Soul Nexus 11: Discord

Harry and Ginny trekked back up to the castle without speaking, but for them verbal silence only meant a sharing of feelings without words. There would never be complete silence between them again, and even though one of them may try to shut the other out, they'd found that a cold shoulder wasn't even close to going back to being two separate people.

Naturally, Ron and Hermione were waiting anxiously for them the moment they stepped through the doors to the Entrance Hall, but from the first moment Harry saw Hermione, he knew things weren't all right by a long shot. There was a definite difference between the feelings that Ginny and Hermione each evoked in him, but he'd never thought it was as drastically different as it was. If he'd been honest with himself, he would have realized that there were parts of Hermione's personality that did on him every time he saw her, but there were so many redeeming qualities that it never seemed to matter. This evening had been an occasion where he'd been caught unaware and he hadn't had the presence of mind to throw a familiar blanket over his emotions, causing the awkward situation of having to explain to Hermione why he had acted so differently for her than for Ginny.

"Harry! Where've you been?"

Harry tried to force a smile for Ron's obvious excitement, but it felt fake on his face. "Just having a nap out by the lake. It's nothing, really."

"For the whole day?"

"Lost track of time, I suppose," Harry shrugged. "So did I miss anything in lessons?"

Ron shook his head. "No, but I wish you'd told me you were going to skive off. I could have used a break too, you know."

Harry shook his head, shoving aside Ginny's amusement. By now, the warm feelings of being woken by her had worn off and her obvious irritation and dislike of Hermione was starting to wear on him. As he thought of that, a flash of Ginny's vision nearly overtook him, causing a second of dizziness and a brief moment of vertigo. He shook his head to clear it, but a thought still remained behind. Hermione's got a glamour charm – funny, I thought she would have done a better job with it.

"Well, I wasn't planning on it, it just kind of happened," Harry replied, but his attention was directed over at Hermione, who was standing in the background looking as indifferent as ever. If Ginny's thought hadn't slipped into his mind, he never would have noticed the faint traces of redness to her eyes and nose that gave away a hastily applied glamour charm, making him wonder how many times she'd done the same thing before and he'd never noticed.

"Wait, we checked by the lake," Ron said, confused. "Isn't the other side in the Forest?"

Harry exchanged a look with Ginny and then shook his head in dismissal. "It was only the edge. You sound like Her–" He froze, horrified at what he'd nearly said. With all the willpower he could muster, he forced his eyes to remain on Ron and not even twitch toward Hermione. "Like your mum." Only after Ron rolled his eyes and grumbled did Harry allow himself to look at Hermione, who had an understandably clouded expression on her face.

"Are you all right?" she asked sharply, raising an eyebrow at his gaze. Harry squirmed under a look of obvious condescension, dropping that same gaze to the floor.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

You didn't do anything wrong! Ginny practically yelled in his head while pretending to look at some of the artwork. Stand up to her!

"Well then, I have a lot of work to do, so I'm going back to the common room." She paused a second to glance over Harry again, something springing to her eyes that even a perfect glamour couldn't cover, and then the three of them watched her spin on her heel and march off toward the staircases. Harry didn't blame her, really, but the last five minutes still left him with a bitter taste in his mouth. He followed Ron and Ginny up the staircases a few moments later, but he didn't feel like talking, so the Weasleys filled the silence with unimportant chatter. He was thankful for that at least, even if he couldn't stop wondering how to talk to Hermione without lying and yet still patching things up.

------

The rest of the night was uneventful, though Hermione was up in her dormitory by the time the trio arrived in the common room. For once, Harry and Ginny got through an ordinary night with nothing happening between them, other than slight sensations here and there that they knew weren't their own. There wasn't much they could do about it, so they left their thoughts and slight irritation unspoken and passed an enjoyable night with Ron, who seemed pleasantly surprised by their enthusiastic company. Harry caught him more than once looking up at the girls' staircase, but there wasn't much he could say so he remained quiet.

The next morning, both Harry and Ginny were extra careful in coming down the steps, though no overwhelming bursts of vertigo overtook them and they generally remained in their own skins. In fact, if he didn't know better, Harry would have sworn that everything was perfectly normal and he'd only imagined seeing and feeling through Ginny's senses the previous day. Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be found, so they finally wound up going down to breakfast with just the two of them. It was impossible to be disappointed about being with Ginny, but there was still a nagging feeling at the back of his heart that something wasn't quite right.

"Stop worrying, Harry. Hermione will be fine."

His eyes glanced over at Ginny, shaking his head. "You know I don't believe that."

"You know it's true."

Harry thought about that for a bit, and yes, he did know that eventually Hermione would be fine, but what always made her okay? Even after being attacked by a basilisk, she'd suffered no permanent harm and walked away without so much as a broken bone.

"Only because I'm going to apologize."

"You've changed."

The sentence was so short and quick that Harry nearly passed over it without thinking. By the second time it had run through his mind, he raised a curious eyebrow at Ginny and gently nudged her mind, wondering what she was thinking. A lot of confusion swirled and he couldn't get a clear read on her, but he thought (hoped, even) that he detected a small bit of pride mixed in somewhere.

"What d'you mean?"

Ginny shook her head, her hair falling across her face in a way that Harry couldn't miss. "It's just...I don't know. You feel different. Softer. More open." Her eyes squeezed shut as she growled. "No, it's not a bad thing! It's just...different."

They were almost to the Great Hall, which was good because Harry didn't quite know how to respond. Even if he had, he wouldn't have gotten the chance because Hermione came bursting out of the doors looking very frustrated and not at all happy. Harry quickly stepped out of her way, though he wasn't quite fast enough to avoid a hard knock to the side from her very heavy bookbag. Fortunately, Hermione either didn't notice or didn't care, because she didn't stop even as she disappeared from sight around a corner. Harry and Ginny both shared a questioning glance at one and other before stepping into the Hall and finding Ron with their eyes. He looked rather miserable, which only lent more confusion to the situation. Harry knew Ron was a bit, well, thick when it came to Hermione, but even he had the sense not to hack her off after what happened the day before, didn't he?

Ginny's hand began dragging him over toward the Gryffindor table, which was a good thing because they were starting to attract some attention, though Harry did get a slight feeling of satisfaction when he saw Malfoy still doing everything he could not to look at or attract the attention of himself or Ginny.

"What's Hermione all in a huff about?" Ginny asked pleasantly as she and Harry slipped down to the table on either side of Ron. Harry was momentarily distracted by her disappointment that they couldn't sit next to each other (there wasn't enough room), but he shook it off and chiding himself for actually starting to agree with her. He wasn't a girl — not sitting next to his best friend for breakfast wasn't something to even think about.

"Nothing," Ron replied. He looked rather unhappy, considering he had a nearly full plate of breakfast in front of him. It looked as though he'd piled on the food, ready for a feast and then something had taken away his appetite entirely.

Ginny rolled her eyes and started in on her breakfast, unaffected, but Harry couldn't stop thinking about it. Hagrid was right — he did need to look after his friends better. He knew he was responsible for the breakdown Hermione was displaying, and now he had to do something about it.

"Hey." Ginny reached around Ron to poke Harry in the side. "Don't worry about it, she'll be all right."

He'd said the same thing to Hagrid yesterday, and even then he'd known that the words were hollow. The only reason she would be all right was if he did something about it.

"Oi! Harry!"

Harry turned toward the voice of his Quidditch captain, Oliver Wood. The burly keeper had a fire in his eyes that didn't bode well for the overall happiness of the Gryffindor team — it usually meant more practices and longer at each practice session.

"I'm upping the practices to today, tomorrow, and Friday to get ready for the match on Saturday. Be out on the pitch at five sharp! No excuses, and NO getting into more detention!"

"Right-o, Oliver!" Harry did his best to match the older boy's enthusiasm, but it never came off quite right. He felt Ginny snickering at him quietly, but he ignored that and went back to his food.

The rest of the breakfast was consumed in relative quiet, especially for Weasleys. Ginny mostly talked to the other members of Gryffindor house, including some people that Harry knew she wasn't all too thrilled about talking to. At first he thought that she just didn't want to talk to them because she didn't like them, but between the conversations and the rising feeling of guilt that he felt, he realized they were friends that she'd been neglecting to hang out with 'the third-years'.

------

Classes that day were like an intricate piece of glass in that the normalcy of them was beautiful to the third-year trio, but it was forced and ready to shatter at any moment. Many of the conversations felt stilted, and neither Harry nor Ron asked where Hermione got off to when she suddenly disappeared and returned a minute later, looking decidedly more tired. She begged off going to watch Quidditch practice in favor of stealing up to the common room for a short nap, but she agreed to meet them in the Great Hall for a slightly later than normal dinner.

Dinnertime was much the same as classes had been, especially without Ginny's unconcerned presence to shatter the glass and make things terribly awkward. Harry had nearly forced her to sit with her friends, using her own feelings of guilt against her and suggesting that if she didn't want to be with her other friends, she might as well just tell them that she didn't want to be around them anymore. Ginny had given him a mental slap and ignored him, but when he came into the Great Hall with Hermione and Ron for dinner, she was securely tucked away among a group of first and second years, chatting away merrily.

"So Hermione..." Harry asked casually around a mouthful of food. "Would you mind going over what I missed in Arithmancy yesterday?"

She shrugged in clear indifference. "Sure."

"Do you have a lot of work to do tonight?"

"I always have a lot of work to do. Just whenever is best for you."

Harry's head spun slightly. There was a hidden barb in that last comment, one that he knew Hermione wouldn't expect him to get, but much to his consternation he was proving her right. Her tone had given away nothing, but he had this nagging feeling there was something big he was missing.

"Why don't you take a break tonight and we can go see Hagrid?" Harry asked suddenly.

Both Hermione and Ron gave him quizzical looks, though Ron looked more bewildered and Hermione skeptical. Harry raised an eyebrow at Ron, knowing he would be a much easier sell.

"We haven't been down there in ages," the redhead tentatively agreed. Hermione glanced in his direction looking a little trapped, but the tension lines on her forehead relaxed a bit as she agreed.

"I suppose a bit of a break couldn't hurt, if we don't stay too long."

Ron threw Harry an exasperated glance, but he ignored it. There wasn't any way he was going to start another argument with Hermione, especially about how much she worked. It really wasn't any of his business anyway.

After dinner, the three slipped out of the Great Hall and headed down toward the cabin. Ginny asked Harry where they were going, but he just shrugged her off and said nowhere, even though it was impossible to lie to her. Ginny seemed genuinely hurt by his evasion, but it was hard for Harry to feel sorry for her. She and Hermione weren't exactly the best of friends at the moment, and he didn't want to drive Hermione even farther away by making her feel uncomfortable. Ginny could always find him if she really needed anything, but maybe if he didn't tell her she would take a hint and not try to follow along. He hoped to be able to apologize to Hermione without Ginny around (well, as absent as a Soulmate could be) and maybe he might be taken seriously.

"Hullo Hagrid!" Ron greeted merrily, just before being attacked by Fang's tongue. Hagrid's eyes widened in obvious surprise at seeing the three of them, but he hurriedly ushered them in and took a quick look around before shutting the door.

"What 'er you three doin' here?"

Harry glanced at Hermione, who was doing a very nice impression of hurt in her expression. To be quite honest, Harry wondered for a moment if it was real.

"Harry just thought it would be nice to come see you. We can go if you don't —"

"Nonsense! Always happy teh 'ave yeh!" The half-giant's eyes darted over to Harry. "I jus' don't know if yeh should be out so late, Harry."

Harry shifted, but didn't respond. It was true, and his conversation with McGonagall had already confirmed that in his head, but that didn't stop him from feeling rather like a caged animal when anyone mentioned it to him. Even with his recent vacation by the lake, without the ability to roam about the grounds as he pleased the castle was starting to feel like a cupboard. A very large and very nice cupboard, but still a cupboard. If Black found him outside the protection of the teachers and enchantments, there was no telling what might happen.

Hagrid seemed to sense the tension in the room, because he busied about making tea and ushering them to the lone table in his little cabin.

"So what did yeh come down fer?"

The trio shared a mutual shrug. "Just thought it would be nice to see you Hagrid," Hermione finally replied.

The groundskeeper raised his bushy eyebrows, but didn't say anything about it as he served the tea. He made a pointed effort of asking Ron and Harry about their classes, and generally inquiring about the Weasleys. They actually shared a somewhat pleasant evening, and much to Harry's pleasure, some of the ice between him and Hermione thawed. She even went as far as giving him a slight smile when neither Ron nor Hagrid were looking. Harry hadn't a clue what it meant other than he'd done something right, though as usual, it was a complete guess as to what it was.

"I think we'd better get going Hagrid," Hermione finally said, some hour or so later. "We don't want to be out past curfew."

The burly giant blinked as if coming out of a reverie. "Blimey 'Ermione, yer right. 'Ere, lemme escort yeh back up." He began to rise, but Hermione shook her head, surprising Harry. He would have thought she'd have been happy for that.

"Don't trouble yourself Hagrid. I'm sure we'll be fine."

Ron was already nearly out the door when he hesitated. After an odd silence, Hagrid sat back down with his brow furrowed.

"Are we going?" Ron asked impatiently. Both Harry and Hermione shot him slightly irritated glances, but they followed him out the door anyway. It wasn't until they were halfway back up to the castle and nearly shivering that anyone said anything.

"I thought we'd never get out of there!"

"Ron!"

"Well, it's true."

Hermione huffed and started to walk away, but Harry impulsively put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her. It didn't require any force — just the shock of Harry reaching out to her must have had stopping power all on its own.

"It was nice talking to him, Ron." He let his hand fall away from Hermione's shoulder and didn't look at her, but he could feel her eyes boring into him. "I think it was nice."

Ron turned his eyes to stare at him as well, obviously miffed. "Who are you and what have you done with Harry?"

Harry groaned and ran his hands through his hair. Was he not allowed to say something that showed his feelings?

No.

Why now, of all times, did Ginny decide to pop into his head? She'd been pointedly ignoring him for the past hour, but apparently her curiosity had gotten the better of her; she was practically ready to explode with it.

You're not going to say anything nice to me anyway.

There was a short silence after that. You're right, but you can't stop me from talking. Ginny forced a feeling of superiority into him, one that Harry just let flow through him and away. He was in a very strange mood at the moment and nothing seemed to bother him.

"Harry!"

"Huh?" He started and looked up to find both Hermione and Ron staring at him curiously. He turned a bit pink and shuffled his feet. "Sorry, lost in thought." Hermione gave a slight nod while Ron just looked a little miffed and then unconcerned. After a moment, Hermione shook her head and started off ahead of them without looking back, obviously deciding she didn't want to talk to them anymore. Harry had a sneaky feeling she knew he'd been talking to Ginny.

"Do you ever understand her?" Ron asked suddenly. The redhead's eyes were watching Hermione enter the castle while his body remained frozen in place. Harry studied his friend's face for a moment, but there was no trace of humor or even exasperation — it seemed to be a genuine question.

"I don't even try."

Ron made an inaudible noise and shuffled his feet as he began to slowly lead the way back to the castle. "I just don't get it. I was trying to be nice to her at breakfast this morning, but she said I was making fun of her and got all hacked off at me."

Harry inwardly groaned, mostly because he didn't have an answer for his best mate. He couldn't very well ask Ginny, and he'd never understood why Hermione and Ron never got along. They were friends, to be sure, but they bickered a lot when Harry just didn't see the point behind it all.

"It's not your problem if she's nutters," Harry finally said, giving up on trying to understand. "There's nothing explainable about girls in general."

"You seem to get Ginny really well. Loads more than any of us do."

Harry's eyes flashed away from Ron and toward the ground. "Us?"

"Yeah. Me, Fred, George, Percy, and even Bill and Charlie. Everyone really. I've never seen her like she is with you. It's weird."

Again, Harry wondered how long Ron had been looking out for his little sister when no one was watching. "How do you mean?"

Ron shook his head vigorously and shrugged. "I honestly haven't a clue. It's like you two have something that none of us ever had, or ever will have. I don't know how I know it, I just do."

Isn't that the truth, Harry thought quietly so Ginny wouldn't hear him. He gave Ron another appraising look, once again marveling at how much he didn't know about his best friend. He wondered if anyone else knew Ron had the kinds of deep feelings he was expressing now, and if they would think of him any differently if they knew. It certainly changed Harry's perspective. Ron had always been his best friend, but up until this year, and even at the beginning of this year, he'd just generally agreed with everyone else when they said that Ron was shallow and transparent. That wasn't the case at all — if anything, he was so deep that most people couldn't see the bottom.

"So why exactly did Hermione get hacked off at you? Did you say something?"

Ron's eyebrows furrowed hard. "I don't think so...I was trying to compliment her hair, but I think I mucked it up."

Harry wasn't sure how to respond to that as he and Ron stepped into the castle and welcome relief from the cold. Ron was in one of his rare introspective moods, and though Harry had seen it once before, seeing him like this was a little disconcerting. There was something familiar and warm about Ron being typical Ron, something that assured him that he'd always find a laugh somewhere if he hung around long enough.

"She'll come around eventually. She can't just keep getting angry with you forever."

"I suppose. I reckon you're right though — I should just stop trying. It's hopeless."

That wasn't the exact point that Harry had been trying to get across, but he wasn't about to continue the — suddenly, Harry doubled over and nearly retched, his vision spinning as his ears burned with some sort of odd music that sounded almost Muggle in nature. However, unlike earlier episodes, this one didn't subside like normal. He fell all the way to his hands and knees, gasping for breath and squeezing his eyes shut against the nausea and dizziness. He felt a rush of anger and frustration as well, which could only mean that Ginny was feeling the same thing.

The prolonged period of the spell allowed his mind to get ever so slightly adjusted to the doubling of sensory input, and when his ears weren't ringing and he wasn't concentrating on not puking all over the Entrance Hall floor, he thought he could feel himself inside of Ginny's body, except that it wasn't quite Ginny's. There was some understanding of mutual sharing, like her body wasn't quite entirely her own, and his body wasn't quite entirely his own. Nothing in words, just a vague feeling of belonging that made him believe that however he was feeling this, there was a place for him to be inside of her that would always be his. For a brief moment, he felt as though he left his own body completely for Ginny's, and she had done the same for his.

All of this happened in a few moments, and as suddenly as it had come, it was gone. Harry was left alone on the cold stone of the castle floor, breathing hard and wondering what in Merlin's name had just happened. His eyes opened for the first time, and after a brief dizzy spell, he could make out the blurry form of Ron kneeling over him and handing him something. He reached out for his glasses and clumsily put them on, which was no easy task considering his hands were shaking like mad and his mind was completely elsewhere.

"All right there, Harry?"

After a moment, Harry nodded and attempted to sit up. He was successful without help from Ron, but only barely, and it took the two of them to get Harry on his feet again.

"What was that?"

At least Harry could answer him honestly this time. "I haven't a clue."

Ron gave him an appraising look, but didn't question further. He led the way into the castle, but after a couple turns, Harry realized he wasn't heading up toward Gryffindor Tower.

"Where are we going?"

Ron shot him an 'are-you-daft?' look and rolled his eyes. "The Hospital Wing."

Harry froze in his tracks. "Why would we do that? I'm fine now, and there's nothing Madam Pomfrey can do for me."

"Hermione would skin me alive if I didn't take you. Now come on and let's get this over with."

Harry almost agreed with him, until something set of a small bell in his head. "Wait, since when do you care what Hermione wants you to do?"

It was Ron's turn to freeze, and in Harry's opinion, the redhead looked a little caught out and sheepish. It was a familiar look on his face, like a little kid who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"You want to cross her right now?"

Harry nodded and agreed, but it still didn't explain anything. "She's not here, and she'd never know. What's going on between you two?"

"You're off your nut, Harry. There's nothing going on between me and Hermione." If Ron was lying, he was doing a very convincing job of it. His gaze never left Harry's face and was so intense that Harry almost wanted to shrink away from it. "It's just things are rough on her right now and I — we — shouldn't be making it harder on her."

"Maybe I should be asking you who you are," Harry muttered, mostly because he couldn't think of anything else. Ron was right, as crazy as that was, and there wasn't much else to be said, once he got past the craziness of Ron looking out for Hermione's emotional interests. However, Ron ignored him and continued toward the hospital wing, giving Harry no choice but to follow.

------

Hermione was nowhere to be found when Harry and Ron finally got back to the common room. Madam Pomfrey had insisted on running extra tests because of all the odd things that had been happening to Harry since coming back to the school, which took an eternity and then some. The medi-witch muttered occasionally about dementors, but it didn't seem that line of thinking got her anywhere. When she'd let Harry go, she reluctantly gave him a clean bill of health, though she didn't seem happy about it.

Harry knew Ginny was waiting for them by the fire, but he wasn't sure if she would come talk to them or just wait for him to go over to her. In all honesty, he didn't care. He and Ginny would be fine, it was just a question of when they would work out what was between them. A large part of it was Hermione, so until Harry resolved his issues there, he didn't think talking to Ginny would do much good. Just thinking about it made him feel like he was in one of those soaps that Aunt Petunia always listened to on the wireless.

"I think I'm going to head off to bed early," Ron said. Harry murmured an acknowledgment and followed his friend up the stairs to pick up his bag before returning to the common room alone. He found an empty table easily (there were several — most of the Gryffindors were in front of the warm fire) and settled into his Transfiguration homework, which was twice as hard seeing as he hadn't learned it in class. It wasn't long before he felt Ginny stand up and shuffle over to sit next to him.

"You aren't angry with me."

Harry shook his head. "You're right."

"So why?"

Harry put his quill down and took his glasses off so he could rub his eyes with the heels of his hands. "Because you and Hermione aren't getting along."

"I know that," Ginny said impatiently. Harry sighed and wondered if this was finally something that he got and Ginny truly didn't, or if she was just playing stupid to make him say it. He wasn't sure how to express what he wanted, so he just kept his mouth shut and let her think about it for a while.

"You're going to have to talk to me eventually." She sounded and felt even more peeved with every passing minute. Harry sighed and shook his head.

"Ginny, whatever I do I'm going to have someone angry with me. I just didn't think that it would be a good idea for both you and Hermione to come."

She huffed indignantly. "Well, considering that I'm inside your head, don't you think you should pay just a little bit more attention to me?"

Harry's eyes snapped toward her face, though it was more than a little blurry pink spot surrounded by a beautiful color of red. He wished he'd heard her wrong, but he knew he hadn't by the jealousy and insecurity that he felt from her. It bordered on selfishness.

"I can't just be around you all the time, Ginny. Hermione is my friend too, and I'm not going to stop being around her just because you don't like her."

"But all she wants to do is hurt us!"

Harry's feelings hardened and even before he opened his mouth, he felt Ginny recoil from him. For a split second, he wondered if their feelings were so real to each other that they could hurt.

"No, she doesn't, and don't ever say that."

Ginny looked like she was about to respond, but her eyes tracked up to something behind Harry and her mouth closed. She suddenly stood, grabbed her book, and headed off toward the girls' staircase without another word. Harry had almost reached for his glasses when he heard Hermione's voice behind him.

"I can go if you two want to talk."

Harry turned and looked at her before shaking his head. "No, I don't really want to talk to her right now." He noticed that Hermione had her Arithmancy book in her arms. "Did you want to study now?"

She looked uncomfortable for a moment, and then sat down in the chair that Ginny had just vacated. "Can I ask you something Harry?"

Tired of seeing everything blurry, Harry slipped his glasses back on and Hermione's face came into view. It was a huge difference from what he remembered her being — she had dark circles under her eyes, and she looked as though she could use a warm meal and a good night's rest. He couldn't remember how she'd started looking so...unhealthy, but even more disturbing was the fact that he'd missed it before now.

"Sure..."

"Why does Ginny hate me so much?"

The question wasn't surprising, but the wording caught him a little off-guard. He'd never associated the word hate with Ginny's feelings toward Hermione, but then again, he had an inside track to the younger girl's emotions that Hermione didn't. Harry took a breath to keep himself from growing in frustration.

"She doesn't hate you, Hermione, she just doesn't like other people knowing about certain things."

Hermione's lips thinned as she entered an obvious problem solving mode. "It's not just that, Harry."

"She doesn't like you because she wants me all to herself."

At this revelation, Hermione's eyes widened and her mouth formed a small "o" and her fingers began flipping at the corners of her Arithmancy book in an obvious sign of nervousness and confusion.

"She told you that?"

Harry shook his head again. "No, but even I'm not daft enough to miss it." Well, I was until five minutes ago. "I don't know why though."

"I suppose your connection might have something to do with it." Hermione gave short, harsh laugh at that and set her book on the table. "And maybe one day you'll understand you're that special." When Harry didn't respond, she continued, "I hope you're not angry with me."

"Why would I be angry with you?"

The look she gave him made an answer irrelevant. Harry hung his head and knew now was the time to apologize, but it didn't make it any easier.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you and everything. I was just worried about Ginny and she was yelling at me."

Hermione adopted a half-relieved, half-wistful expression that really didn't tell Harry anything. "It's all right. I'll try to stay out of your way more."

Harry furrowed his eyebrows and studied her face, looking for a clue. "Why would you say that?"

Hermione snorted derisively. "I'm not blind."

His confusion increased. "What do you mean?"

"Don't worry about it. I understand." She picked up her book again and yawned, though it looked rather fake even to Harry. "I'm going to call it a night. Sleep well."

Harry wanted to reach out to stop her, to figure out what she was talking about, but she was gone before he could figure out what to say. He had thought that apologizing and talking about it would make everything go away, but there was something still bothering Hermione and apparently there was nothing he could do about it. He sat for a long time staring at the fire, just thinking until Dean wandered over to ask if he was all right. Harry assured him he was and followed his dorm mate up to bed, though sleep did not come easily.

------

The next morning came entirely too quickly and what rest Harry did get almost wasn't worth it. He had a headache from being awoken from a deep sleep by the alarm on his wand, and he felt like he'd been sleeping out in the cold and on a rock instead of his warm, comfortable bed. When Ron asked why he looked like he hadn't slept, he feigned ignorance, but he knew he never slept well when he was fighting with Ginny, and his conversation with Hermione hadn't exactly helped.

He ate with Hermione and Ron because Ginny was nowhere to be found. He knew she was still up in the dorms, attempting to sleep, but he didn't mention this to anyone. His relationship with Hermione was back to normal, though there seemed to be something a little off about her in general, namely she was quieter and more subdued. He chalked it up to lack of sleep and general fatigue from doing so much more work than everyone else, but he wasn't sure if he really believed that. He made a mental note to ask her how she did it all sometime.

Harry did make sure that Ginny got up in time to get to classes, which she did, just barely. She tried to brush off his mental presence and ignore him, but there wasn't much she could do to shut him out other than getting progressively more annoyed as the day went on. Eventually Harry stopped trying to think about her and left her alone, which was rewarded by a sense of relief flooding through them. The two barely saw each other all day, and even in the common room after Quidditch practice (which only Ron had come to watch) Ginny didn't look at him and they didn't say a word. It was great for going over Arithmancy because he learned loads and Hermione complimented him on how fast they were able to get through the material, but that didn't comfort him at all when Ginny headed off to bed still without talking to him or even really thinking about him. Even if she was angry, he'd expected her to check on him mentally before she tried to sleep, but he was wrong about that as well.

As a result of the conditions between himself and Ginny, as well as a long and grueling Quidditch practice the night before, the next morning Harry stepped into the dungeons feeling tired, irritable, and generally sluggish. It didn't help his mood to find out that Ginny was skipping classes and staying in bed, though what brought it on he hadn't a clue. After a moment of thinking about it and letting Ron pull out the potions supplies alone, he decided that she must have had an important class or test the day before which prevented her from skiving off. That would explain the nervousness that he'd felt from her all during her first class.

It took less than three minutes before he felt the familiar, slimy presence of Snape against the door to his mind. He should have expected it given his state of appearance and mental stability, but his thoughts had been elsewhere and he almost lashed out at the presence before thinking. Instead, as the greasy haired git entered his mind, Harry methodically pulled his thoughts away from Snape and tried to keep calm, but the vindictiveness and the liberties that the Potions master took with his mind were infuriating. After a minute or so, Harry started to present unimportant thoughts like wondering what would be at lunch today or who was at the top of the professional Quidditch league to Snape in an effort to slow him down. The plan worked, but watching his thoughts torn apart and discarded in such a brutal nature made Harry feel violated. He felt the thoughts ripped from his head like plucking a hair from his scalp, and though he could always recreate his line of thinking, there was something inhumane about it.

After a while, he couldn't keep up with both Snape and the potion brewing, so he stopped and let Ron take over. The redhead gave him a questioning look, but Harry's eyes went unfocused and he didn't respond, and Ron knew better than to ask Snape if Harry could go to the Hospital Wing. The war continued for a good fifteen or twenty minutes before Harry could tell that Snape had reached a breaking point. The Snape figure in his mind froze and Harry had barely tuned back into his senses before he heard Snape's voice cracking like a whip in his ears.

"Potter! Are you going to let Weasley do all the work for you?"

Harry said nothing, though his anger wanted to lash out for all he was worth. There really wasn't anything he could say that wouldn't make the situation a lot worse.

"I suppose that's a zero for the day, Mr. Potter," Snape said casually, picking up a clipboard and scribbling something on it. At that, Harry's anger boiled over.

"At least I'm not the only one failing." His voice was low and cold, and the spite he put on the last word left his meaning clear. Snape's eyes widened and narrowed in an instant, his expression morphing to one of pure loathing that he reserved especially for Harry.

"I'll see you in my office after class," Snape replied coolly. Harry tensed for another attack, but it didn't come, and didn't come for the entire rest of the class. He could tell Ron wanted to ask him what that was all about, but with Snape obviously on the warpath (he was correcting every Gryffindor at least once every five minutes, double for Neville because Harry had put away his materials after receiving a zero), it wasn't such a good idea to even whisper in class.

Harry did notice that Ginny was wide-awake now and restless. He wished he could block his anxiety and give her peace to sleep, but he knew every encounter with Snape would incite new levels of anger, which would only wake her up again and make her more irritated. After Tuesday had been blissfully free of strange perceptions, the sense sharing had returned full force and had become a constant irritant between them. It was something that Harry could deal with even though it irritated him, but Ginny seemed to be in a right state over it and poised to lash out at any moment. For whatever reason, she wasn't taking well to this new facet to their bond.

Instead of trying to puzzle Ginny out, Harry tried to mind his own business and blocked out thoughts of her by watching Hermione intently and trying to memorize the steps to making a proper potion. Even if he couldn't directly practice, he still might learn something and pass midterm exams when December came around.

After the lesson was over, Harry noticed Hermione give him an odd, longing sort of look before she turned and headed out the door. Before he could decipher what it might have meant, Snape dropped a rather heavy book on his desk and drew Harry's attention.

"Do you want to explain exactly what you meant by your comment, Mr. Potter? I'm sure you know which I am speaking of."

Harry took a breath to buy himself some time, then used the line he'd spent all of class conceiving of as a response.

"I meant that you fail at least one Gryffindor per class, Professor." He tried to keep the contempt out of his voice, but even being around Hermione for most of the last two years hadn't taught him how to sound entirely like a perfect student. Merlin, even Hermione couldn't when she was talking about Snape sometimes.

"You and I both know that wasn't your true meaning."

Harry felt victory, though his lips couldn't have curved into a smile even if he wanted them to. "I'm not sure what you mean, Professor."

"You know exactly what I mean, Potter."

Harry paused for a good amount of time and tried to appear confused. There wasn't much he could do to make his face cooperate at the moment, but he figured the exhausted look wasn't that far off from what he wanted.

"Honestly Professor, I haven't a clue. Maybe you could tell me what you think I meant?"

Snape growled irritably and lashed out mentally once more, causing Harry to react instinctively. Before either of them knew what happened, Snape was blown back into his chair and mind-Harry was standing with his wand out and pointed at a crumpled mind-Snape that was crushed against a wall. Harry briefly remembered casting a boils curse at him as he had Malfoy only three days before, but the reaction had been so fast that he wasn't sure.

"That stir your memory Potter?" Snape seethed as he stood once again.

"No, Professor, are you all right? I don't even know what happened, I just felt something on my head, and then something happened to you." Asking if Snape was all right was probably a little over the top, but Harry wanted to make sure he didn't let on that he knew anything.

"I'm fine Potter, and don't think you can lie to me."

I can because you can't use Legilimency on me anymore, Harry thought nastily. "I'm not, Professor."

"Get out of my sight."

Harry did just that, remembering to collect his supplies as he felt his body draining of adrenaline. It always happened like this. By the time he got to the door, he just felt exhausted and drained, and wished he could go curl up in his bed for a few days. The only positive side of this was he felt Ginny calming down with him, and he hoped for her sake that she could get some rest.

"What did Snape want?" Ron asked almost immediately as Harry exited the door. He saw Hermione wince and take a step behind Ron, which confused him to the point of stopping and staring at her. Normally she would have been the first one to make sure he was alright and find out what Snape wanted, but right now she seemed almost...scared.

"Nothing...he just didn't like me mouthing back to him," Harry replied absently as Hermione shifted further behind Ron, obviously avoiding his gaze. It was yet another thing he needed to ask her about, but for now he left her alone and transferred his attention to moving toward lunch. Maybe some food would make him feel better.

------

Food did make him feel a little better, but surprisingly, Defense Against the Dark Arts did nothing to improve his mood. The moment he saw Lupin, he averted his gaze and tried to make himself as little as possible. He could tell that the old professor wanted to talk to him, but he couldn't explain that his fight with Ginny was causing his rapid decline in health. Luckily, Lupin seemed to guess this too and generally left him alone, even letting him stay silent during class discussion. More than once, Harry caught Hermione sneaking looks at him, but every time this happened, she would turn away and focus intently on Lupin. She'd been acting pretty much the same all day, but with Ron around, Harry didn't want to ask because he knew he wouldn't get an answer.

Afterwards, the trio headed down toward dinner, though conversation was thin at best, as it had been all day. Finally, Harry couldn't take it anymore.

"I feel like a dementor." When both Ron and Hermione gave him curious looks, he explained. "Just because I'm tired doesn't mean you two have to stop talking."

"Well, you do look a little peaky..." Hermione said, then pressed her lips into a thin line and looked away. Harry was about to ask her about that when Ron spoke.

"Yeah, are you sure you're all right mate? I mean I know Madam Pomfrey said you were okay, but I don't know."

Hermione's gaze snapped up and her eyes flashed, which prepared Harry for a long lecture about his health and an intense questioning about what had happened. In fact, she'd gotten so far as opening her mouth before she closed it and thought better of it. Harry had to remind himself to keep one foot in front of the other and move his eyes every once in a while so he didn't stop and stare at her. Something was definitely different about Hermione, something that disconcerted him quite a bit. It just wasn't Hermione to leave something like that alone.

"Madam Pomfrey knows what she's talking about Ron. I'm sure Harry will be perfectly fine after a good night's rest."

Harry threw a glance at Ron, who obviously was seeing the same things. Neither of them were sure how to respond to Hermione when she agreed with them on something and didn't call them out on leaving her out of the loop. It was strange — until now, Harry hadn't realized how much Hermione's nagging had developed a place in their relationship. It was almost like there was something missing when she wasn't nagging about something or another.

"I hope so." Harry said as a sardonic smile worked its way onto his face. "I suppose Black would be disappointed if something got to me before he could." Ron and Hermione both looked at him with wide eyes, but Harry ignored them as they worked their way into the Great Hall for dinner.

------

As the trio approached the Fat Lady after a wonderful meal, Harry felt a great sense of foreboding. He knew Ginny was in the common room, and judging by her feelings, she was looking for a bit of a fight. After a day of tossing and turning and not getting much sleep (Harry had checked on her periodically and it had always been the same), Ginny had gotten food from somewhere and eaten it the common room sometime between lunch and dinner. Harry had considered bringing something up for her, but he'd observed without asking that it probably would have wound up on his face before in her stomach. Apathy was always a warning sign to a big explosion from the small redhead.

"I'm going to head down to the library if either of you would like to join me." Hermione said, though her gaze drifted naturally to Harry. Though it sounded like a good idea to get away from Ginny, he didn't want to waste this opportunity to have it out with her. In light of Ron's sentiments earlier in the week, it seemed like a good chance for the two to have a decent time together. Besides, he didn't want Ron around while he was having it out with Ginny, so he sneakily reached his foot out and kicked his best friend in the shoe as he replied to Hermione.

"I might come down later, if you're still there."

Hermione nodded and threw a half-questioning, half-bored look at Ron.

"Actually, Hermione, would you mind if I came along?"

Clearly shocked, Hermione had to stop moving and give Ron an appraising look before responding.

"You really want to come?"

The redhead shrugged and shoved his hands into his robe's pockets. "If you don't mind."

"No...No, of course I don't. Why would I?"

Ron shifted his weight from one foot to another, obviously uncomfortable. "I don't know. No reason. What are you going to be working on?"

"Well, I was going to work on Runes since Harry wasn't coming, but we can work on anything you'd like."

Ron shrugged and turned slightly pink. Harry was finding an odd sort of amusement from the conversation in that it was the first in a long time where Ron was showing interest in something that Hermione liked. Exactly why was beyond the point — he could figure that out later.

"I suppose I could use help in Runes."

"Great."

Both of them stared at each other for a second, then turned and hurried to get their books at the exact same moment. Being the third person observer, Harry found this immensely amusing and shook his head as a smile formed on his face. Ron might have denied it, but there was something different about him and Hermione all right. Harry had always felt that their friendship only came because they were friends with him, but perhaps that was about to change. He knew they'd been talking and spending more time together since he and Ginny had started to spend time together, but he'd never seen something like this coming. It was almost like they were starting to really become the best friends everyone had assumed them to be.

As Ron and Hermione left through the portrait hole together, Harry moved over and sat down by the fire to warm up and threw a casual glance at Ginny, who was on the opposite side of the room and had been pretending to be doing homework since he'd walked in. He supposed she'd been getting actual work done before now, but he'd felt her attention shift over to and lock onto him the moment he appeared in the common room. He knew homework was one of the last things on her mind, so he considered going up to his dorm to give her space to work, but he knew she would just use that against him in any future conversation. They were both thinking about the other and both of them knew it, so there wasn't any backing down now.

Ginny must have sensed this as well because she packed up her books and shouldered her bag to come sit by Harry. Well, they sat on the same two person wide couch, but as far as Harry was concerned, there might have been an ocean between them. It had only been a couple minutes of silence between them when the air in front of Harry burst into flame and Fawkes appeared in front of them with a note in his beak. Harry's eyes widened as he remembered that today was Thursday and he was supposed to be in detention with Dumbledore. With everything that had been going on, he'd forgotten completely about it.

Harry,

If you would meet me in my office at eight, you can begin your weekly detentions.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Harry looked over at Ginny, who was trying her best not to appear curious. It was pointless when Harry could feel her feelings just as well as she could, but that didn't change her stubborn streak one bit.

"I have to go to detention."

"Okay."

Her indifference was only skin deep, though Harry could tell she was really trying not to care that he'd somehow avoided her once again. He sighed and gave her a glance as he stood, trying not to think about what kind of detention Dumbledore might create. He wanted to say something else to Ginny, but he couldn't think of anything and so he headed off toward Dumbledore's office without a word.

------

"Come in, Harry. Have a seat."

Harry resisted giving the Headmaster an odd look and took the offered chair, wondering what exactly his detention could be. They weren't going anywhere for the time being — Dumbledore looked quite settled in — but what kind of detention could he serve in an office?

"I suppose you're wondering what your detention might entail," Dumbledore said with that familiar twinkle in his eye. "Don't worry, it's nothing too difficult. I just thought we might use this time to discuss a few things."

That was it? Surely having a talk with Dumbledore couldn't be his entire punishment for attacking a student, could it? Not that Harry would enjoy this time, but it wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other detentions he'd served.

"Er...okay?"

Dumbledore chuckled, sat up in his chair, and folded his hands in front of him. "I could assign you to assist Mr. Filch with scrubbing down the castle, but I doubt you would learn much of anything other than a healthy respect for magical cleaners. No Harry, I am much more interested in other things."

Harry swallowed and shifted uncomfortably. "Other things?"

"Quite a few of them, actually, and the first has to do with your parents."

Harry blinked, not sure if he could believe his ears. "My...parents?"

"I believe it is time that you knew the whole story of how your parents died."

A cold fist of dread crept its way over Harry's heart as he took in what Dumbledore was about to tell him. He knew that Voldemort had found his parents and killed them on Halloween of 1981, but that was all he knew, and all he thought there was to know. He realized now that he didn't know why Voldemort had wanted to kill his parents, or even him. Why would Voldemort go after a little baby?

Harry? Are you all right?

I'm fine Ginny.

What's wrong? You feel cold.

Nothing's wrong. I'm with Dumbledore.

Fine, I'll leave you alone since you don't want me around anyway.

Harry felt her frustration and anger at him, but he was too distracted to think about it much. He looked up at Dumbledore, who was peering down at him through his half-moon spectacles patiently.

"Th—There's a story?"

"Quite a sad one, unfortunately, and one that involves Sirius Black. Do you wish to hear it?"

Harry gulped and nodded. He would never be ready to hear about his parents' deaths, but he couldn't very well refuse to know. He wanted to know everything that had anything to do with James and Lily Potter.

"Some time before your parents died, one of our best spies informed me that Voldemort would soon be coming after James and Lily. At this time, you were only barely a year old and wouldn't be able to be moved quickly enough to escape Voldemort and his allies forever. Once I learned that their lives were in danger, I advised both your mother and father to go into hiding under the Fidelius Charm."

Dumbledore paused, which was a good thing because Harry was having trouble taking it all in. Even such small pieces of information blew his mind — his parents had known that they were targets of Voldemort? How long had they been in hiding? What had happened to expose them?

"Fidelius Charm?" Harry managed to ask.

"Ah, yes, the Fidelus Charm. When James and Lily went into hiding, there was no place in England that was safe from the reach of Lord Voldemort. However, when cast properly, the Fidelius Charm conceals a secret inside a single living soul, and in this case, the location of you and your parents was the secret to be kept. Thus, the soul chosen to hold the secret is called a Secret-Keeper. Once the spell is cast, only the Secret-Keeper can divulge the information inside of him or her, and he or she must do so willingly."

Harry felt another horrible chill run down his spine. If what Dumbledore was saying was true, then someone would have had to betray his mum and dad.

"Someone betrayed them?"

"Your father and a young Sirius Black were inseparable at school." Harry's eyes widened in shock, but Dumbledore continued as if merely commenting on the fall colors. "Troublemakers to a fault, but very talented and very loyal. They remained friends even after they left Hogwarts, and there was no one James trusted more."

"I offered to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper on more than one occasion, but James was insistent that it be Mr. Black, believing that he would die rather than betray the Potters. They held off as long as they could, but eventually Lily cast the charm and put themselves into hiding. I didn't receive word until later that they had — it was a sudden decision."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed. There were so many questions, so many things he wanted to know, but he hadn't a clue how to ask him. He finally just blurted out the obvious.

"Why didn't you cast the Charm?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Lily was always a natural in Charms that I could never hope to match. She could have been the most proficient Charms Mistress of our age if had she been given more time. Of course, the same could be said for her Potion brewing as well."

Harry had never considered that Dumbledore could be a wealth of information about his parents — he had been their Headmaster, after all. He wanted nothing more to ask questions about his mum and dad until dawn broke, but though he had a sinking feeling he knew the end of the story, he wanted to hear it from Dumbledore.

"So what happened?"

"As you might have guessed, not a week after the Charm was performed, Mr. Black betrayed your parents to Lord Voldemort and led them right to their home. I believe you know the rest."

Harry nodded, suddenly at a loss for words. Now that the shock was wearing off, he could feel a cold sort of anger building inside of him, one directed entirely at Sirius Black. Not only had he attacked Ginny, but he'd betrayed his parents to Voldemort as well? What was next?

"Now Harry, I did not tell you this so you could seek revenge, I told you because you deserve to know the truth. Black is still very dangerous, and I believe he wishes to finish the job his master began. Twelve years in Azkaban is long enough to drive any man to insanity."

Harry nodded blankly, but that didn't calm his fury at all. Everyone related to Voldemort wanted him dead, but this was entirely different — it was personal.

"I understand, Professor." Even as he said the words, he could hear the cold anger in his voice and feel it in his gut. Dumbledore looked down at him with concerned eyes, but he ignored them. All he could think about was the fact that his parents' best friend had betrayed them to Voldemort, and now that best friend wanted to kill him too.

After a few seconds of feeling powerless in his chair, Harry noticed that Dumbledore was offering him a rather odd looking sphere that he recognized as a stress ball.

"A rather ingenious Muggle remedy for frustration, if you'd like."

Harry almost refused, but instead, he stood and snatched one of the ball out of Dumbledore's hand and then threw it as hard as he could against the castle wall. It bounced off at an odd angle and smashed into one of the silver trinkets that Harry had hardly noticed this time around. A inordinately loud BANG! issued and a puff of blood red smoke dissipated into the air. For whatever reason, the noise calmed Harry's frayed nerves a little and allowed him to at least get control of himself as he sat back down.

"I...I'm sorry about that Professor."

Unless Harry was mistaken, he thought he saw Dumbledore sliding his wand back up his sleeve. "It's quite all right Harry. I can only imagine the pain you must be feeling."

Harry said nothing. Dumbledore was right — nothing he'd ever felt compared to this, except the night Ginny had been attacked, and Dumbledore couldn't relate to that either. No one could.

"Perhaps this is not the best time to continue this conversation. I think we can adjourn for now, and I will see you here next Thursday at the same time."

He wanted to refuse, or do something, but he could think of nothing, so he silently left the office, wishing there was a door he could slam behind him.

------

Harry considered going to the library to join Ron and Hermione, but he didn't want to disturb them if they were getting along and actually having a good time. Instead, he just headed back up to the common room, trying not to notice that Ginny was still there. He knew he should talk to her, or at least make some sort of gesture that he noticed her, but he knew that any conversation between them wouldn't end well, especially in his current mood.

When he got to the dormitory, he found Dean and Seamus discussing the finer points of female anatomy (a conversation he did not want to be a part of), so he trudged back downstairs to sit in front of the fire and under the dark cloud that he felt above his head. It didn't really matter — he was entitled to be angry and depressed if he wanted.

"Having a tantrum there Potter?"

Ginny's voice wasn't the last thing he expected, but it was quite close. It was almost as if she wanted to fight this out rather than wait until they were both calmer.

"I'm not in a good mood and I don't want to fight with you."

"You don't want to fight with me? I suppose I'm not surprised."

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes, making an effort to not look at her. "Look, I haven't a clue what you're talking about and I don't care to find out, so you might as well give up."

He was rewarded with silence after that, though Ginny moved over to sit across from him on the other couch, pushing Neville out of the way to do so. He felt her eyes boring into him, but as much as he could he ignored it, though he could see flashes of himself in her vision. It wasn't the best time for something like this to happen, but he supposed at least if they were sitting down, they couldn't hurt themselves. Fortunately, after a while the flashes faded and his vision became his own again.

"So you're just going to ignore me?" Ginny finally asked.

"Something like that."

She made a frustrated noise and then resumed her staring. Harry guessed that she was waiting for him to move, but if she was, she would be waiting a while. He was quite content staring at the wall and thinking about everything he'd learned. Harry had no idea how much time passed before he felt the rise in Ginny's anger and her low growl of frustration. No one else reacted to it, so it must have been in his mind and intended for him. Against his better judgment, he turned to look at her for the first time that night.

"What?"

"You know what."

Harry rolled his eyes. "No Ginny, really, I don't."

"What did Dumbledore do to you?"

"What makes you think he did anything?"

Ginny snorted derisively. "Give me a break, Harry. You go up there for detention and a half an hour later, you come back in a cold fury. What else am I supposed to think?"

"He just told me a few things. That's all."

"What did he tell you?"

"It's none of your business," Harry snapped and then returned to staring at the wall. He could feel shock mixing with her anger, but it only seemed to add fuel to the fire. He wondered if she kept up like this if she'd explode.

"I guess I thought we were close and that anything that matters to you mattered to me, but I guess not. It shouldn't surprise me, really."

Harry rolled his head back and looked around the room, trying to keep a lid on his own frustration. Ginny could be a real pain at times. He noticed Seamus and Dean had come down at some point and were in a conversation with Lavender and Parvati, though the girls seemed to be looking more over at him than anywhere else. Lavender must have noticed his gaze because she turned pink and nudged Parvati before turning away.

"Noticed them, have you?" Ginny asked with feigned politeness.

"What about them?"

Ginny laughed. "Oh come on, don't tell me Harry Potter doesn't know what a girl is. It's not that hard to figure out."

"You're plenty hard enough to figure out for all of us, I don't need anything else."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Harry didn't answer. He finally had the upper hand and he could just let Ginny stew in it for a while. He smiled inwardly as he felt her anger turn into something of a rage — for some very odd reason, at the moment he loved seeing her so furious.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

He smiled outwardly now. "I suppose just a little."

Finally, he got the effect he wanted. Her voice raised to a slightly higher than normal volume and she leaned forward with an infuriated expression. "You are such an arse!"

"Am I? And how's that?"

Ginny growled menacingly. "I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, and it's not just now!"

The first hints of confusion entered his mind, which caused Ginny's eyes to widen slightly.

"You really don't know?"

"Oh, what am I supposed to do, read your mind?" By now, his voice was rising steadily with hers and drawing casual glances from others around the common room.

"You don't need to read my mind to figure it out, Harry. In fact, you don't even really need to know me. You just can't be an idiot!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Okay, I admit it, I'm an idiot. Now will you lay it out for me?"

"No. If you can't figure it out, then I'm going to bed." Ginny stood up and grabbed her bag, but Harry grabbed her other wrist and held her.

"Ginny, we're going to work this out. You know we can't sleep if we're fighting."

She pulled on her hand, though not quite forcibly. "Some things are more important than sleep. Now let me go."

Harry ignored her request. "Like what? Confusing me because I don't know what you're hacked off about?"

"No, like proving a point. Seriously Harry, let me go. If you wanted to talk to me, you have had plenty of time to do it."

She wasn't going anywhere, but Harry did notice Dean dart out of the common room after taking a rather long look at them. He puzzled over that for a moment, but shoved it out of his mind. He had more important things to worry about.

"And what point is that? That I wander around in the dark until you tell me what's going on?"

By now, their voices were raised to the level where most of the common room looked up to see what was going on. A tiny voice in Harry's head was telling him not to do this now, to do this in a private place where no one would accidentally overhear something, or even know what they were fighting about at all.

"I gave you a chance," Ginny said nastily before pulling her wand out of her bag with her other hand. She whispered an incantation and suddenly something invisible stung the back of Harry's hand hard, forcing his grip on her wrist to relax and allow her to slip away. "Maybe next time you'll listen to me." She headed toward the girls' staircase, but in Harry's mind, she'd crossed a line that involved the use of magic. A half second later, he had his own wand out.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry growled with a powerful flip of the wrist, which was followed by a flash of red light, an angry scarlet beam of light exploding from his wand, and a squeal from Ginny as she smashed into the wall next to the girls' staircase. Her wand and bag zoomed straight into Harry's outstretched hands even as Ginny slid to the floor. Several gasps were heard as Harry set both the wand and the bag in the chair where he'd been sitting and waited for Ginny's head to clear. Gradually, a pure and towering rage flowed through both of them as Ginny stood and turned toward him, something low and visceral on her face. It looked as though she'd been holding back a mountain of anger and it was just now finding its way out.

"How dare you!" Ginny growled in a low, menacing voice that could be mistaken for nothing but a challenge. Harry put his wand away and stepped toward her as she strode toward him. Before he saw her hand rise, he felt an extremely painful stinging on his cheek and his head jerked sideways so hard his neck groaned in protest. When he straightened out, he could see the burning coals in Ginny's eyes that told him there was no turning back. Up until now, he'd stayed relatively calm by blocking both his own irritation and her rage, but now he welcomed it and embraced it.

"You ready to tell me what this is all about?"

"So the kitty has come out to play, has he? I didn't think you had it in you." Her voice was rough, scathing, and challenging all in one, and finally Harry hit a limit in his patience.

"What in the bloody HELL is that supposed to mean?!"His voice was loud enough to echo inside the common room and silence the rest of the Gryffindors, who'd looked up to see what was going on. Somewhere off in the distance he thought he heard Percy's voice, but all of his attention was focused on the girl right in front of him.

"You know very well what it means! You can't stand up for yourself, and I'm sick of it!"

Harry's smile turned a touch predatory. "I'm doing a fine job of standing up to you!"

Ginny laughed derisively and rolled her eyes. "Even being the git you are, you know exactly who I'm talking about, and it's not me."

That one Harry did get, and he really didn't like where that line was going. By now, he wasn't sure whether he was angry at Ginny, or whether Ginny's anger was making him angry, but it didn't matter anymore. Ginny had finally gone too far in her suggesting about Hermione.

"Did you ever consider that I don't want to stand up for myself sometimes? That it's YOU who wants to stand up for me?"

Ginny's smile widened to match his. "Give me a break, Potter. You can't lie to me. I know exactly how you feel about it."

"Oh really?" Harry sneered. "Then maybe you should get your facts straight, because you are wrong. Completely, flat-out wrong."

"Am I?" Ginny's voice raised. "Then tell me why you put up with feeling strangled all the time! Tell me why you just don't say something! For the love of Merlin, Potter, tell me why you let yourself be RUN OVER like that!"

"RUN OVER? Is that what you think it is?"

"That's EXACTLY what it is! You're just too afraid of hurting someone's feelings to tell them when to back off!"

"Back off from WHAT?"

Ginny's eyes flashed as she drew a breath. "There's a big difference between BEST FRIEND and OVERPOSSESSIVE BITCH!"

"I'm not AFRAID of ANYTHING! YOU'RE just JEALOUS!" Harry roared. "Some of us never had people to care for us as little kids! Some of us never knew what it was like to have someone who actually wanted to help us!" Harry felt Ginny's anger fall off sharply in favor of horror, but he didn't feel like stopping. Suddenly, he felt a cold sort of anger course through his veins, something that smacked of bloodlust. He felt himself start to hiss, but it was too late to hold back now. "SSSOME of ussss would like having sssssomeone around that makesss ussss feel like we matter! Like we didn't have to ssssneak around at night looking for food to sssurvive! Like I don't have to be beaten just to make the only people I know HAPPY!" By now, Harry was breathing heavily and sweating in anger but he hardly noticed, just like he hardly noticed the last bit was in Parseltongue. He saw the horror in Ginny's eyes, and he saw her shrink away from him, but he couldn't resist one last barb in booming, enraged English for the world to hear.

"Some of us never had older brothers to take care of us! Maybe, JUST FOR ONCE, I'd like a SISTER I'VE ALWAYS DREAMED OF TO TAKE CARE OF ME!"

With that, Harry felt a blinding flash of white light, a tremendous bang, and then his entire vision went black. Two things came to mind before passing out. One, he'd never meant to scream out his feelings for the entire common room to hear, and two, the back of his head hit something very hard that resounded with a extremely loud THACK!


A/N: Ahhhh! I'm so sorry for the length between updates, I've been doing a lot of other things and worrying about school and stuffs. If you're interested, I'm going to post to my LJ with a longer excuse as to why I haven't been writing, but suffice to say that I just haven't been inspired.

Now that I'm back, I've got a bit of a twist I'm adding to Soul Nexus. I really want to show the progression of Ron and Hermione's friendship, but some of the conversations aren't where Harry or Ginny can hear them, and this poses a point of view problem. To get around this, every time I write a Ron/Hermione scene in a chapter, I'm going to cut it out and make an outtake in the form of a oneshot that will supplement the main story. Because of how the queue works on SIYE, it'll probably be a day or so between when the main chapter is posted and when the oneshot shows up, but you'll be able to find it anywhere else I post chapters. (FFnet, LJ, Files section of my google group)

Too Long, Didn't Read: There's going to be Ron/Hermione oneshot supplements to Soul Nexus. You should go check out the one for this chapter! )

Anywho, the story that got me back into writing again was Harry Potter and the Toll of Destiny b legobean. I hope he/she doesn't mind me advertising his/her story, but it really is a good one and got me inspired. If you haven't already, you should go check it out. Interestingly enough, this chapter went through the most heavy editing I've ever done. There were entire scenes cut and added even after I'd finished it, and every time I got an email from one of my two awesome betas there was something to be changed. So a big thank you both to kiramythos and Terashi for their hard work.

Okay, I'm out of stuff to say, so I hope you enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review! They'll make something nice to come back and reply to when I get back from my internet deprivation that is known as a family reunion in the mountains. xD