Note: rating changed to 'M' There is a scene in this chapter that involves descriptions of nudity. That in itself is probably borderline, but future chapters will involve more adult situations. If that bothers you, do not read further.
The 'M' rating is roughly equivalent to the MPAA 'R' rating for movies. If you wonder how far you can go in an 'R' movie, take a look at Eyes Wide Shut or 9 1/2 Weeks.
I will also admit I'm perplexed by the hubbub surrounding content on this site. The written word is not usually policed so in our society. Anyone of any age can walk into a bookstore and buy books graphically describing sex (or violence or other bad bad things). In 10th grade, I read Streetcar Named Desire for class; it's got rape in it.
Anyway, my point is, if you don't like reading about teenagers discovering sexuality, don't read this story, because I plan to have some of that.
Chapter 10—All's Fair
The evening sun streamed across the grounds, sparkling on the lake and bathing the castle in a glow of Gryffindor gold. Ginny stared, tears starting to cloud her view, as she watched two figures walk around the lake, hand-in-hand. Why did she ever like that backstabbing, no-good, evil, crazy girl, Luna Lovegood?
In the common room that evening, Ginny was sitting by herself. Harry had walked off with Luna again after dinner. Ginny had tried sitting near Ron and Hermione, but couldn't stand it. They were sporting big grins, and were holding hands. They were a little awkward still with their new relationship; they didn't seem to know what to talk about, but at least they weren't arguing. Ginny still hadn't seen Dean, still hadn't broken up with him, and felt there was really no one besides Hermione she could talk to.
Harry finally came back in and headed over to the couches by the fire where Ron and Hermione were. Ginny drifted over as Hermione was saying that they had a great day. "So you kissed, then?" Harry asked. They both just blushed and Harry laughed.
"What about you and Luna then?" Ginny asked. Her voice sounded harsh to her own ears, but Harry didn't seem to notice.
Harry laughed again. "Yeah, us too. Funny, isn't it, Ron? We both got girlfriends the same day."
Hermione shot Ginny a stricken look; again the guys were oblivious. Harry said he wanted to get a little work done, then get to bed. Hermione said she needed to get something from her dorm, and practically dragged Ginny with her.
"What happened? I thought you were going to catch up to Harry after talking to Dean."
"I thought so, too, but I couldn't Dean anywhere! And now that backstabber snagged Harry! And why did he rub it in my face like that?"
Hermione bit her lip. "You know, Ginny, that Luna wouldn't have gone out with Harry if you were with him. You're still with Dean, and no one knows differently. And Harry... well, he's probably trying to make you feel better."
"WHAT?"
"Think about it, Ginny. If it were turned around, and you kissed Harry when he had been going with someone else, you know he'd still feel bad for you. In his own way, he's learning to be more understanding. He thinks you might feel guilty for hurting him, so he's showing you he's ok."
Ginny snorted. "I actually followed that. Only Harry would feel guilty for making me feel guilty. Why did I fall for such a prat?" Ginny flopped back onto Hermione's bed, closed her eyes and moaned.
"So, Ginny, what are you going to do?"
"I think I'll just lie on your bed and moan for a while, ok?"
"Ginny..."
"Oh, I don't know. I'm still going to break up with Dean. I swear he knows what's coming; he's been avoiding me. I'm not going to stay with him just to have a boyfriend; I know it's not going to go anywhere. And I can't see Harry really staying with Luna. I mean, I can't really blame her for trying, but she's not really Harry's type, is she?" Ginny didn't see Hermione bite her lip again.
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The school year just seemed to get worse and worse. It was the second week of classes, and Ginny already felt behind in assignments. She wasn't, really, and she was doing fine in her schoolwork, it was just that the professors were piling it on so fast. Then Wednesday night, she finally got her chance to talk to Dean. It wasn't anything like she planned.
Ginny was working on a History essay in the common room, when Ron stormed down the boys' stairs. "Ginny!" he shouted, making her, along with most other Gryffindors, turn.
His face was red, and his jaws were clenched. Ginny then saw Harry come out behind Ron, floating Dean, who was bound tightly with ropes. Harry's face was stony, but his eyes were blazing with anger. He looked hot when he was mad. Dean looked, well, trapped.
Ginny shook herself, and took the scene in again. She did not want her brother or Harry interfering in her love life, such as it was. "What do you two think you're doing?"
Ron was about to speak, but Harry beat him out. "Ginny, just listen, we didn't do anything."
"Yet," said Ron.
This did not bode well. Harry had obviously stopped Ron from doing anything more drastic.
"Ginny, were heard Dean say something to Seamus; something he should have told you. We're only here to give Dean the chance to tell you himself." Harry gave Dean a poke with his wand. Dean bobbed his mouth open and closed a few times. "Go ahead," said Harry, "You tell her or we will."
"I, er..." started Dean. His eyes roamed the room, looking for a way out. He caught Ron's eyes, and closed his. "I started seeing a Muggle girl from my neighborhood this summer."
There was a long silence after this, and Dean opened his eyes to look at Ginny hopefully. She sweetly said, "Dean, you know... I've wanted to break up with you, too. I didn't think it was going to work out."
Relief flooded Dean's face. "So you're not mad then?" he asked hopefully.
Ginny narrowed her eyes and said, "I didn't say that, you pigheaded arse. While you've been ignoring me, you slimy, dirty snake, I've been trying to get some time with you to break up with you TO YOUR FACE you piece of ferret droppings! I DIDN'T GO AROUND BEHIND YOUR BACK. I THOUGHT YOU DESERVED SOME RESPECT!"
"Ginny, I... just didn't know how to tell you... I'm really sorry..."
The pathetic whimpering after the fact just made Ginny even madder. She whipped her wand out, spiraled it in and jabbed at Dean, shouting, "Mucoroptera!"
Dean was still bound in Harry's incarcerous; he didn't have a chance. The bat bogeys erupted and flapped around his face. Harry let go of the hover spell and let him flop on the floor, screaming. Ginny didn't usually feel like a vindictive person, but Dean's plight didn't seem to come close to matching the way he ruined her life. She could have been with Harry!
Ron was watching Dean with satisfaction, while Harry was looking at Ginny. She stepped over to them. "Brilliant, Ginny," Ron said.
"You okay?" Harry asked.
"I will be," Ginny said. "I still feel mad right now." She looked at Harry, whose face only held concern. She tore her eyes from Harry, and looked over to Ron again. "Thanks guys. Especially for bringing him to me."
Ron looked a little sheepish. "I was going to just beat him up. Harry said you could take care of it yourself, and I have to admit," he shot her a grin, "it's fun to see you mad at someone else."
"Prat." She swatted his arm. "Listen," she lowered her voice so it couldn't be heard over Dean's moan, "Can you find this girl's name and address? She deserves to know what kind of scum she's dating, don't you think?"
"Yeah," said Ron. His look was reminiscent of the twins'. "Should be easy. Dean was just talking to Seamus about a letter from her. I can get it now."
That left Ginny with Harry. She was finally free from her mistake with Dean, and now Harry was unavailable. It was torture. "I'm just going to take a walk to clear my head," she said. Harry nodded understandingly. If he were only a real jerk, maybe I could get over him. Or at least want to get over him!
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Ginny threw herself into her courses. She was actually grateful that it was OWL year. Quidditch and DA let her blow off some steam, but she had to work at not showing her frustration with Harry and Luna's relationship.
Quidditch was the best. Luna sometimes came to watch practices, but not always. Even when she was there, Ginny could focus on the joy of flying. It was also a joy to watch Harry fly, and watch Harry lead. She and Ron (mostly Ron) helped come up with plays, but it was Harry who lead practices and showed everyone how the plays should really work. His method of tracing smoke paths to follow was brilliant, and it was made even better when he starting putting numbers along each trace to show where all the players should be at the same time.
The reserve players weren't great, but it was useful to have them there. Sometimes Harry had the team play against the reserve team and sometimes he would put a reserve in with the starters. Sometimes Harry would have the reserves run plays, while the rest watched. They were able to both give pointers to the reserves and to see for themselves how the play looked from an outside perspective.
In all, the team seemed to gel quickly and to learn together well. There were some plays that they tried that they didn't seem to get, and Harry quickly scrapped them. He always ended practice with plays they were good at, or a fun scrimmage against the reserves, and everyone left the pitch flushed excited and confident. Ginny had the hardest time resisting the urge to kiss Harry.
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The DA was also going great. They had fun, most of the time, but the atmosphere was also serious. The first few meetings were spent making sure that they had spell basics down, as well as on target practice. Everyone did have fun levitating balls or trying to hit them as they flew around. Harry also whipped up some life-size target dummies that he hovered around for some to hit.
In one meeting, while the others were practicing their accuracy, Harry was in a corner practicing his silent casting. Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna were all hovering some dummies for him. Harry hadn't bothered to try the target spell silently, so he was using real spells. Ginny recognized the red light that looked just like a stunner, but some spells looked more orange, some were purple. He was amazing. He was able to get out spells faster and faster as the 5 dummies circled around him. The dummies were tough, made out of some inert material; the spells designed to attack people didn't do any more damage than a little puff of smoke where they hit.
It didn't take long for the others to stop their practice to watch Harry whirl faster and faster. He never hit the same dummy twice in a row, and he was always turning to get dummies that had moved behind him. He rarely missed, but you could see his anger with himself when he did. And the puff of smoke when he scored hits was always bigger after a miss. Ginny noticed that for all Harry's motion and spell work, he never fired a curse in a direction towards anyone else. He always moved and fired so that there was a wall behind his chosen target. It was amazing that he could do all that and still be aware of the need to prevent stray curses.
Finally, Harry made a last jabbing motion of his wand and the bright streak of light that hit Neville's dummy caused it to burst apart in a shower of sparks.
There was a collective "whoa" from the assembled audience as Harry lowered his wand and the rest of the ministry six stilled their dummies. "What was that?" someone asked.
Harry looked embarrassed to be at the center of everyone's attention like that. "Er, sorry," he said, "I was just getting so frustrated that I couldn't actually stop the dummies. The bone crushers don't really have an effect, so I think I let a reductor slip in for that last one."
"Good motivation for me to avoid your bad side, mate," Ron said.
"No worries, Ron," said Harry. "I usually picture Snape's face when I'm really mad. Or Tom Riddle's"
Ginny shuddered. Because of the diary, she actually had a little more trouble with that name that with 'Voldemort.'
"Who?" Terry Boot asked?
"He's..." Harry started, then paused. "He's a really annoying, self-important, arrogant git." He saw he still had everyone's attention. "In fact, everyone, would you make me feel better by shouting, 'Tom Marvolo Riddle is a slimy git!'?"
It was a really fun way to end the session. It even made Ginny feel better about it, too. She was shouting the loudest of all of them.
The next DA meeting, when Harry told them all who they had been insulting (he even did the cheesy anagram in the air) everyone was quite a bit taken aback. But sure enough, Harry use of 'Voldemort' stopped making people jump, and some of them even used the name themselves.
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In the first several weeks of term, Ginny took to the library quite a bit. In the common room, she often had to endure Harry's presence, which was tortuous. Her dorm room wasn't the best place to get anything done. If she was alone there, she mostly ended up brooding, and if any of her roommates were there, there was gossip. Of course, one of their favorite topics was Harry and Luna.
She heard plenty of tales, and none of them were complimentary to Luna: she gave him a love potion, she only caught him by spreading her legs, she wanted to trap him by getting pregnant, she was pregnant. The most prevalent opinion was that Harry had to be as crazy as Loony to want to go out with her.
When Ginny heard the rumors and the insults, she was torn. Part of her wanted to defend her old friend, but part of her wanted to join in, railing that Harry should not be with Luna Lovegood. She usually ended up biting her tongue and leaving the room.
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Ginny did, however, join a number of girls in Harry-watching. She consoled herself that she wasn't the worst offender, and that if Harry did catch her eye, she could just smile and wave or say 'hi.' Other girls would blush and/or stammer.
Harry did seem happy. This was bittersweet, of course; Ginny wanted Harry to be happy, but with her, not with Luna. Fred and George always said that 6th year was the best; OWLs done, NEWTs still a year away. It certainly seemed to be true for Harry, even though the pressures on him made NEWTs seem like a joke.
Lately, Harry was especially happy in the mornings. This seemed strange to Ginny, because he never was a morning person. He did still oversleep sometimes, and Ron had an impossible task trying to get him up then. Harry found some way to lock his bed curtains closed at night, and evidence suggested he had some kind of silencing charm that prevented noise from passing either way. Even when he got up late, he was in a good mood.
Most days, Harry stayed in a good mood all day, but 'Potions Days' always left him fuming. Hermione still reported that Snape was getting more horrible every class, but Harry was managing to keep his cool. He was clever enough to schedule DA or Quidditch after potions, so either flying took his mind off Snape, or blowing things up let him get his frustrations out.
Harry-watching did mean Ginny saw plenty of Harry and Luna together. Ginny was glad to see that they weren't very physical together. They often held hands, as Harry walked to her as many of her classes as he could, but as far as Ginny knew, they had never been seen kissing. This led to the demise of the rumors that had Luna as a slag or whore, but a new one popped up that Harry was only dating Luna because he didn't want other girls to bother him. Ginny sort of hoped this was true, but realistically, Harry looked happy with Luna. Ginny didn't like these thoughts, but she figured that they could just be very discreet with their relationship, and, well, Harry did have the Marauder's Map. Still, Ginny was glad not to have any snogging or anything thrown in her face, and she could pretend to herself that the relationship was basically platonic.
Then one day, she was walking several paces behind Harry and Luna as they were all headed to the fifth-year Charms class. And the sight in front her was shocking, but could not be denied: Luna was walking with her hand on Harry's bum! Harry left Luna at the door after just squeezing her hand. He blushed to see that Ginny had been behind them, and walked off with just a week smile for her.
"Luna!" Ginny called. She caught the Ravenclaw while she was still in the hallway. "What were you doing?"
Luna looked a little confused at the question, but smiled anyway as she answered, "Walking to Charms, Ginny. What were you doing?"
"No, I mean with Harry."
"Same answer—oh. Do you mean with my hand on his bottom?"
Ginny just nodded.
"Well, I always guessed it would feel good while he walked."
This was not the answer Ginny was expecting. She processed that and the only response that got out was, "Does it?"
"Oh, no," said Luna. "I'd have to say it felt great... Yes, at least 'great.'" Then Luna turned and went into get her favorite seat close to Professor Flitwick.
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So it was that Ginny was miserable as Halloween approached. She turned down a number of invitations to the dance; she didn't think she could stand seeing Harry and Luna together there. She hadn't seen any more groping since the time outside Charms, but she could no longer delude herself that Harry and Luna didn't have a serious relationship.
Only a week before Halloween, though, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Ron and Hermione were helping Harry set up for DA. Harry suddenly said, "Hey, Neville, Ginny, who're you going to the dance with?"
Neville started to stammer. Ginny said, "I wasn't planning on going."
"What?" said Harry, "I figured you were turning down all those blokes because you already had a date."
Ginny just shrugged. Harry said, "Hey, you two should go together. We could get a table just to ourselves; it'll be great."
Harry's smile was brilliant, as it always was when it reached his eyes. Ginny caught an encouraging look from Hermione, and even Ron looked like he approved of the idea. She had been avoiding her friends lately. The dance probably would be fun. She turned to Neville.
"Er- it's ok, Ginny," he said, "You don't have to go with me."
Neville was so nice. And she had had a good time with him at the Yule Ball two years earlier. "That's no way to ask a girl for a date, Neville," she teased. The others snickered.
Neville's confidence had improved quite a bit in the past couple years, but it still seemed lacking with girls. It was kind of cute, really. "Er- you mean you'd want to go with me?" he said.
"I'd love to, Neville, thanks for asking."
The decision to go felt good. Ginny knew she wasn't over Harry, but she didn't have to put her entire life on hold.
The DA felt good, too. Harry was trying to teach them to silently cast spells. He had them start by whispering the spells, and then had them try silently. Problem was, everyone's spells seemed to get weaker when they got quieter, and they didn't work at all when silent. It was pretty frustrating.
Harry watched them all for a while, and then said, "You know what, I had this same problem, too, when Ki-, when I was learning this. Try this..." Harry moved into a position in front of a set of targets they had set up earlier.
"REDUCTO!" Harry blew one target away. "REDUCTO!" Another one went down. Harry shouted out the spell a few more times, and then moved on to the next target and pulverized it without saying a word.
He turned to everyone and smiled. Most of the DA looked stunned at the power of Harry's spells, but he ignored it. "Try shouting the spell—I find reducto to be satisfying, but you can use what you want—shout it until you feel like you have a good rhythm going and a good feel to the spell, and then try it a few times, but keep the shout inside your head."
The room was filled with destruction as people tried this new method. Ginny, like most, chose the reductor curse like Harry. She started in on a set of targets; it was satisfying to blow stuff up. She smashed several of the targets, really felt a good flow of the motion of the spell, looked at the next target, whipped her wand down to aim, imagined the results of her earlier spells, but this time only imagined herself shouting, "REDUCTO!"
And the target shattered.
"Yes!" she squealed. Those nearest her turned as she jumped up and down. "I got it!" Confident now, she turned to the last two targets in her set and thought the spell and smashed them.
Harry had come over, and saw her silent spell. "Excellent, Ginny! See, you lot, it can be done!"
His smile was genuine and all for her. She practically leapt at him to hug him. "Harry, you are the best!"
"The best teacher ever!" she amended. "This is brilliant!"
By the end of the session, almost half the DA had some success in silent spells. Ginny's first try at levitation didn't work, but she repeated doing it verbally loudly repetitively, and had that spell, too by the end. Even those who didn't get it this time left the session encouraged by the others' success and the general good mood. Harry was so fantastic.
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The Halloween dance was fun, Ginny had to admit. The Great Hall was well-decorated, and the band, Purple Loosestrife, was pretty good. The house tables were gone, smaller round tables scattered in the hall instead. The 'Ministry Six' had a table close to a corner, and Harry wasted no time putting up aversion charms around it. Hermione wanted him to teach them to her then and there, but Harry and Ron convinced her to wait.
The six of them talked and laughed throughout dinner, and no one but the Headmaster ever looked their way. When he did, his eyes were twinkling, of course. After dinner, they all headed out to dance, which was interesting. Watching Harry dance with Luna was another bittersweet moment; he looked happy, but wasn't with her. Neville was really sweet and managed to avoid her toes, mostly. They all switched around a couple times. Dancing with Harry was heaven, but it hurt like hell when it was over. She pressed close enough so that she could hide her face; she was living in a fantasy for that dance, and she was sure it could be read by all. Letting him go dance with Hermione was so hard. She sat as she watched him talk and laugh as he danced with Hermione; she didn't feel like a dance with her brother. Ginny wondered if she'd be better off aiming for the brother-sister-type love that he shared with Hermione.
Harry danced with a few other girls, but managed to turn away more. He left with Luna long before the extended curfew of 11:00.
Ginny managed to push Harry Potter from her mind and enjoyed a few dances with Neville and a couple with some of the many other boys who asked for dances. She turned down Michael Corner, and that made her wonder where Dean was. She couldn't help feeling a little vindictive glee when she spotted him by himself, being avoided by girls.
Everyone grumbled when Dumbledore insisted it was time for bed. The band got a last, loud round of applause (along with a number of shrieks from the girls—the lead singer was hot). And then everyone ambled off to the common rooms. Everyone was in good spirits and few seemed eager to break off conversations to head to the dorms. Ginny was talking with Colin Creevey and Andrew Kirke, about 15 minutes past curfew, when Harry came through the portrait. He seemed to be as relaxed as everyone else, but there was something off. Maybe it was in his eyes. His jaw wasn't clenched, but Ginny somehow felt he was working to not clench it. Whatever it was, Ginny thought something was wrong.
Harry didn't make a beeline for Ron and Hermione, but after Seamus teased him a little about what he could have been doing out late, he moved in their direction. Ginny had already lost the conversation Colin and Andrew were having about Quidditch posters, and she made her way over to them.
Hermione and Harry were teasing Ron about his dancing when Ginny sat down. Why was Harry acting like everything was fine with them? Didn't they see it? "What's wrong, Harry?" Ginny asked.
He looked surprised she asked. So did Ron and Hermione. He glanced around, but people were starting to drift off to bed, and no one was paying attention to the Trio (plus Ginny) in their usual spot. "Later," he said. "Neville head up already?"
"Uh, yeah, he er- was with a little bit..." Ron broke off.
Harry laughed, "But he couldn't take you two acting so cozy?" Harry lifted an eyebrow while Hermione blushed a little and Ron blushed a lot.
Despite his blush, Ron said, "Well some of us like to kiss our girlfriends."
"You don't think Luna and I kiss?" Harry asked
"I've never seen you. You've never talked about it except for the first Hogsmeade day," Hermione said.
"Well some of us have discretion," Harry mocked. He glanced around again. Most of those remaining in the common room were paired off. "Do you think putting up a privacy charm would just draw more attention?" he asked.
"I don't think so," said Hermione. She pulled her wand and delimited a curtain of magic around them that glowed for just a moment before turning invisible. The pop of the fire and the buzz of the other conversations were cut off. No seemed to notice and then Harry drew his wand, too.
"Just layering on a mild aversion charm, too," he said. He looked around again, and then let his face show worry. "So," he said, "I've gotta go meet someone soon, but it could be a trap. Any of you interested in backing me up?"
Ron and Ginny immediately started to say yes, but Hermione was loudest. "Harry! Of course, we'll help you, but you have to tell us what's going on!"
Harry gave her a smile, "You sound like me. Alright... After I dropped Luna off at Ravenclaw Tower, Cho came out and asked for a minute... She, er, asked me to meet her at midnight in the empty room at the end of the hall down from the Defense classroom."
"You want us to go with you to meet the hottest girl in school?" Ron asked.
Hermione hit him as Ginny asked, "You agreed to go?"
Harry rubbed his eyes with one hand, sighed, and said, "I think she's under the Imperius. She didn't quite seem like herself."
"Oh, Harry! You should tell Prof. Dumbledore, then!" Hermione exclaimed.
Harry winced. "Well, I'm not sure she's under Imperius, and, if she's not... she could get into trouble."
"Harry, she's allowed to be out after curfew," Hermione said.
Ginny narrowed her eyes and said, "Harry, what did she say to you?"
Harry rubbed his eyes again. "I know you'll keep this to yourselves... she said she'd show me a whole new meaning to 'head girl.'"
"She said WHAT?" Ginny shouted. It was a good thing there were privacy charms up.
"I'll tell you what it means later. Or Hermione will," Ron said.
Oh, what an ignoramus "I know what it means, Ron. Maybe I've done it." Oh, crap. Did Ron have to bring foot-in-mouth disease out in everyone around him, too?
The Trio looked at her in shock.
"I haven't- oh, forget it," Ginny said. "Doesn't Cho know you're with Luna?"
Harry seemed happy to change the subject. "Yeah, she must, and this doesn't seem like her, which is why I think it might be Imperius. She seemed to be blinking a lot, too."
"Why would you think she wasn't, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Well, I don't really know her that well, and, er- despite Luna, a few girls have been making me, er- offers, and I do know that Cho can be really competitive."
"So what do you want? We tag along and bail you out if it's a trap, otherwise stay to watch?" Ginny asked.
Harry winced again. Poor boy. The thought of girls offering themselves to Harry made Ginny's blood boil, but it probably terrified him. Luna's kisses aside, Ginny really didn't think Harry had clue.
Hermione said, "Maybe you shouldn't go."
"I have to go. If she's for real, I need to tell her to cut it out. If it's something sinister, we deal with it now when our guard is up. If whoever it is realizes I'm suspicious, the next trap might be one I don't see coming."
"Harry's right," said Ron, "In chess, I love it when I see the other guy trying to set up a trap. If they think you're falling for it, you know exactly what they're going to do."
Harry pulled his invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map out of a very small pocket, and said, "Look. Cho's already there. I'll talk to her and tell her I'm not interested. If she's ok, then that'll be it. You guys can be nearby under the cloak with the Map. If she's under Imperius, whoever did it, or someone sent by them, will probably come around. You should see whoever coming and be able to take them down before they even know someone's there."
"Should we get Neville?" Ginny asked, thinking that there'd be more safety with numbers.
Harry gave her an odd look and said, "No, moving with three under the cloak is hard enough. And I need you undistracted to keep Ron and Hermione from getting distracted by each other." Hermione and Ron looked ready to protest, but he got them to talk about their plan instead.
Harry didn't want anyone to know that they were going to be out. Since no one seemed to be looking he put the cloak over Ginny, who then went a little ways up the boys stairs. She heard Harry call goodnight to the room, and when he came up, she moved the cloak and brought him under, too. It was warm in there.
They crept back down and moved to near the portrait hole. Ron and Hermione made some excuse about going on prefect rounds; Seamus's rude joke made it clear that everyone left in the Common Room just thought they were going for a more private place to snog. Hermione held the portrait open, and while Harry and Ginny slipped out, she made some comment to everyone not to stay up too late; there were still classes the next day.
After Ron and Hermione joined them, Harry pulled the cloak off and they made their way quietly towards the Defense corridor. When they were a few turns away, the stopped and consulted the map. He whispered, "She's still waiting; no one else is near. I think it's good I'm a little early. If someone comes you know what to do?" They nodded and Harry continued, "I've tried to layer a silencing charm into the cloak, but it doesn't totally take. You've got some protection, but still, be quiet." They nodded again and put the cloak on, then followed Harry.
When Harry pushed the door to the room open, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were several paces back in the hallway. They stopped there; they didn't want any sound to give them away as they kept an eye on the room and on the Map.
Cho was leaning back against an old desk, the only object in the room. The way her robes were on her seemed odd. "Thanks for coming, Harry," she said, flashing a brilliant smile. Ginny thought cursing her right off seemed like a better plan.
"What do you want, Cho?" Harry said, stopping just inside the doorway. "I thought you knew I was with Luna."
"Well." She stood up, and hers robes parted slightly. Ginny could see a line of skin all the way down her front to where it disappeared in shadow! "I thought I might be able to show you something that would change your mind."
Ron let out a breath, and Hermione quickly turned and waved her wand in the air in front of his face, whispering, "Obscurus." Her whisper was masked by Harry saying, "Uh- Cho?"
Ron looked like he was going to protest the change to his view, so Ginny clapped a hand over his mouth. Ginny whispered, "We should go in." Hermione shook her head and put her finger to her lips.
Cho hadn't moved closer to Harry, but she said, "Don't you think I'm pretty?" She crossed her arms in front of her then slid the robes off her shoulders. They were just held by her arms, now. Harry had agreed to keep near the door, and not get drawn into the room, but it looked like he had to fight the urge to rush towards Cho. Did he want to hold her robes up, or merely get closer to her?
He didn't move closer, and just sort of stammered. Cho beamed at him, then let her arms drop. Wow. I don't swing that way, but even I think she's hot, Ginny thought. Everyone knew Cho's complexion was flawless, and now it was plain to see that her skin was perfect and smooth all over. Her legs were long and toned, she had curves in the right places, but no hint of a tummy, her breasts were bigger than Ginny's and looked high and firm. Ginny actually wondered how they felt. Ron whimpered next to her, and rubbed his eyes, but that didn't seem to improve his view. Hermione's eyes bugged out and she didn't even stop staring at the scene to swat Ron for making noise. Ginny wished that Harry would turn away, but felt there was no chance that he wasn't entranced. She even felt bad for Luna; no one could compete with this.
"Oops," Cho giggled after a moment. "I dropped my robes." She turned and put her feet more than shoulder-width apart. And then she bent over.
Ginny had seen other girls starkers, in the changing rooms for Quidditch, in the showers at Hogwarts, but she had never seen anything like this. She had never gotten such a good look at her own bits!
Cho looked around her legs, still bent over, and said, "I guess I don't really need them, do I?" She ran one hand along her leg as she stood up. She gave Harry another smile over her shoulder, then turned around...
...with her wand in her hand.
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A/N: I really feel like that makes sense as the end of the chapter. I have to admit, I hate cliffhangers when I read a story, but they're fun to write. I solemnly swear that I'll post at least the beginning of Ch 11 within 24 hrs. I can almost guarantee that the chapter won't be done, but I won't leave you hanging. I'll admit to the insecure feeling that if it's too long you won't feel like it's worth the wait.
In other news, I'd love a beta. Anyone interested or know someone who might be? Point out some specific errors in any earlier chapter to apply. I know some errors get by my final read. At that point I often see what I know is supposed to be there.
Many thanks to my reviewers. It's quite inspiring to receive even short notes about your reactions to this piece.
The stage has been totally set. I've been waiting for Halloween—I'm all ready to deliver even more trouble this year.