Chapter 11: Hiding True Feelings

Ben came back from breakfast with a huge smile on his face. The time that he had spent with Leanne had been really great. He felt so comfortable with her, something he hadn't felt in a long time. Since the move to Hogwarts, he had been dealing with a lot of pent-up frustration and anxiety... He liked school and everything, but he had really been homesick. He missed his mother and his younger cousins at home. He was especially close to Hermione and Ron's younger daughter, Caroline. But after meeting Leanne, things at Hogwarts really seemed to be looking up. He wasn't so worried about fitting in anymore. Her prescence made things so much easier. He couldn't stop thinking about her... how smart she was, how beautiful she was, how she magically made things seem okay, even when they weren't at all...

He headed up the stairs toward the Gryffindor common room with a huge smile on his face, lost in his own thoughts. He didn't even notice Cora, her nose stuck in a book, coming down the stairs. The two nearly collided before Cora looked up and side-stepped out of the way.

"Something must be on your mind," she observed.

Ben shook his head to clear his thoughts and glanced up at Cora.

"No, nothing's on my mind! Just getting to class!" he said hurriedly.

"Really?" Cora smirked. "Because we both have Transfiguration next and that's not for another hour and a half."

Ben turned scarlet, blushing vividly.

"Aaah... that's what I thought," Cora said. "It's a girl."

"Who said it was a girl? I'm not interested in... anyone... at the moment. In fact, I'm... looking for Zack."

"He's napping in the boys' dormitory," Cora said, frowning. "But why would you be lost in thought about your brother? Is he in some kind of trouble?"

Ben laughed genuinely. "Funny. Zack's always in trouble. I've stopped caring at this point. I mean, the last time I got interested in Zack's issues, he turned me into an elephant."

"I guess so," Cora said. "Look, I've got to go to the library. We'll talk later, okay?"

"Okay," Ben said, ready to get out of Cora's invasive questioning.

They parted ways and Cora headed to the library. Leanne was already down there.

"So, how was breakfast?" Leanne asked.

"Fine as usual. I sat with Zack and James and Julia today. Where were you?" Cora asked, frowning. "We missed you."

"Yeah, well, Ben and I had breakfast together," Leanne said, scanning a page of Moste Potente Potions. She grimaced at the gruesome images the book portrayed.

"Where did you get that book?" Cora asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"The Restricted section," Leanne said absentmindedly, turning another page.

Cora gasped in shock mixed with a little excitement and admiration.

"How did you manage that one?" she hissed.

"My older brother is a seventh year... he uses them for Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts," she said. "I was interested, so I took it out of his backpack."

"What house is your brother in?" Cora asked.

"Ravenclaw," Leanne answered. "My whole family has been in Ravenclaw... I'm the first one not to be. They weren't exactly thrilled that I was in Gryffindor, but anything is better than Slytherin."

Cora nodded. She understood the loyalty most families had to their houses. Everyone in her family had been descended from Gryffindor... and she knew that Julia Adams was the first one from her family not to be placed in Slytherin... James had mentioned that a few times. She often wondered if something more serious was going on between her cousin and his friend, but she never mentioned it aloud.

"Why did you and Ben have breakfast alone together?" Cora asked suddenly.

"Because we're friends," Leanne replied. "And he seemed to be slightly upset earlier today. So I decided I should go and cheer him up."

"But I thought you liked Zack!" Cora exclaimed.

"I do," Leanne admitted. "But I can still be friends with Ben, can't I?"

"I suppose," Cora said. "I'm just afraid that if you're a bit... too friendly... that Ben will get lead on. He's my cousin and I don't want him to get hurt."

"I promise you, Cora. I'm not going to hurt him! He's my closest friend, besides you and Rose, and I'm don't want him to get hurt either."

Cora nodded, but she was still suspicious.

Leanne burst into laughter. "I promise, I don't like Ben like that and he doesn't like me like that either!"

Harry and Ginny were sitting outside of the Weasley's house, cuddling on the porch swing, holding hands. She rested her head on his shoulder and they each sighed in contentment. Things in recent weeks had gotten a lot better for them and they were excited about what the future had to hold for them.

A dark figure in the distance caused Ginny to frown and lift her head up off of Harry's shoulder and peer into the distance.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked her.

"It looks like someone is heading this way," she said.

"At this time in the morning?" Harry asked. "Surely not!"

"I promise you, there is someone coming!" Ginny hissed.

The figure grew closer and closer. Ginny jumped and cowered in fear.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked her, surprised and concerned.

"Harry, it's him," she said nervously.

"Who?" Harry asked, utterly bewildered.

"It's Riley," Ginny gasped.

The man walked up the pathway to the porch.

"Ginny, it's nice to see you again," he said pleasantly.

"I don't want to see you," Ginny said. "Please leave."

"I can't. I need to talk to you," Riley said.

"You heard her," Harry growled. "Leave."

"I wanted to come and apologize to you," Riley said. "My actions not too long ago were quite regrettable. I feel awful..."

"You beat my son," Ginny said flatly. "You left bruises on my four-year-old son. I don't care how awful you feel or how angry he made you. You DO NOT lay your hands on a defenseless child for any reason."

"I came to apologize. Is James here? I wanted to apologize to him, too!" Riley said, seeming anguished.

"A simple apology won't do any good... I'm never going to forgive what you did to my child."

"Nor will I," Harry said through clenched teeth. He had half a mind to hex the bastard in front of him into oblivion.

"I don't need your permission," Riley snapped at Harry.

"My son didn't deserve to be treated like a punching bag... I have half a mind to get up and show you how it feels!" Harry roared.

"Well, at least I didn't cheat on Ginny. At least I didn't get up and abandon my kids!" Riley smirked.

"Yes you did," Ginny said quietly.

"What?" Riley snapped.

"I was pregnant, Riley. You beat my son and I left. I wrote you a letter, trying to tell you that I was pregnant, but you never made contact. I did the only thing I could do. I aborted our child."

Riley didn't even flinch.

"Good. Because I didn't want a blood-traitor to give birth to my child anyway."

Harry couldn't take it anymore. He jumped up and delivered a striking left hook to Riley's right jaw.

"Don't ever talk to the mother of my children ever again. If you do, you will surely regret it," he growled menacingly. "Now get your arse off of this property now before I set the family ghoul on you."

Riley Disapparated and Ginny flung herself into Harry's arms dissolving into tears.

I just got a whole bunch of inspiration from a review... so I have a hesitant plot line etched out. I know what I want to do with the story, but getting things laid out is going to be slightly difficult. I want to age the children to about the third or fourth year in the next few chapters, but I'm not sure how to do it without causing too much of a shift in events. If you have any ideas, please review or private message me. Once I get this straightened out, I'll be able to fix it... Perhaps I should cryogenically freeze Harry for three years? ahaha... Perhaps a bit too sci-fi, but I'm up to anything that'll make the story flow.

Please review!!