imbibing their caffeinated beverage of choice, and as they're minds woke to the fact of their own mortality things began to get ugly. People that were single got together forming couples almost as fast as couples broke up as a result of the students being honest with each other and (perhaps for the first time) themselves.
The only relief from the puddle of tears, hormones and frustrations that breakfast had degenerated into came in the form of a young female's voice shouting out that she 'didn't want to die a virgin without a good snog!' Seeing a extremely scared Peeves careening above their heads across the Great Hall with Moaning Myrtle hot on his tail broke the mood and gave everyone something to laugh about.
"Hey Myrtle! Aren't you fifty years too late for that!" Dean Thomas yelled pointing out the obvious irony to the demented ghost.
McGonagall's choice as Acting Headmistress to have classes that day despite what transpired the night before and the poor mood of the students that morning seemed to Harry a plan doomed to failure. He wasn't proven wrong.
The Slytherin students hadn't even bothered showing up to their classes as they had marched from their table back to their dorms announcing their intent to hold a victory party, and looking back on it Harry figured that while their motivation was evil, they probably had a good idea.
Harry's own Transfiguration class ended about five minutes after it started when McGonagall started in on Seamus Finnegan for not even attempting his class assignment to look up ten common transfigurations used in household cleaning. Since his mom did things 'the muggle way' as part of living with his muggle father Seamus was planning on doing the same research as Harry had (which was to ask his girlfriend Ginny how her mom cleaned at home), but couldn't find the time to do so (as Ginny was busy snogging Harry every free moment).
Before McGonagall knew what hit her Seamus had informed her in no uncertain terms what he thought of learning cleaning charms in the middle of a war, that his homework had already been inserted into a rather uncomfortable spot in her anatomy with the help of a fellow by the name of Mr. Clean, and if she didn't like his opinion she could 'kiss my Irish ass!', before stomping from the room pausing only to reach over and give Lavender Brown a real good snog.
When Lavender jumped up to follow Seamus the rest of the class followed suit leaving only Harry and Hermione in class with a stunned McGonagall still clutching a few collected assignments. It was then that Harry realized the only reason he was still in the class was he had nowhere else he'd rather be. Ginny & Ron were with their family hovering over their wounded brother Bill. Bill had fought in the Death Eater attack against the school that resulted in the murder of Dumbledore had himself almost been killed by the werewolf Fenrir Greyback .
By lunch the remainder of the student body had mutinied and the professors had given up on holding afternoon classes. Suddenly finding herself with free time Hermione also chose to 'seize the day'.
"Harry?", she asked him.
"Yes, Hermione?"
"I think Seamus has the right idea!", Hermione said with determination in her voice, and grabbing his hand, led him from his half-eaten lunch.
"Um, yeah. I mean, what!?", said a confused Harry. While he was lonely for female companionship Harry had one girl in mind for this, and it wasn't the girl who had been like a sister to him throughout his time at Hogwarts.
It was with some relief for Harry that Hermione's confident steps lead them into the Library and not a broom closet. With the school in a sort of semi-chaos Madame Pince was not in attendance so they were able to infiltrate and research the subjects of the Restricted Section to their hearts content. The two then spent the rest of the day and almost past dinner copying advanced charms, hexes, and curses that they might need for the coming war, the first of which was a simple incantation that would remove the Ministry's Underage Magic trace from their wands and person.
Upon entering the Great Hall for dinner the two students were ceased their conversation about the spells found in such tomes as '1001 Ways to Melt Faces' as they were greeted by the sight of Ron sitting alone at the Gryffindor table, his dinner hardly having been touched, and trying his best to ignore Seamus and Lavender snogging madly three seats away.
Ron gently brushed off his friends explanations concerning Lavender new relationship as he stated 'I knew we were drifting apart', a statement which confused Harry as Ron and Lavender had seemed to have had their faces super glued to each other just the night before last. Ron did seem to get angry when his friends told him what Seamus had done to McGonagall in class, but he calmed down when Hermione reminded him Seamus was as high on Voldemort's hit list as she was due to his parentage.
"The whole school went nuts today.", Hermione eloquently explained.
Ron's spirits began to improve and they all began to eat dinner before he mentioned that both he and Ginny had returned for the last night after the healers reported their brother Bill was not in mortal danger. Bill would not likely become a werewolf due to the injuries he had taken the night before, but he probably would have a craving for raw meat during full moons.
"His face is pretty badly scratched, though", Ron explained.
"How did Fleur's react ?", Hermione asked, concerned about Bill's fiancé.
"Pretty good, actually. When mom asked if she would leave him because he wasn't handsome anymore, Fleur said that she was 'good-looking enough for both of us, I theenk!'. She also said that the scars made him look rugged." Ron said with a shrug.
At that Hermione leaned across Harry who was sitting between his two friends, her eyes intently studying Ron's face. At first Ron didn't really notice, but as Hermione began drawing her index finger across her line of sight of his face he got a little self-conscious.
"Hermione? What are you doing?", Ron asked.
"I think she's trying to figure out what kind of scar would make you look more rugged.", Harry observed.
"Hmmm, not much to work with. Maybe we should try an eye-patch.", Hermione contemplated aloud mock-seriously before giggling.
Ron shared a look with Harry over the head of their giggling friend. The fact that Hermione almost never giggled was cause for concern.
"Are you feeling okay Hermione?", Ron asked with concern.
"Sure I am you 'silly leetil boi' !", Hermione exclaimed while trying her best to mimic Fleur accent from several years before.
Ron and Harry shared another look, but before they could react Hermione gained a death grip on Ron's arm and was dragging him out of the Great Hall to attend to 'Prefect Duties'.
Perplexed at his friends' behavior Harry began to make his own way up to Gryffindor Tower. With luck he'd run into Ginny and –
'and… what? What will you do with her, Harry?', he asked himself. 'Dumbledore's funeral is tomorrow and you're breaking up with her afterward for her own protection. You're going to have to start hunting Horocrux soon and the only way to do that is to not return to Hogwarts. And when that happens you won't be there to protect her and you can't take her with you and…'
Harry winced as his thoughts began to spiral out into dark and painful territory. The events of his surprisingly busy day had distracted him from what the future held. All the coming sacrifices that he would have to make to see the tyranny of Voldemort ended, especially as he apparently was the only one capable of doing the job thanks to a prophecy began to weigh heavily on him.
"Damn Trelawney!", Harry said aloud. "If only she was a total fraud. Damn Dumbledore for giving Voldemort a reason to take her seriously. Damn his spy for telling him about the prophecy, and damn Wormtail for being a coward!"
"Such language!", said the Fat Lady in her portrait at the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower.
"Just open the damn door!", Harry growled, non-pulsed at finding his feet had already carried him to his destination without any conscious thought.
With loud 'harrumph' the door swung back and Harry stomped into the Common Room with a dark look on his face. Not seeing Ginny, Harry's mood plummeted further and he tried to make his way as quickly as possible to his bed while avoiding stepping on all the couples that seemed to be lounging or cuddling on every available horizontal surface (including the floor).
Half way up the stairs to his room a voice shouted out his name. Harry had just enough time to see a red-haired blur nimbly thread a path through the minefields of couples snogging on the staircase before it crashed into him. Leaning against the rail to help keep his balance he looked down at the person his arms had unconsciously embraced only to see the eyes of his girlfriend gazing back into his.
His dark thoughts fled his mind and their lips smiled before locking together for a timeless eternity. Stopping to gasp for air Harry trailed kisses over her closed eyes and forehead before clutching her close to his chest.
"Looks like somebody missed me.", Ginny teased while running her hands over Harry's back beneath his robes. "I wasn't even gone for a day."
Ginny's words brought Harry up short before he could tease her back. Remembering that these were the last few hours he could hold her like this before circumstances would pull them apart Harry stiffened up. Ginny noticed this and began to ask what was wrong but Harry silenced her with a kiss.
Coming back up for air again Harry changed the subject again by filling Ginny in on the events of the day. Surprisingly, Ginny didn't act surprised at anything Harry had to say. When he asked why that was Ginny waved an arm to take in the entire Common Room, saying "Didn't you notice all the couples in here? Half the people in here aren't even in Gryffindor."
Looking back across the room Harry noticed the number of robes and ties that bore the colors and patches of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Houses. Harry was slightly taken aback at the various pieces of feminine undergarments dangling from the lighting fixtures.
"Looks like our classmates are taking the Sorting Hat's whole 'School Unity' idea to the next level.", Harry observed before adding, "I wonder what house has as its official underwear pink, thong bikini panties with little red hearts on it?"
The two laughed for a while at that before Harry sobered somewhat.
"I talked to Ron earlier. He said the doctors told all of you Bill was going to be okay but he's a little scratched up now."
"Did he tell you what Fleur said about his scars?", Ginny asked.
"Yeah."
"Well, even though she sounded every French and arrogant I'm glad to see his scars aren't effecting their love.", said Ginny.
"Since when did you start calling her by her real name?", Harry asked.
"Since she proved to the family that she really loves Bill for who he is and not for any of the superficial reasons we thought she did. I'll probably go back to calling her Phlegm when I get home, though, because then I'll have to put up with helping her and mom organizing the wedding and try on all the Bridesmaid's dresses she'll be having me model.", Ginny explained.
"Well, I didn't think her remarks were arrogant at all. Perhaps overly French but on the whole she was just being your average female", Harry stated with a smirk.
At that Ginny took advantage of Harry's arms being wrapped around her to knock the wind out of him with a quick right jab to the ribs. When Harry could draw in a breath without pain he stood back up and started to laugh while Ginny tried her best to frown and not laugh along with him.
"No insulting the Sisterhood!", Ginny spoke while wagging her finger at him in admonishment.
"I surrender! Merlin Ginny, you play rough!", Harry exclaimed. Leaning back against the railing Harry paused to take her outfit. This meant his jaw began to drop when he noticed how hot she actually looked. The red turtleneck shirt, black spandex pants, and white trainers didn't expose her skin or cleavage they way the skirts and dresses of Lavender's or Parvati's did, but being skin tight it didn't have to.
"With six older brothers around you learn the rules fast!", Ginny said while waking Harry from his stupor.
"What rules?"
"Exactly!", Ginny said while grinning.
Moving back into close proximity to each other Ginny snuggled back into his arms. Laying her head on his shoulder with her hands over his heart Harry cursed the lack of decent room to sit.
'I could take her into my dorm room..' Harry mused, but the guilt that he would feel in the morning kept him from asking her if she wanted to. Well, that and the fact that if Ron caught them he'd die before Voldemort and he could find out if the Prophecy was true or not.
'But what a way to go!', Harry mused.
"Speaking of my brothers," Ginny said, startling Harry out of his thoughts and making him wonder if she could read his mind, "did you say Hermione and Ron are on Prefect Patrol?"
"Yeah, they started right after dinner. Something about stepped-up patrols after last night."
"That's strange.", Ginny mused. "Aurors are supposed to patrol with prefects at night, but that's not supposed to start until an hour after dinner, and neither Ron nor Hermione are supposed to have to do it tonight because they have the night off."
"Maybe they're covering for somebody?", Harry asked.
Ginny head moved from his shoulder and gave him a look that clearly said that she wasn't buying it.
"What?", Harry asked.
"Oh Merlin!", Ginny exclaimed in sudden realization while striking (rather gently) Harry's chest.
"What wrong?"
"I've got Prefect Patrol Duty tonight. Or rather, this morning from 3 till 5.", said Ginny, leaving Harry to wonder if he should thank or curse Dumbledore for not making him a Prefect.
'Thank him because I don't have to be awake at an ungodly hour, or curse him for not being able to draw Patrol Duty with Ginny at those same hours?'. Harry asked himself.
"I need to go to bed now if I'm going to get any sleep tonight!", Ginny complained.
'Definitely curse him..', Harry thought before remembering that Snape had already done the deed for him the night before on the Astronomy Tower.
Ginny missed Harry's increasingly somber expression as she look over the still-filled Common Room. Hearing a girl's quiet moan from behind her she looked down the stairs.
"Dennis Creevy!"
Harry gave a start as Ginny voice took on the quality of her mother's at full tirade.
"Dennis! She's only a second year! Keep your hands above the waist or else-"
"Or else what?", asked the annoyed third year Dennis who had his hands full with a slightly younger Ravenclaw whose anatomy he was exploring with all the interest of a pre-healer student.
"Or else I'll sick her brother on you. He's right over there.", Ginny pointed below.
At first Dennis paled at her words, but a quick look through the staircase railing put his worries to rest. "It looks like he's a little to busy right now to be a hypocrite about things. Wouldn't you agree Ginny?", he said with a Slytherin-worthy smirk.
Ginny did a double-take at Dennis' words and observing said brother Harry had to agree.
"Alright. Enough of this!", said a determined Ginny while pointing her drawn wand at her throat . "Sonorus."
"OKAY EVERYONE! THE COMMON ROOM IS CLOSED!"
"You can't do that! It's only nine!", someone shouted.
"I'M NOT SAYING YOU HAVE TO SEPARATE, JUST THAT THE COMMON ROOM IS CLOSED. YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO HOME, BUT YOU CAN'T STAY HERE! GO SNOG IN A HALLWAY OR YOUR OWN DORMS!", Ginny explained.
People complained but began getting up and in many cases putting on discarded items of clothing before heading towards either their dorms or the castle halls. Meanwhile, Ginny 'finite'-ed the Sonorus charm and returned to Harry's arms.
"I admire the way you handle a crowed", Harry said.
"That's not all I'm good at handling.", Ginny replied while licking her dry lips in a manner that captured all of Harry's attention.
"Yeah, um, what?"
Ginny answered by standing up on her toes and giving Harry a final, cavity clearing kiss that lingered forever before backing away from him with a sad smile. With a muttered 'goodnight' she turned away to nervously trot down the boys' stairs and up the girls' to go to her dorm.
Too keyed up to go to his bed Harry took the copied notes from that day's research down to the chair by the fire. He then spent the next three hours sorting out the truly useful spells that were quick to cast from those that would be too elaborate to use against Death Eaters after the first exchange. This took some time, but he figured that Ron and Hermione would be happy to go over them with him when they got back from their Patrol.
By midnight, however, Harry was under no illusions that either of his friends were performing serious business of any school-related kind. His initial moments of panic at their delayed return brought to mind his conversation with Ginny about them.
'Wait, if she was implying what I think she was then that means…'
The almost empty room rang with the sound of a palm slapping a forehead.
Harry at first was annoyed that his friends hadn't told him anything about their changing relationship, but then figured they had their reasons. Thinking about relationships however brought to mind thoughts of Ginny and what he had to do the next day.
'I love her so much, though. If it was just that Voldemort could to find out about her using his spies then I can be sure that breaking up publicly with her will protect her. If he can get though my occlumency shields and read my mind then this will all be for nothing! It won't matter if I broke up with her or not then, and all this pain will be fore nothing.'
'But I can't take her with me because I can't protect her while looking for the horocrux at the same time. The curse that shriveled Dumbledore's arm when he went after the Ring proves that!'
With the walls closing in on him the empty room seemed smaller and darker than the old cupboard under the stairs that he'd grown up in at his aunt and uncle's house. Standing up Harry put on his Cloak and activated the Marauders Map to see if anyone was on the other side of the door before exiting Gryffindor Tower.
That night her kiss told me it was over
I walked out late into the dark
With no destination in mind Harry resolved to sneak around without being discovered using the Aurors and Prefects on duty as practice. While ducking into an alcove to make sure Mad-Eye Moody (the only Auror he knew of with a magic eye capable of looking through an Invisibility Cloak), Harry realized that he had moved not a moment to soon.
"So, Auror Tonks.", said a voice walking towards him from down the hall.
'Sigh'. "Yes Prefect Michael Conner?", asked an obviously annoyed Tonks.
"Why are do you think we're having this unseasonable weather? Is it like last summer when the Dementors were breading uncontrollably and causing the weird weather?"
"Yes. Just like when your parents made you.", Tonks mumbled just loud enough for Harry to hear.
"Pardon me, Auror Tonks, but I couldn't hear what you said."
"I said 'yes, just like was reported thru my floo.' The Ministry gave the Auror Department an emergency bulletin thru our floo's this morning hoping word wouldn't get out to the public again.", Tonks made up on the fly.
"Auror Tonks?"
"Yes?", she groaned.
"May I call you Nymphadora?"
'Growl'.
"Auror Tonks?"
"Yes?", she growled.
"You're a metamorphmagus?"
'Sigh'. "Yes."
"Can you like, turn into Fortuna Flasks?", asked a hopeful Michael.
Harry paled at this. Fortuna Flasks was the name of an 'adult' witch model and was Miss April for Playwizard Monthly. As the name suggests, her 'flasks' were her main attraction.
Not that Harry would ever look at such a magazine, seeing as he had a nice, lovely girlfriend.
Okay. He read it, but just for the articles.
How Michael could be so uncouth as to ask Tonks if she could turn into Miss Flasks was beyond Harry, however. The fact that Tonks worked in a wizard-dominated department of the Ministry insured though that she knew who Michael was talking about.
"Excuse me?!", demanded Tonks.
"I mean, if you tried to take on her appearance where would you get all the extra mass to make her…", Michael started gesturing around his chest with his hands.
"Flasks?", asked a perplexed Tonks.
"Yeah?".
Harry palmed his face, realizing that the reason Michael could ask a woman such a horrible question was that he was the type of Ravenclaw that did indeed read Playwitch Monthly for its articles! 'Moron.'
"Are you saying that Miss Flasks is fatter than me?", Tonks asked sweetly.
'Just say yes and you might live a little longer, Conner', Harry thought.
"Um, yes? I suppose her 'Flasks' would have a high fat content.", explained a perplexed Michael who was just beginning to realize the danger he was in..
"Good boy.", Tonks said while patting Michael on his head like a pet.
"Though I think an engorgement charm might-", Michael's words were cut off by Tonk's hand covering his mouth.
Tonks pointed up a nearby staircase. "Look Michael! Did you see that?"
"What."
"I thought I saw something. Something that made my Auror Sense tingle!", she said dramatically while pushing her fingers against the sides of her head and gritting her teeth in concentration.
Harry could barely contain his laughter as Michael fell for the gag hook, line, and sinker.
"Don't worry, Auror Tonks! I was in the D.A. last year so I know how to fight. I'll protect you!", Michael practically shouted.
"No Michael, I can't let you risk it! I'll hold it off while you go to the Great Hall and report to Auror Savage. He'll send back-up and then we can take whatever this thing is out.", Tonks said.
Tonks waited until Michael was around the corner before bursting into a fit of giggles. Hurriedly casting a corporeal Patronus charm Tonks spoke aloud to the silvery, massive, four legged creature.
"Savage, keep that Michael kid busy for the rest of the night or else you'll have to fill out a missing persons report for him. Understand? Tonks."
Tonks sighed and looked around the hallway as her Patronus streaked away toward the Great Hall. Smiling at the quiet she now enjoyed she sat down in an window alcove and with a muttered 'lumos' began panning the focused beam of light over the portraits like a muggle torch, much to the annoyance of said portraits.
"I always wanted to do that to you nosy portraits when I was a kid, now I can do it all night long if I want. And get paid for it to!", she said to the angry pictures.
"Whatever, 'Flasks!'", one of them shouted back.
Realizing he might not be going anywhere for a while due to his failure to cast a muffling charm on his shoes before starting his evening walk Harry went back to looking at his map. Satisfied that Mad-eye was not in attendance on the school grounds Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
The sound of Tonks' rubber soled army boots scuffing against the stone floor as she stood up reminded Harry that she was nearby and made him worry if she had somehow in the midst of her fun detected his presence. Looking up he saw that she was facing the other way though, her wand drawn and all her attention focused on the mist that seemed to be slowly forming at her feet.
Unconsciously following Tonks lead Harry drew his wand. Suspecting the mist to be caused by Dementors Harry began to concentrate on a happy memory as the mist began to migrate in his direction.
'Kissing Ginny earlier felt wonderful!', Harry remembered, but the happy memory turned sour as he considered that it was the last he would be giving her for the foreseeable future. This meant that Harry was beginning to panic as he saw that he mist was now streaming down the nearby staircase from above as well as coming up it from below. Turning around he saw that it was even advancing toward him from back wince he had come.
"Expecto Patronum!", Tonks verbally cast as the mist was now at the top of her boots and so thick that Harry couldn't see the floor she stood on.
Once again the huge beast that was Tonk's Patronus shot from her wand, pacing around in search of a threat before giving up and sitting before its summoner with a questioning look, as if asking 'now why did you bother me again?'
Harry stayed still as he watched Tonks for a reaction. She didn't seemed to be chilled at all, and he noted that the windows and walls didn't show the usual frosting normally produced by the sudden drop in temperature that comes from the presence of a Dementor.
Tonks' chest rose as she began standing on her toes and breathing deeply through her nose. Several deep breaths latter she rolled back on the balls of her feet as a contented smile passed over her face.
Before her the forgotten Patronus let out a mournful howl, a sound that seemed to express a deep longing, and at the same time, a challenge or demand to begin a hunt.
Tonks gaze, which had become glassy-eyed, snapped somewhat into focus again as she began to mumble aloud, "Yes, Remus. He's outside… I'll see if he's seen any Dementors…"
At that she proceeded to hurry down the stairs while giggling softly, a light blush of her cheeks almost covered by flaming orange with red streaks her hair had turned.
Harry was perplexed at Tonks words. 'It's the full moon tonight. Without Snape around to brew Wolfsbane potion Remus has no control in his wolf form! I love Remus like an uncle, but even I'm not that brave. Being around him once like that in Third Year was enough for me.'
Looking down to cast that muffling charm on his shoes Harry noticed that the mist had already surrounded him and was steadily rising above the level of his ankles. Casting the charm anyway he followed it up with a lumos to see if he could see the floor below him.
Finding the mist to be impenetrable he tried to run his fingers through it, noticing that rather than being the cold fog associated with Dementors it was as warm as body heat and moist to the point of being sticky.
Straightening up Harry received a head rush as several scents assaulted him. The smell of the Qudditch pitch on a sunny, spring day mixed with that of the shampoo and perfume Ginny liked to wear took hold of him, and he almost cast off his cloak to give him more access to the scent.
The misty gloom seemed to soak up my sorrow
Realizing that he was acting exactly Tonks had moments ago Harry shook himself while analyzing what was happening.
"Amortentia?", Harry breathed softly, still fighting his own bodies reaction to what was possibly the fumes of the strongest love potion known to man. Having experienced the fumes from the potion earlier in the year Harry couldn't figure out how these fumes were so much stronger. The effects were almost as bad as taking the potion itself.
"Could you put the potion in aerosol form?", Harry wondered aloud. A potions accident could explain why the mist was coming up from the floor below if the accident happened in the potions classroom, down in the dungeons, but having the mist fall from the floor above put paid to that theory.
"Is this another Death Eater attack?", he said, almost without a tinge of fear. The fumes he had breathed where having a new effect on him, as a languid calm was settling over him. His fear and anxiety seemed deadened and limbs slow to respond as he now had to fight with himself in an effort to warn others. Moving toward the stairs he was just about to head down towards the Great Hall to warn the Aurors when he heard what sounded like a clicking noise from the floor above.
The further I went on
I felt a spreading calm
Stepping up to the first landing Harry stopped to get a good view of whatever was making the noise, and was stunned at the strangely familiar vision in a white, diaphanous gown silhouetted against the pale orb of the full moon. With a veil draped over it's face this form, which was definitely female by the way the robes became practically see-thru with the moon back-lighting it proceeded to move down the hall before turning a corner and moving out of sight.
Then suddenly my eyes were bathed in light
And the lovely lady in white was by my side
Gathering his wits as best he could Harry starred at the his map before him, realizing that the scents he had smelled before were fading in the air after the person had turned the corner going away from him.
'Could she be spreading the gas?', Harry asked himself while running a hand through his now-sweating hair. Hurrying to follow the woman he noticed that his map showed a moving blip representing the woman, but there was no name attached to the figure.
'What in the name of Merlin is going on here?'
Seeing the figure on the map moving up the main staircase toward the third floor Harry moved to take a shortcut that would put him on the same floor near the Room of Requirement. Hurrying up the narrow, dim stairs he marked that 'she' was heading in his direction from the opposite way.
On a hunch Harry closed the map and hid behind a suit of armor almost directly across from the entrance to the Room of Requirement to wait for the 'Lady' to come to him. Seeing another wave of mist drift in to cover the floor he began to relax as the gas took its toll on his focus.
"Click, click, click, click…", the unhurried pace of the Lady announcing her approach long before Harry could make out Her figure in the hall.
"Click, click, click, click…", tapped a gentle tattoo on his mind as She made her way with a hip rolling sashay toward Harry.
With his attention totally wrapped up in the image of Her form Harry was surprised to realize She had stopped directly in front of him. Craning his neck to try to get a better view of Her face through the shadow of Her veil he almost fell over when She spun in place and began walking back the way She came.
She quickly reversed herself, however, but Her unhurried pace did not change at all.
"Click, click, click, click…"
After Her third pass a door appeared in the wall opposite Harry's hiding space and She changed direction to pass through it. Turning the doorknob She paused to look over Her shoulder at him from beneath Her veil before entering the room, the closing door muffling the clicking of Her steps before disappearing entirely.
She said, 'Like me I see your walking alone
Won't you please stay.'
I couldn't look away
Standing stunned in the heavily misted hallway Harry had to pick his jaw up off the floor before groaning in frustration. "How the hell did The Lady know I was there!", he asked aloud. This brought him up short. "And how long have I been calling her 'The Lady'?"
I love the night
The day is okay, and the sun can be fun
But I live to see those rays slip away
Reopening the map Harry noted that for once it was registering whoever was inside the Room of Requirement. His joy at this was tempered by the knowledge that the blip indicating Her position now had attached to it the name 'The Lady'.
"Some help you are", Harry said to the map.
'Mssrs. Padfoot, Prongs, Mooney, and Wormtail agree that we are indeed at great help to wizard and witched everywhere.'
'Mssrs. Padfoot and Mooney especially agree that we are definitely a help to all witches everywhere… except the really ugly ones… because we have standards.'
"Mischief managed!", Harry said cutting them off as he refolded the map.
The map was not done, however, as it continued to have writing appear even as Harry started pacing before the entrance to the Room.
'Mssrs. Mooney and Padfoot think that the mischief has only begun.'
'Mssrs. Prongs and Wormtail second their illustrious compatriots opinion, and opine themselves that Prongslet will be on the receiving end of said mischief.'
'Miss Lilly disagrees, and at the very least hopes her Pronslet remembers how to keep his pants on.'
'The Lady agrees with the fine gentlemen above, and intends to help Her Prongslet forget entirely what clothes are for, Miss Lily.'
'Tramp!'
As Harry paced in front of the invisible doorway to the Room he asked himself what it was he wanted.
"What is it I want? Well, I want to know who this Lady is."
Halting in his pacing his train of thought derailed for a moment, before he continued walking at a faster pace.
"No, that's not all I want. I want this prophecy about me to go away. I want Voldemort to freakin' die! I want justice for my Godfather and to kill the Traitors- Wormtail and Snape, and I want to be able to date Ginny without worry that someone out to kill me will try to get to me through her!"
"Bang!"
Harry was startled when the door to the Room opened inward on its own and slammed into the wall. Looking around to make sure no one had heard and was coming to check on the noise he looked at himself to make sure he was completely covered by his Invisibility Cloak. Moving toward the door with his wand drawn he paused to ask himself if he should go get help.
'If this gas is all over the school there's no chance in hell I'll be able to get Ron and Hermione to help me, because they'll be too busy with each other to concentrate. Same goes for everybody else, even Tonks and werewolf Remus I suppose.'
'And Ginny?' he asked himself. 'If I go get her… then I'll be too distracted myself.'
Cautiously continuing forward into the Room he felt as though he was physically struck by an even greater wave of the Amortentia gas than he had already dealt with. Now staggering forward he heard the doors slam shut behind him with a deafening boom of finality.
With the warm, humid mist now completely surrounding him Harry gave up pretending that whoever was in there with him didn't know he was there and slid the cloak of his sweating body along with his robe. Upon doing so a stream of pale moonlight shown down from over head illuminating a tall rectangular object covered with by a dusty white sheet.
Feeling slightly better now that his Cloak was off Harry walked up to the very familiar object and stripped off it's covering. Knowing what the object probably was did not however prepare him for being proved right.
"The Mirror of Erised. I guess the Room wants to help me to narrow down what it is that will make me happy."
Harry stared at it.
His reflection stared back.
Harry tapped his foot, and so did his reflection.
"If your confused, Mirror, I'll tell you that I'm most definitely not satisfied with my current circumstances! Nor do I want any wool socks. That was somebody else…", said Harry, whose impatience remarks drifted off into a murmur of depression.
With that statement the reflection in the mirror changed. Harry saw himself wearing shining gold plate armor sans a helmet, holding his wand in his right, gauntleted hand and a warhammer in his left. At his feet were stacked the bodies of Voldemort, Wormtail, Bellatrix, and Snape, while behind him stood similarly armor his friends from the D.A. and his allies from the Order of the Phoenix.
It warmed his heart to see his friends, all of whom were alive and cheering him, but the most important thing Harry saw was who stood beside in armor that gleamed so much it was almost blindingly white.
It was Ginny who stood beside him at his right hand, a blood covered Sword of Gryffindor clutched in her right hand while her left arm was draped over his shoulder, a smile upon her lips. With a wink at him she sheathed her sword in the stack of bodies in front of him before proceeding to plant a chaste kiss upon his reflections right cheek.
Harry flinched at the feel of a pair of moist lips kissing his own cheek and quickly turned around wildly looking for whoever did it.
"I know you're out there! Show yourself! Lumos!"
But Harry was only greeted with the sight of the white mist, and the mist refused to answer back.
Turning back to the mirror he reached up to touch his cheek and could still fell where the lips had caressed it. However, the glare of reflected light hurt Harry's eyes, so with a muttered finite he waved the wand out to the side, extinguishing it. Immediately he saw reflected back at him in the moonlight the sight of Ginny, dressed as she was earlier that night snuggling against him under his raised arm.
Harry bit back a scream when he realized he could feel her left arm about his waist as well as her hair tickling the underside of his arm.
Looking down in shock Harry saw no-one there, and began to drop his arm. Shifting his gaze back to his reflection he saw mirror Ginny scoot out from under his dropping arm before grabbing it with both hands, a contented smile on her face.
He could still fell hands upon him.
I love the night
There's so much that I can show and give to you
If you will welcome me tonight
'Well, two can play at this game.', Harry thought.
Looking at the reflection standing next to his own whom he now was beginning to refer to as 'Mirror Ginny', Harry smirked before waving the arm she had a hold on up and down.
Mirror Ginny frowned but didn't let go of his arm. Finally seeming to tire of his game after a fourth or fifth repetition, she grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip and yanked it back down to his side. She then wrapped her arms around his and held it close to her body before gracing him with a cheeky grin in the mirror.
With that arm immobilized Harry reached across his body with his other hand and coped a feel of her left 'flask'. Mirror Ginny's eyes widened at this, but as Harry continued his caresses she leaned into it while worrying her top lip between her teeth. This continued for several minutes before she let go of his immobilized arm with one hand and prized his hand off of her chest.
If only you had been there my dear
We could have shared this together
Grinning slyly Mirror Ginny began to drift around behind him. In response Harry tried to turn to keep her in view, but her hands grabbing his hips, twisting him back to facing square toward the mirror. She then stepped entirely behind him, causing all but her hands to disappear from his sight. Finally those slid off him, leaving Harry feeling strangely lonely.
The feeling didn't last long, however.
No mortal was meant to know such wander
One look in the mirror told me so.
Soon, a pair of small, satin gloved, feminine hands took the place of those that had been on his hips. At the same time a veiled face appeared from behind him, the chin coming to rest on his right shoulder as the gloved hands traveled up his chest pulling Harry tightly against the figure behind.
Come darkness I'll see her again
It was his Lady who held him in a tight embrace. She shifted Her head on his shoulder, tilting it so Her veil covering Her face to drift to the side, exposing crimson lips that moved to caress his ear.
"Did you enjoy our games tonight, Harry?" She quietly whispered as her breath tickled the hair on his neck. The sent of Amortentia that hit him at her words nearly floored him, causing him to lean further back on his Lady for support.
"Want Ginny.", was all his muzzled mind could create as a reply.
The eyes behind the veil widened in disbelief. "Your Lady knows all and has seen your heart. You don't love her. You are going to dump her tomorrow, aren't you?"
His Lady's words penetrated the fog in his mind enough for it to pain him, and he felt a tear run down his cheek even as the latest wind of Amortentia blasted his mind.
He felt Her take his earlobe between Her teeth.
"Must protect…Ginny.", Harry spoke, the words coming slowly between gasps of pleasure as Her tongue and teeth worried at his ear.
Frowning, She released his ear before saying, "Protect her from who? She is in no more danger than anyone else. There is no Basilisk out to eat her this time."
Her hands moved toward the buttoned collar of his shirt as she continued Her ministrations. "You seem a little hot, my Intended. We need to get you out of these dirty, sweaty clothes."
Harry struggled to find his reason as Her lips moved further down his neck. Several crimson colored locks of hair escaped the shadow of her veil to cover his shoulder as she left gentle nips and butterfly kisses on Her way towards the top of his now almost-unbuttoned collar.
Actually, she seemed to be having a hard time with the collar.
"Protect… protect Ginny from Tom!", Harry finally blurted out, his mind several sentences in comprehension behind his Lady.
"Ripppppppppp!"
The top collar button, as well as all the other buttons on his shirt ceased to be a problem for Her as they all went flying across the room when She tore it. Left standing with his arms trapped in the sleeves of his ruined shirt Harry saw the eyes of Her reflection narrow as She wrapped her arms over his and around his chest.
"And how could Voldemort hurt her when she has you around for protection?" She asked, before Her lips returned to their former work.
"Spies… his… Snape and… my mind he sees… inside. Wants to hurt… use Ginny…", Harry eloquently stated, not paying any attention to the fact that She knew Voldemort's real name.
Her lips seemed to frown around the skin of the shoulder blade She was nibbling at before releasing it with a soft 'pop'. Her hands began to drift lower as She sighed, saying, "You aren't thinking too good. Your pants must be too tight for your brain to think. Besides," She went on as she unbuckled his belt, "I already know your heart, and if you join me as my Consort then you will never need to worry about him being in your mind again."
"Oc….occol?"
"Yes, love. Natural Occlumency. I can give you natural barriers against Legilimency, as well as powerful weapons and spells amongst other things. Don't you remember? I told you all this before. Just like the last time we were together. Just like this."
Yes I'm gonna go
Cause now I know.
"You do want what I have to offer you, don't you? My Intended?", his Lady asked sweetly.
"Protect Ginny!", Harry gasped out while flinching as her tongue hit a spot at the junction of his neck and collar bone that had been bothering him for months. Harry vaguely remembered scratching at it every so often when his shirt would rub on it, but repeated investigation in the mirror of the spot and his clothes never revealed anything.
The pleasure of her caress soothed the itch, bringing back memories of other times She had done the same, but then creating another, more persistent itch within his being.
Just like She had before.
'Are those wounds… on my…'
"Click, click, click, click…"
Something coming around his right side blocked his view of his Lady. Struggling to focus on what it was he realized that it was She Herself. She began to pull him forward as she leaned in, Her chin seemed to elongate, extending below the line of her veil.
I love the night
The day is okay, and the sun can be fun
But I live to see those rays slip away
Her face stopping an inch from his and Harry was stunned to finally see her eyes through the veil.
Her yellow, vertical slit eyes. Like a Basilisk.
"Yes, you will." She said laying Her head against his chest as Her fangs scratch his neck.
I love the night
I love the night
And then the world went black.
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This story was brought on by listening to a lot more Blue Oyster Cult than is probably healthy and because some have pointed out my other work is supposed to be Harry/Ginny but lacking a lot of Ginny at present.
Additionally, an 'M' rated version of this story will be made available soon. It will have the same name, but will be marked as '(Smut Edition)', to help people identify it who aren't paying attention to their filter settings.
For those of you waiting for me to post something for 'Resort to Stratagem' I ask for patience. I have 57 chapters worth of outline completed, and I just need to buckle down and start churning it out so my beta will have something to finally work on.
Or maybe I should go back to listening to Manowar constantly. That puts me in the mood to write 'Stratagem'.