Chapter Seven: Dance:
The school was all abuzz for the Yule Ball. Well mostly the girls, a good lot of the boys were mortified about the entire thing. The hallway was filled with giggling girls, from every direction as far as the eye could see. Many people scrambled to get a date, not to be seen as the laughing stock of the entire school.
Harry would have pitied those people if it was not for the simple fact he really did not care. He asked the girl he wanted to ask from the beginning and right now she was teaching him to dance inside the Room of Requirement. Harry knew he would absolutely hate dancing, iff Ginny was not with him every step of the way and she about much as said so with him. Harry looked in her eyes, as Ginny slowly let go of him, stepping back from him with a grin.
"That's enough for today Harry, you're doing great," said Ginny.
"Well it's because I've had such a wonderful teacher and it really does help that she's completely beautiful as well," replied Harry as a nice cushy chair appeared which gave Harry a chance to sit down.
"The Room must be off, it only gave us one chair," said Ginny but she had a mischievous smile on her face, as she sat down on Harry's lap, before turning her face towards Harry. "Guess we'll just have to manage."
"Or the Room's trying to tell us something," answered Harry as he leaned forward and kissed Ginny. Ginny put her hands on the back of Harry's neck, slowly running her fingers down it which caused shivers to run down Harry's spine, as she snuggled her body closer to Harry and their tongues began to ease their way into each other's mouths. They continued their fun until it became an absolute necessity for them to come up but only long enough to breath as they pressed their lips together. It was getting late, but the Room of Requirement offered them a shortcut to their dormitories
"Amazing," said Ginny after a time that seemed all too short, before she checked the time and signed in disappointment. "Not enough time through, unfortunately we have to get to bed right now."
As if on cue, the Room of Requirement offered a window where the Gryffindor Common Room appeared on the other side and they walked towards it slowly, cherishing the moment, before Ginny turned her attention to Harry and offered him one final kiss for the evening, which Harry took full advantage of.
"Good night Ginny," said Harry.
"Night Harry, pleasant dreams," said Ginny with a wink.
"Oh, don't worry about that," replied Harry before they made their way to their separate dormitories to go get some sleep.
-
Hermione was in a much better mood than she was ever since the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament when Harry and Ginny had rudely shunned her. Sure. S.P.E.W. had slowed to a nearly dead crawl since she could no longer use Harry's name to get members and the only members were her, Ron, and a couple of first years she threatened into joining. And the fact that house elf Dobby had basically ejected her from the kitchen when she tried to convince the house elves that they deserved better, something that Hermione was certain that Harry had a role in just to spite her.
Still everything was working out for Hermione as she had secured a date to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum. The Viktor Krum, the youngest International Quidditch Star in the world and Triwizard Champion, he had asked Hermione to the ball. He had said that he had never felt anything with any other girl like had had felt about Hermione. The fact that an International Quidditch Star had wanted her had made Hermione feel smug but the truth was, she only felt one person was good enough for her.
She saw how close that Harry and Ginny had become and it angered her completely. How could Ginny dare come in and take Harry from her? Hermione had worked so hard to steer Ginny away from her crush from Harry but it had backfired and while the crush on the Boy-Who-Lived had been erased, it had been replaced with something stronger. Ginny had taken advantage of Harry's vulnerability when Hermione had tried to distance herself from Harry, to save himself from being turned dark. She had realized that it was a mistake but Ginny had already poisoned Harry's mind against her. When Harry saw her with an International Quidditch Star, Hermione was absolutely confident that he would see how much he needed her and everything would be back the way it should be.
"Hermione," said Ron as he rushed up to Hermione, looking rather mortified for some reason.
"What's the matter with you?" asked Hermione, as she had never seen Ron so annoyed in her life.
"I asked Fleur Delacour to the ball," said Ron as his eyes widened and Hermione looked at Ron with a slightly amused, mostly irritated look, wondering if his mother had dropped him on his head as an infant. Repeatedly. He had just asked someone that was way, way, out of his league. "What was I thinking?"
"The same thing as usual Ron, you weren't," said Hermione with a sigh, she wondered why she put up with him sometimes. Then again, even she needed to be amused from time to time.
"She looked at me like I'm a slug or something much lower…" stated Ron before he suddenly looked at Hermione, as if struck by some sudden burst of inspiration. "You know Hermione, you are a girl."
"Really, what gave you that clue?" asked Hermione, in a sour voice, as she looked at Ron, she hoped that he was not going in the direction that she thought he was going in.
"Well, I do still need a date for the Yule Ball and I was wondering if you want to come with me," said Ron slowly. "It's not like you have a date…"
"For your information, Ronald, I do in fact have a date," responded Hermione as she looked at Ron. "My date asked me almost a week ago, the fact he did notice that I should be someone to be taken to the Ball before you did does speak wonders and I fully intend to go to have a good time. But, don't worry Ron, I'm sure that you'll find some girl who wants to go to the Ball badly enough."
Ron looked at Hermione for a couple of minutes, studying her features intently, before he burst out laughing. Hermione looked at Ron as he continued to howl like a mad man.
"Mind I ask what you find so amusing?" asked Hermione as Ron had not stopped laughing. After several minutes, with Ron struggling to keep a straight face, before he took a deep breath.
"Really, Hermione, that's a great joke, someone actually taking you to the Ball, but seriously, do you want to go with me?" asked Ron.
"I can't Ron, as I am going with someone else," said Hermione in a bit of a snippy voice but Ron still looked amused. "Ron, I really do have a date, you're going to have to find someone else."
Ron laughed once again for several minutes, before the serious look on Hermione's face clued him into the harsh reality.
"You really do have a date," said Ron in an alarmed voice, wondering who else would like Hermione, before Hermione just stood there, arms folded on her chest, looking at Ron.
"Yes, I do, just because it's taken you three years to notice that I am in fact a girl does not mean that everyone else is so blind," said Hermione, before adding under breath. "Or stupid for that matter."
Hermione walked off, leaving Ron standing in the hallway, wondering where he got wrong. He thought to ask Harry for help before he remembered that Harry was not speaking to them because of what happened with the Goblet of Fire. Harry should sure hold a grudge and a small, logical, intelligent part of Ron's mind buried deep into his subconscious really could not blame his former friend. Still mostly, Ron was upset, because Harry was being arrogant and he dared to date his sister as well. Not that Ron could do anything about it because he knew Harry would blast him through the wall and if he did not, Ginny most certainly would. He had asked Fred and George to try and talk some sense into Harry, but they refused to do so, saying that Ron had dug his own grave and that Ginny was old enough to make her own decisions.
-
Severus Snape was in a foul mood after the second year Gryffindors had departed from the Potions class. That batch seemed to have taken the word dunderhead to a whole new level. He returned to his office, the house elves could clean up the mess left behind those fools. Moving into the office, Snape decided now might be the best time to do an inventory of his personal stores. Opening the cupboard, Snape held his wand, looking forward. Everything appeared to be in order, except more boomslang skin was missing. This angered the Potions master to a great extent. Boomslang skin was not something that grew on trees, it cost a fair bit of gold. This was the second time that it had been missing. The first had been two years ago. Dumbledore had just decided not to investigate the matter, leaving Snape no doubt that the previous theft had been tied somehow to Potter. If Potter had murdered someone, Dumbledore would have found someway to justify it for the Greater Good.
Snape's thought process had come to Potter, it was strange. The boy had actually been acceptable in Potions recently. It seemed that the moment Miss Granger had stopped being friends with him, Potter had stopped being lazy and began excelling at classes. Being a Slytherin, Snape wondered if Potter had been hiding his full potential this entire time, waiting for the right moment to unleash it. After all, with the Tournament this year, a student having such an improvement would not a topic for conversation, even if said student was Harry Potter. By the time it was over, the improvement would have been in place for so long, no one would have really cared about it.
Snape had wondered if Dumbledore realized what was going on around him. Potter was becoming better in his schoolwork and a bit more cunning as well. That trick with summoning the egg was worthy of Salazar Slytherin himself. No doubt, Dumbledore would be confident that Potter was under his thumb this entire time, he hated to admit failure after all. Perhaps it was just the fact that Snape was so through in reading between the lines of everyone's actions, because he was the Head of the Slytherin house and had to deal with these matters. Perhaps he was seeing things that were not there.
-
Harry, Ginny, Luna, and Neville were in the Room of Requirement, practicing spells once again. The Room had been a valuable asset for practicing more lethal spells that they could not very well do on themselves, producing targets for them. Harry turned to face his target, that had taken the form of his Uncle Vernon, the target sneering at Harry, but Harry took aim.
"Lubricus!" shouted Harry, aiming his wand at Vernon. The spell was supposed to be able to slice through human flesh and if aimed correctly, it could cut through an artery, causing a person to bleed to death. The spell connected with the flesh of the illusion in the Room, connecting right to the throat. Harry watched as simulated blood had dripped from the throat before Vernon crashed to the ground.
"If that was real, he'd be dead right now," remarked Luna. "I think you have that one down Harry."
"I think I do too," confirmed Ginny as the target was the teenage form of Voldemort that came out of the diary, with blood squirting from its throat and it going into spasms on the floor.
Vernon had reappeared and Harry took aim to his wand again.
"Premo!" cried Harry, causing ropes to snake from his wand, wrapping around the illusion of Vernon. The moment simulated Vernon moved, the ropes constricted around him, crushing his lungs, along with breaking every one of his ribs. It dropped to the ground, blood dripping from the illusions mouth. Harry looked around, technically these spells were not dark arts, even though they were considered to be by the narrow Ministry guidelines. They were just really advanced defensive magic, but the affects could be reversed, unlike the dark arts, providing help was provided quick enough "Enough for today."
The training area created by the room had faded allowing the group to sit down in the chairs that the Room of Requirement had created. It would take some time to get down some of these borderline spells, before they had a chance to move onto the really interesting stuff. Given what he read on the psychology of the dark arts, Harry knew they would have to start slowly, because many had tried to learn too much and once, thus falling straight into the insanity that could happen to those who had abused the dark arts. The book made it clear in distinguishing the use of the dark arts and the abuse of the dark arts.
"So, what was the reason that Snape kept you for so long after Potions today?" asked Neville.
"Oh, that, apparently some Potions ingredients had gone missing from his store cabinet, he accused me of stealing them, hinting that he thought I had something to do with it," said Harry, shrugging. "Why would I need to steal any of his Potions ingredients, when I can just buy what he has if I need it."
"Yes, well, Snape's not going to be logical about you ever, Harry," said Luna. "Still, what Potions ingredients were stolen?"
"Boomslang Skin," said Harry before he trailed off suddenly. "One of the key ingredients for…a Polyjuice Potion."
"Polyjuice Potion, all of these weird things going on, you being put into the Tournament, Moody helping you with the first task, given Neville the book that gave you a clue for the second task, and Crouch being in Moody's office at the weirdest times," said Ginny. "Maybe you're right Luna. Maybe Crouch is polyjuicing into Moody."
"But if anything, Crouch has been against those who performed dark magic," replied Neville. "Of course that did not stop his son for being caught as a Death Eater."
"Wait a minute, Crouch has a son?" asked Harry, this information was new to him and just added more intrigue to the entire situation.
"He had one," corrected Neville. "He was sent to Azkaban, he's dead now, but he was a Death Eater. Crouch had a very violent reaction to it when he found it, Gran told me he disowned him before throwing him straight to the Dementors. Crouch would have been Minister of Magic, had it not been for his son being found out, so I can't really see him doing anything like that, considering how it cost him his career."
"Imperius Curse maybe, someone using Crouch to take the fall for their own scheme," said Luna. "I don't know though, there is enough going on here that what's been happening cannot be a coincidence."
"Yes it might be a good idea to tell what we've found to someone who could do something about it, but the problem is, I'm not sure who we could trust," said Ginny with a frown.
"Normally I would go to Dumbledore, but considering the fact that I can't trust him and I don't really have any reason to think that he will actually do anything about it, that's out of the question" said Harry thoughtfully. "If I go to the Ministry and find someone that I feel I can trust, I may tell them but right now, we're just going to have to watch our step around Moody for the time being."
"Speaking of that, did Fudge get back to you about your request to go to the Ministry?" asked Ginny and Harry answered with a nod.
"He said he would arrange some time after Christmas for me to learn my way around the Ministry," said Harry. "He would get word to me when he can tell me exactly when I can go through the Ministry. It should give me a good idea who should go and who is salvageable if anyone."
"Do you think anyone in the Ministry is salvageable?" asked Ginny.
"The law of averages would indicate that there are some people that I might be able to sway to understand of the changes that I need to make, but time will tell," said Harry. "I just know there are going to be more people that will have to be dealt with, then there will be that will be kept around. But that is a bridge that we will have to cross for a while."
-
Harry was in a foul mood a few days before the Yule Ball. It had to do with the fact that he had a very pleasant dream about Ginny interrupted by a Voldemort vision. Harry noticed a couple of things about this vision. The fact that it was not as vivid as it was when he saw the world during the summer had proven to Harry that odd section of his mind had been somehow linked to Voldemort. It was in a fog, but Harry was still able to make out the basic gist of the dream. Voldemort had mentioned something about Crouch being a liability and Wormtail not to allow him to leave the house. The dream had not made any sense at all and Harry's scar moderately stung. It had just added further questions
He had made a great deal of process with Occlumency. Sure he was not a master, but he would be able to keep someone out of his mind to evade their eye contact. The foreign area of his mind around his scar was a great deal of concern to Harry, but considering his exercises had managed to block it mostly off, it could be contained for the moment. Harry wanted to eliminate it completely, but finding any information about what it was could be a problem. No one had ever survived a Killing Curse before Harry had all those years ago.
"Harry?" asked a voice and Harry spun around to see Ginny sitting on a couch in the Gryffindor Common Room, in her nightdress with a frown on her face. "You couldn't sleep either I take it."
"No, I couldn't," said Harry as he sat down next to Ginny, as the pain in his scar had began to fade as he edged closer to Ginny, noticing how well her nightdress had showcased her legs. Ginny grabbed Harry's hand. "Voldemort visited me in my dreams, at the worst possible time, but what basically happened was that he was saying something about Crouch being a liability, that he can't go out in public."
"That's odd, maybe the theory about Crouch being under the Imperius Curse is right but…I don't know actually, Moody and Crouch were seen in the same place during the first task," answered Ginny. "Unless Moody was under the Imperius Curse as well, but…"
"I know Ginny, it's all very confusing," answered Harry. "Why are you up this early in the morning anyway?"
Ginny sat there quietly, a troubled look in her eyes trying to debate on how much to tell Harry, he had more than enough to worry about right now than her problems.
"Ginny, you don't have to tell me you know, but you've helped me when I needed help and you know I can do the same for you," said Harry gently. "I want to help you if something's troubling you Ginny."
"Okay Harry, they've slowed down since then, but every now and then, I get nightmares about the Chamber of Secrets," said Ginny with a sigh, but Harry had just sat there, gripping her hand tighter in an encouraging manner. "I don't really remember anything that happened down there, I was out for most of the time, but the nightmares are horrible, even if it's just my imagination making up what happened. This is the first time I've had one since this summer, after the Death Eaters attacked at the Quidditch World Cup. I think they'll fade eventually…"
"I wish there was something to do for you Ginny, you've done so much for me during the last couple of months," answered Harry, who saw Ginny as a very strong person, but it was obvious that the Chamber of Secrets was still a bit of a traumatic experience to her. Harry would have been had he been in Ginny's face. He grabbed her hand, as Ginny swung her legs over, so they were draped over Harry's lap, snuggling her head into Harry's shoulder. "Maybe I can show you what exactly happened in the Chamber of Secrets, that might help you come fully come to terms with what happened."
"Harry, that might work," replied Ginny with a nod. "I just heard what happened, but actually seeing it might put my mind to rest but I don't know how you could do that. Certain spells might be able to replay the memories I suppose…"
"We'll have to look into it sometime," said Harry as he was lightly rubbing Ginny's legs in an absent minded manner but Ginny looked at him in surprise causing Harry to withdraw his hands.
"Don't stop Harry, that felt relaxing," encouraged Ginny and Harry resumed is activities, moving his hands slowly up and down Ginny's legs, marveling at how perfect she fit against his body. Ginny leaned back, drifting back to sleep, as she was curled up into Harry's lap, as he sat there, the pain in his scar completely gone.
-
Dumbledore had just returned from a routine visit with the Minister of Magic. Fudge had wanted to have Aurors investigate the Goblet of Fire more thoroughly and had accused Dumbledore have something to hide. Dumbledore felt that Fudge was becoming more confident in his role as Minister and he hoped he could be reigned back in before it could be a problem. Still, Dumbledore had assured the Minister that Moody had inspected the Goblet thoroughly and had found that while it had been tampered with, there was no clue pointing to who tampered with the Goblet of Fire. Dumbledore trusted Moody's word, he had no reason whatsoever to lie about what he had found.
Dumbledore also thought about Harry Potter. His successor had been slowly growing into his destined role naturally. Summoning the egg was a stroke of brilliance, something that Dumbledore would have done had he been in Harry's position. The fact that he was now officially with Ginny Weasley also pleased Dumbledore, it would keep Harry anchored to the proper path and prevent him from following into the temptations of darkness that had ruined many other promising lives. Throughout history, no Weasley had ever turned to dark magic. Dumbledore had researched the matter thoroughly. Otherwise, he would have steered Harry away from her. Sure it was a surprise that Harry had terminated his friendship with Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley, but sacrifices must be made. The Headmaster could not take too direct of a hand in Harry's life, it might clue him into what he was up to and that could have dire consequences. Still, Dumbledore had wished that someone had guided him to the correct path when he was younger. It would have prevented Dumbledore from making several mistakes that he hoped remained long buried.
Still, if all went according to destiny, Voldemort would return to power before long and Harry would cement his status as the new crusader against dark magic by his carefully guided victory over the Dark Lord. If Dumbledore played his cards correctly, perhaps he could enjoy a few years of retirement before he headed straight towards the next great adventure.
-
Christmas Day had arrived and that meant the Yule Ball. Harry and Ginny had spent most of the morning together, after exchanging gifts, until in the afternoon, before Ginny had to get ready for the Ball. Thanks to some careful meddling on their part, Harry and Ginny had managed to get Neville and Luna to go together to the Ball. Harry was awaiting Ginny right now, as Neville had already made his way to the Ravenclaw Common Room to meet Luna. At that moment, Harry saw Ginny walk forward. He could barely breath, she looked so magnificent that she took his breath as way. Just when he thought she could not look any more gorgeous, Ginny had managed to find a way to prove him wrong.
"Ginny, you look beautiful," said Harry after managing to reclaim the ability to voice his thoughts.
"Thanks Harry, you're not too bad on the eyes yourself," said Ginny as she looked at Harry, smiling. It was obvious he had made a desperate attempt to flatten his hair, which had only served to make his hair even messier than usual. Since that was the way that Ginny liked it, she did not mind. Harry had offered his arm and Ginny had taken it before the happy couple made their way from the Gryffindor Common room, so they could attend the Yule Ball. Harry had the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map in his bag, so once they did their required opening dance, they could sneak off to the Room of Requirement to enjoy each other's company in a more private setting. Having all of those eyes gawking at them did become very uncomfortable after a while.
-
Hermione sat in the Great Hall, having made light talk with Krum, but not really paying all that much attention to what he was saying. Overall, she was thrilled at how she had looked. It took her a great amount of time to get ready for everything, including her hair and the enhancement charms she put on certain areas. Harry would be certain to remember how much he needed her and would distance himself from Ginny accordingly once he had came to his senses. Hermione would slowly let him back in, she wanted Harry to realize how selfish he was being and how much he needed her.
If it was not for her help over the past three years, Harry would have died numerous times. Granted, he had come up with simply the summoning the egg during the first task but that was a stroke of luck. Harry would have never been able to come up with anything that brilliant without her ever again. Hermione also knew that without her friendship with Harry, no one would take her seriously. Being one of the best friends of the Boy-Who-Lived went a long way in the world. It had eliminated some of the stigma for being a muggleborn witch and had gained her a bit of credibility. So as much as she hated to admit it, it was mutually beneficial.
She turned to tell Krum something but she lost what she was saying when she had seen Harry and Ginny walk into the Great Hall. Hermione watched Harry and Ginny, and by the looks of things, she was not the only one. She saw that most of the other people in the Great Hall were watching them as well, in awe. Hermione looked, it appeared neither of them had noticed the stares they were getting.
"Herm-Own-Ninny?" questioned Krum in a concerned voice. "Are you alright?"
"Fine, Viktor, I'm just fine," said Hermione through gritted teeth, as she watched several other girls, many much more naturally better looking than Hermione, had attempted to maneuver their way towards Harry, but Harry had ignored them, he had eyes for only one girl. This was not going to go the way Hermione had planned.
On the other end of the floor, Harry and Ginny moved through, avoiding the odd amount of individuals that were in the way, until they met up with Luna and Neville who were waving them over.
"You've seemed to attract a bit too much attention, both of you," remarked Neville.
"Yes, we might have to have drying charms ready, because of all the drool that hit the floor when both of you walked into the Great Hal," added Luna, as she looked around the Great Hall.
"Really, I hadn't noticed," said Harry, who had been too busy looking at Ginny to even notice that there were in fact other girls in the world. "Oh wait, there they are."
"Yes, gawking at what they never appreciated and can never have, funny how some of those people were slandering you for putting your name in the Goblet and now they can't take their eyes off of you," said Ginny, if it was a year ago, she would have been jealous at all of the attention that Harry was getting. Now that she matured and got to know Harry, she was mostly amused at the entire situation "Or rather it would be funny if it wasn't so sad."
"It's still funny, considering none of them would ever match up to you, Ginny, in all aspects and they think they have a chance," said Harry as all four of them laughed, before making their way over to the table.
"Speaking of pathetic," muttered Ginny in Harry's ear, as she pointed out Hermione, who sat on the end of the table, making strained conversation towards Viktor Krum. Looking around, it appeared Ron had not found a date. "Something tells me that someone's trying to get you to notice her and is jealous of me."
"Really, too bad for her, perhaps she should have thought about that before she betrayed me," said Harry, as he had just completely ignored Hermione, hearing a huff of indignation from the distance. "Not that she would have had any chance anyway."
"Really, why?" asked Ginny who was curious. After all, Harry and Hermione were close until the Goblet of Fire incident, there was always a fear that Harry and Hermione would begin dating before Ginny had a chance to work up the nerve to be close enough to him without blushing.
"Well, I did think of her as a sister, right before she stabbed me in the back and besides, I don't really like being bossed around anyway, so it would not have worked on that front either" said Harry. "Plus, I think Ron's more her speed anyway. He needs to be told what to do."
"True," answered Ginny as the two had began to eat dinner, as more people stared at not only Harry but her as well. They both paid these people staring at them no mind, only briefly talking to Neville and Luna at times, but mostly enjoying the fact that they were together, even if there were hundreds of other people along with them. After that time, Harry and Ginny had made their way to the dance floor, where the champions and their partners were crawled. The lessons that Ginny had given Harry had stuck to his mind, as they danced on the floor.
Despite the fact that the Great Hall was full with people, there was no one else in the world other than each other right at the moment, as they gazed into each other's eyes. The music played was slow and when it ended, Harry and Ginny had slowly drifted apart from each other. The desire to kiss each other was overwhelming but neither wanted to make a public spectacle out of it.
"Let's get the Cloak and slip discreetly out of here," whispered Harry in Ginny's ear and Ginny nodded, as they moved over. They said a quick, discreet good bye to Luna and Neville and will nearly outside the Great Hall when they heard a very familiar voice.
"Ginny," said Percy as he cut off to the side of the two, before he turned to Harry. "Harry."
"Percy, what are you doing here?" asked Ginny.
"Mr. Crouch has been feeling a bit under the weather, and since it was his duty to attend here, I came in his place," said Percy, before he looked at Harry and Ginny. "So, Ginny, it looks like Harry is taking you to the Yule Ball."
"Yes, we're dating," answered Harry in a firm voice, he was not in the mood for an overprotective big brother speech right now. Percy looked at Harry, before looking away from Harry.
"Does Mother know about this?" asked Percy as he had his eyes focused on Ginny. "Because I could have sworn she said you were not to date anyone until you were of age."
"Perhaps, but I don't really care what Mum says," said Ginny and Percy looked on in an affronted manner, looking at Ginny.
"Look Ginny, it's not my business, I know," said Percy in a strained voice, who actually thought Harry was a good choice if someone had to go out with his little sister, but he would have approved of Harry even more if he would not have been so far underneath Dumbledore's thumb and thus Ginny would get taken down by extension. "But still, Mother's going throw a fit when she finds out about it."
"Let her, if she wants to be lonely in her old age, that's her business," remarked Ginny coolly. "Besides, it's not like she has much of a say over Harry. If Harry wants to be with me, there is nothing Mum can do to override him after what happened during my first year."
Harry looked at Ginny, with a confused expression on his face and Percy looked to be realizing something.
"Look Percy, we'd love to chat about cauldron bottoms or whatever, but Harry and I really have to go," said Ginny as they slowly eased their way from the Great Hall. When they were sure that no one was following them, they slipped the Cloak over themselves and walked down the hallway.
"What was that about?" asked Harry and Ginny looked at him, with a surprised looked. "About the fact that your mother would have no say about us dating even if she wanted to."
"Oh, the life debt that I have to you when you saved me, I can do anything you want to fulfill it. If you wanted to, you could make me into your personal slave," said Ginny.
"I would never do that to you," replied Harry.
"I know," answered Ginny with a confident nod. "But considering that Mum likes to meddle, it can be used as leverage to us off of our backs."
"I would think your mother would understand if we wanted to date," offered Harry but Ginny looked at him with a remorseful look, it appeared that she was about to tear down another part of what he thought was reality.
"You only see the home life that Mum wants you to see when you are over to the Burrow," said Ginny slowly. "Mum is a control freak. If nothing is done the way she thinks it should be, she should be happy. She does not want me to have any ambition either, except to be a house wife, to put out as many kids as possible, and to be a proper lady. In other words, there are some times where I don't think she sees me as her daughter, she wants me to be her clone."
"Ginny, I'll support you with anything you want to do," said Harry in an approving voice, frowning, he had known Mrs. Weasley could be a bit abrasive at times, but the amount of control she wanted to impose on the lives of her children, especially Ginny, had been far beyond what Harry could imagine.
"I know Harry," said Ginny. She was lucky to have someone like Harry. Her brothers had treated her like she was a five-year-old the majority of the time, her mother had tried to mold Ginny into her own image, and her father, well he was whipped by his wife. Harry on the other hand treated her like she was special, helping her, supporting her and she could never do enough to return the favor. If Ginny was forced to choose between her family and Harry, the choice would be obvious. Harry might not be perfect, but he was as close as one could hope for in this messed up world.
"Look at that," hissed Harry, as he saw Snape and Karkaroff talking in a frantic matter in the distance. The two edged closer to get a closer look at what they were saying, something about them had told Harry that it might be of interest to them.
"Severus, it's impossible to ignore it any longer, it has not been as clear since that night where he fell," said Karkaroff under his breath. "I worry, the Dark Lord might be returning, the only thing it has done is not burned."
"Whatever happens, happens, Igor," said Snape calmly. "I will not allow myself to get bent by something that might amount to just a false alarm."
"But Severus I think we should get out before it is too late," argued Karkaroff, as his eyes darted around in a paranoid manner.
"Then leave, go as far as you can, if it does come to what you fear, that no amount of fleeing with save you," said Snape. "I however will not lose my head and am staying at Hogwarts."
At that point, Snape had discovered some activity in the bushes. It appeared that Harry and Ginny were not the only ones who had snuck off early to spend time together outside of the Ball but others had been foolish enough to do so in public where they can be caught. Several students ran off, looking embarrassed as Harry and Ginny edge away, careful not to attract any attention. Despite the fact they were underneath the Cloak, they were still solid. They looked at each other, wondering what that was all about. It added more questions to the strange evens of the year.
They would think of the matter further later. Right now, the Room of Requirement was awaiting and they had an appointment that they felt they had to keep. .