Okay, I'd like to first start off by saying sorry for not having this up on the weekend. I was having virus trouble with my computer and I was studying for exams (or trying to study, but I have no concentration) Having written an English exam today, I thought it would be nice to post the next two chapters, not just to make up for lost time but also to make myself feel like not such a fail at the English language. Enjoy and review please and thank you.
Chapter 9
Expectations
The night of the incident, a very upset Professor Staples paid a visit to Gryffindor tower. Much to his relief, he found Rhea in the Common Room surrounded by supportive friends. Seamus sat at one end of a sofa in front of the fire with Rhea curled up in his lap. Beside them sat Hermione and beside her, Ron. They group was deep in conversation when Staples sat in the armchair beside them.
"My, it's been a very long time since I was last in the Gryffindor Common Room."
Surprised, the four Gryffindors looked over at the man who had just infiltrated their Common Room.
"Kennedy, what are you doing here?" Rhea wondered, eyebrows knitting in confusion.
"You didn't think I would come check on my goddaughter?" Professor Staples asked.
"You've been in the Gryffindor Common Room before?" Ron asked curiously.
"Of course," Staples replied. "It's like I said, I was good friends with a Gryffindor in my day. There's no rule about Houses keeping to their own Common Rooms."
"Have you been to the Slytherin Common Room as well?" Hermione asked.
Professor Staples laughed outright. "Merlin no." He sobered after a moment and looked at his goddaughter seriously. "Are you alright, Rhea?"
"Yeah," she said, nodding slightly. "Things could be a lot worse."
Seamus hugged Rhea tighter and she instantly relaxed. Staples smiled enigmatically as he regarded the pair.
"Am I wrong in thinking you've bonded?" the professor asked.
Rhea nodded. "Yeah."
"Your mother would be so happy," Staples said. "She always hoped you'd find people to bond with. She wasn't sure you'd be able to because of your diluted blood."
"It's not as strong as Mom said yours was," Rhea sighed regretfully.
"Hang on a minute," Ron sputtered, eyes like saucers. "You were part of their pack, Professor?"
"Of course he was, Ronald," Hermione said, shaking her head in dismay. "What would make you think otherwise?"
"The key word there is think, Hermione," Seamus joked and the group laughed, much to Ron's displeasure.
"We don't seem to have any telepathic communication but our empathy has a greater range than normal," Rhea continued.
"How far?" Staples wondered.
"I'm picking up the faintest waves from Draco and he's down in the Slytherin dorms," she replied.
Professor Staples' eyebrows shot nearly all the way into his hairline. "That's remarkable. Can you sense him from that far as well Seamus?"
"Yup," Seamus said, nodding.
"Is it terribly strange?" Hermione wondered.
"Maybe a little," Seamus replied. "Nothing bad. It'll just take a while before I'm used to feeling random emotions that aren't mine."
"Emotions?" Ron quipped. "We are still talking about Malfoy, aren't we?"
Rhea and Hermione both shot him a glare at once and he held his hands up meekly. "Right, I get it, you're mates now and everything but I still don't like him. I'm not going to start hexing him any time soon but don't expect me to be all friendly with him either."
"Fair enough," Rhea agreed. "It's better than some people."
"We talked to Harry," Hermione said, guessing the reason as to why the half-Nymph was upset. "Don't worry about him too much. He's just got some issues to sort out."
"I know," Rhea sighed. Before she could add anything, a familiar redhead stepped through the portrait hole and ran over to the sofa.
"I just heard," Ginny said, dropping to her knees to look Rhea in the eyes. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Ginny, thank you," Rhea said. Ginny stood, brushed off her knees and sat on the armrest. She looked at her brother and his girlfriend and glared. "Why didn't you help her? They told me you just stood there with your mouths hung open. She had to be rescued by bloody Slytherins. Not that there's anything wrong with Slytherins, but you should have done something."
"We were taken by surprise, Ginny," Hermione said.
"And Pansy Parkinson wasn't?" Ginny grumbled.
"What's done is done," Rhea said before the argument could get out of hand. "I'm fine, that's all that matters."
"Yes, and if you're fine I think I best be off," Professor Staples said, standing and walking to the portrait hole. "I'll see you all in class tomorrow."
The group bid their professor farewell and settled back into their prior conversation. After a moment, Ginny's head perked up as though she'd just realized something.
"Where's Harry?" she asked, looking around the Common Room.
"He's not here, Gin," Ron said quietly. Ginny's eyebrows furrowed and Ron continued. "He's having a hard time with this."
"What? Why?" Ginny sputtered.
"We're not sure exactly," Hermione said. She looked over at Rhea. "Maybe this isn't the best place."
"Please, my parents were killed because of this. Don't try and spare my feeling," Rhea sighed. "Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of me."
Hermione was quiet for a moment before speaking. "I think Harry's homophobic."
"We both do," Ron whispered.
"What? That's ridiculous," Ginny snapped.
"It's not, Gin," Rhea said. "I can sense it. He's uncomfortable with me, and not because of my creature heritage."
"He's not going to turn his back on you though, surely," the youngest Weasley insisted.
"No, he'll come around," Rhea agreed. "But it's just as Hermione said earlier. He has issues to sort out."
"Oh," Ginny mumbled, head hung. She wasn't sure what to say. Obviously Rhea wasn't mistaken in what she was sensing and because he was her boyfriend, Ginny felt responsible.
"It's not your fault, Ginny," Rhea said, smiling reassuringly. "You can only be true to yourself. Others have to follow their own paths."
"Yeah, well I know where my path is taking me," Seamus laughed. "I've got a potions essay I need to finish."
"And I've got transfiguration," Ron sighed.
"That reminds me, what did McGonagall want?" Hermione asked Seamus.
Seamus laughed. "Apparently to congratulate Rhea and I on bonding."
The room fell eerily silent as everyone fixed Seamus with bewildered expressions.
"Yeah, I couldn't believe it either."
As the Eighth Years pulled their books from their bags, Ginny stood.
"I've already finished my assignments," she said. "I think I'll take a walk."
"Don't get caught out after curfew," Hermione warned. The redhead said nothing and stepped into the corridor. She walked around aimlessly until she found herself on the second floor outside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Ever since her first year, whenever she wandered she always found herself there, outside the bathroom. Sighing, she opened the door and walked inside. Myrtle didn't seem to be around and that was fine with her. She needed the quiet.
"Terribly sorry, but this is my place to brood," said a voice from somewhere in the bathroom. Ginny turned to see someone tall coming into view. "You'll have to – Ginny?"
Ginny smiled weakly. "Theo."
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Stealing your place to brood, apparently," she replied, taking a seat on the edge of a sink. Theo took a seat on the sink beside her.
"You come here often?" he asked. "Because I think I'd remember seeing you around."
Ginny laughed half-heartedly. "A lot, actually. And you?"
"Just recently started," Theo said. "It's a nice place once Myrtle stops prattling on and on and on."
"She does like to talk," Ginny agreed. "So, what's bothering you that you have to come out to an abandoned bathroom to think?"
"I could ask you the same question."
"You first."
Theo sighed and furrowed his brow, formulating an answer. "I feel like my entire life has been a lie. I want to start over again but I'm not quite sure how. Like, every person I meet knows where I come from and I'll never get a chance to make anything of my life. Eighteen years and my life is over."
"You're life isn't over," Ginny protested.
"But it is," Theo insisted, turning to look at her, their faces only inches apart. "You're from a family of war heroes. You're going to go on to marry the Saviour of the Wizarding world and have great job and beautiful kids. What does the future have in store for me? I'll be lucky if anyone will ever hire me and even luckier if I find a girl willing to go on even one date. Your future is all mapped out, Ginny Weasley. Mine used to be. I was going to be a good little Pure-blood and marry another Pure-blood and we were going have children so that the cycle could repeat itself with them. But I don't want that. I don't want the future I've been given."
"Neither do I," Ginny whispered before leaning in and capturing Theo's lips in a searing kiss. After a moment of hesitation, Theo kissed her earnest, forcing his tongue into her mouth. He was met with no resistance and Ginny brought her hands up, tangling them in his hair. After a few minutes of intense snogging, reality caught up with both Pure-bloods and the pulled apart quickly.
"I've got to go," Ginny said quickly, almost running to the door.
"Ginny, wait," Theo called but the redhead didn't turn or stop. He sighed profoundly and, stunned, brought a hand to his lips. He'd just kissed Ginny Weasley and what's more, desperately wanted to do it again.
Ginny too was stuck in a daze as she fled down the hallway. She didn't know where she was going, so long as it took her far away. She'd just kissed Theodore Nott one hundred percent of her own volition. She couldn't deny the connection she felt with him. From that Sunday in Hogsmeade on, she couldn't get him out of her head. But this was different. She'd actually kissed him. There was no way this was going to get any worse.
Rounding the corner, she ran directly into the one person who could, in fact, make the situation worse.
"Ginny, what are you doing out here?" Harry asked. Instead of answering, Ginny threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. He kissed her back tenderly but she pulled away. Harry looked at her curiously. She had the most frustrated expression Harry had ever seen.
"Do you want to know what the problem is, Harry?" she yelled. "When I see you, my heart doesn't skip a beat. When I'm alone, you aren't the person I can't stop thinking about. When I kiss you, I don't feel a thing."
"Ginny?"
"We try so hard," the Weasley continued. "I have tried so hard to make myself fall in love with you but I can't. Why are we together, Harry? We are only together because that's what people are all expecting from us. You'll be an Auror and I'll be a good little housewife and we'll get married and have Potter babies who'll cause mischief and get all Outstandings their N.E.W.T.s because their parents are just the perfect happy couple. Is that what you want really, Harry, because I don't want that at all. We are not the perfect couple everyone expects us to be. I'm sorry Harry but I can't do this anymore. We're done."
Without another word of explanation, Ginny turned on her heels and fled in the opposite direction. Taken aback, Harry mindlessly made his way back to Gryffindor Tower and filed into the Common Room. His four studying friends looked up at him in concern.
"Mate, are you alright?" Ron asked, setting his quill down.
"Your sister just broke up with me," Harry replied, still in a daze. His announcement obviously shocked everyone present. They all stared at him, mouths agape.
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked after a moment.
"I really am," Harry replied honestly. He really did have no quarrels with no longer being with Ginny romantically. They had always worked best as friends and to be honest, kissing her felt a lot like kissing a sister. They weren't meant to be. He loved her, he just wasn't in love with her.
Trudging to his dorm he wondered if he'd ever actually fall in love with anyone. More importantly, he wondered if Ginny would ever find anyone to set her heart on fire the way he couldn't.
