Chapter 11 - The Blow Up
My first thought as I was waking up that it was finally Halloween. I had been looking forward to the feast and wondered if the hall was going to be as wonderfully decorated as it was on welcoming night. I went through my morning shower and then checked to see where Harry was in his morning routine. It was just something we had fallen into over the last couple of weeks; seeing how the nights sleep had gone and just saying 'Hi' to each other. We had quickly found out that Ginny wasn't in the best of moods first thing in the morning and just to leave her be until she arrived at school.
Harry was already downstairs catching up on some reading, so I hurried up my dressing and put my robes on. Harry looked up and smiled at me when I came down the girls staircase. We walked down to the Great Hall with Fred and George. It was Percy's morning to escort Ginny from the medical wing. All the brothers and Harry and Hermione had worked out a rotation for walking Ginny to breakfast in the morning. Nobody really minded the detail as it gave each of them some additional one on one time with her.
We had just sat down and were filling our plates when Ginny came into the room. Harry's smile disappeared immediately as he saw the look on her face. Ginny went by each of her brothers without a single 'Good Morning' to any of them. She came up to where Harry was sitting and just stood there. Harry stood up to say something to her when the unexpected happened. Ginny swung and hit Harry in the jaw! He fell back and tripped over a bench and ended up hitting the floor hard!
Ginny then kicked him hard in the stomach. "How dare you treat me like that? I never want to talk to you again, you hear me Harry Potter!"
I must have made some move that Ginny noticed because she whirled around suddenly and thrust her fist right in my face! "And you're just as bad as he is. Don't come near me!" Ginny grabbed the toast off Harry's plate and walked out of the doors. She didn't hear any of the whispers or shouts that accompanied her.
Ron took a look at the two of us and hurried after his sister. Fred and George helped me pick Harry off the floor. He was a little groggy from where he hit his head and had a bruise on the point of his chin that was going to turn all shades of colors!
"What happened between you and our sister Harry?" asked Fred.
"I honestly don't know. We were ok yesterday and I haven't talked to her since she left for the Burrow."
"I think you're in major trouble here. She never resorts to violence unless she is about … well, about ready to kill someone."
Harry looked at me like I might know what was going on. "This is just as much of a surprise for me to. I have no idea why she's mad at us!" I had been trying to contact Ginny mentally but she had a huge no welcome barrier up. But we didn't have time to figure out what was bothering her; it was time to go to class!
Ginny sat with Ron during Charms. And as far away from us as she could possibly get. She never made eye contact with either of us and Ron just shook his head whenever he noticed us. It was a horrible distraction. And it was a lesson we had all been looking forward to! Today we were supposed to learn the spell to levitate objects! Harry was still in shock over the events at breakfast. I could tell he was confused and really hurt. He didn't do well with the lesson. Somehow, even in my shaky state of mind, I got the "Wingardium Leviosa" spell right before everyone else. Both Ron and Ginny glared at me when I was awarded points. I really didn't care at that point; I just wanted to fix things up with Ginny!
Class ended soon after that but Ginny hurried away before Harry or I could talk to her. All Ron would say was that it was something Harry and I had done without her! That's all she would say to him. And neither one of us still had any idea of why Ginny was mad!
Herbology was the same silent treatment. Ginny sat with Neville and Susan Bones and didn't look our way. Harry had gotten very depressed by this point even though he didn't know what he had done wrong. Ginny hurried away from Herbology straight to the medical wing without even breaking for lunch. Ron stopped me and Harry from running after her; he said she still needed time to cool down! Harry looked as if he was going to go after her anyway but suddenly hung his head in defeat. He said goodbye to Ron and me and walked slowly back towards his dorm room instead of lunch!
I turned after watching Harry slink away and just asked Ron what was the problem with his sister. He just replied she was 'a female and subject to unstable personality shifts'. I felt much better after kicking him in the shin and heading for the infirmary myself.
By the time I got to the medical wing, my anger at Ron and his sister had subsided a bit. I considered barging in but I just couldn't interrupt a lesson. I sent Harry a mental message that I was going to wait for Ginny and get to the bottom of all this. He just had a flat reply of 'ok, good luck'. I wondered if we would need to hunt him down and find him again after all this settled out.
I was so upset by the way Ginny had been acting and the way she treated Harry that I couldn't even read. I had to resort to doing multiplication tables to calm myself down and then pulled out my textbook. That took a while, even for me. I just couldn't believe she would hurt Harry like that!
I didn't know how much later it was when that Madame Pomfrey came out the infirmary doors. "I expected to see Mr. Potter or you out here. Ginny has been terribly out of sorts and shouldn't have even tried to attend a lesson today. I hope you can work things out quickly. It's not my habit to meddle in the private affairs of students, but I have 'accidentally' shut down this end of the floo connection to the Burrow. She definitely needs someone to talk to. I'm going to take a walk down to Professor Snape's office and talk to him about having a class make some pepper-up potions. I believe it will take about an hour. Is that enough time, Miss Granger?"
"I certainly hope so, Madame Pomfrey. Thank you very much!" Madame Pomfrey gave me a little smile and walked away toward the Slytherin dungeons.
I went over all the things I wanted to yell at Ginny but realized that it wouldn't do any good to have two temper tantrums going on. I opened up my book bag and pulled out my wand. I went through the door and didn't have to look hard to find Ginny; she was lying on one of the cots and crying! I put down my bag and walked carefully up beside her and just patted her back softly.
Ginny jumped up and would have said something but she saw that I was offering her my wand! "What are you doing here?" she snuffled out. "I can't even go home now; the floo won't work!"
"Trying to get to the bottom of all this. If you want to hurt me so much, here's your opportunity! Go ahead and blast me. If that will get all your anger out so you can explain to me or Harry why you're upset - hurt me as bad as you want. I'll still want to know. WHY?"
"You know what! I saw you two with my own eyes; going behind my back and then just laughing at me!"
"Ginny, please tell me what you thought you saw. Harry and I have never hidden anything from you!"
Ginny gave up her fight then and sat back down on the cot. She rubbed her fists over her eyes trying to stop the flow of tears. "I saw Harry… I saw Harry and you snogging together in a joined dream! Why didn't you tell me you wanted him that much? It hurt so bad seeing you two together like that! Snogging like I wasn't even there."
I sat down in shock! She had seen me and Harry - snogging?
"You can't even deny it Hermione! How long have you and Harry been sneaking around behind me? I trusted you!"
Ginny looked about ready to start crying again but I grabbed her shoulders. "Ginny", I said, "I've never snogged Harry - in shared dreams or reality! If you had bothered to check any of your connections with us, you would realize how wrong you are!"
She looked up with a start. "But it was just like the other time when we were all together."
I reached out and pulled Ginny into a hug. I held her for a second and then whispered to her. "Please check out my memory. I've never kissed Harry in any joined dream. Maybe some of my private ones but I've never shared a kiss with Harry."
Opening the connection I shared with her, I felt a very timid Ginny looking over the last two days of my life and last two nights. She was curious and then relieved and then happy as she could finally tell that I was telling the truth. "But it was so real, Hermione, it was like we were all there together. I sorry I yelled at you. I …"
Ginny suddenly stopped speaking and her mouth dropped open. I could see what she was thinking. "It's ok Ginny, he'll understand."
"I.. hit.. Harry!" Ginny started crying even harder and all I could do for her was rub her back and hope I could get through to her again!
I continued to rub Ginny's back as the girl continued to bawl her eyes out. It was a long time before Ginny sat herself up and grabbed me in a hug.
"I'm so sorry! I just thought…he'll never talk to me again! After all the times I yelled about his relatives hurting him! He'll never trust me again; let alone talk to me! I'm so ashamed of myself- I couldn't tell the difference between my dream and one of our dreams."
I had been trying real hard to contact Harry since Ginny had realized that she had been wrong. Nothing. She couldn't even properly locate Harry. Maybe he had really gone out of the castle this time in his misery!
"Ginny, you have to go apologize to Harry! It might take a while for him to listen as you really hurt him. But I can't find him; I'm not as good at locating him as you are. I'll go with you but we need to find him first!"
Ginny looked up scared when I said she didn't know where Harry was. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "The owlery. He goes there because Hedwig never… he goes there when he's feeling lonely."
We left the medical wing and made their way across the castle. When we were about halfway there when we heard a familiar voice coming directly at us. Ginny and I hid behind a huge tapestry as we heard Malfoy and his two goons approaching them. "Well, Potter finally got what was coming to him. I wish I had been there to see who did it to him. I don't think anybody will come looking for him until after the feast tonight. He's always wandering around the school anyway. Maybe we can get Snape to find him later and give him detention for being out after curfew."
Ginny and I clutched each others hands anxiously as they waited for Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle to leave the corridor they were in. We slipped out silently when we couldn't hear them anymore and then began running to the owlery. We found Harry laying in a heap at the bottom of the steps to the owlery! Hedwig was standing guard over Harry with unfurled wings as if she would attack anybody that would come close to him. She hopped off when Ginny called out to her. Ginny and I carefully turned him over and gasped at all the bruises and marks on Harry's face and hands. It looked like something wild had attacked Harry!
Ginny checked Harry's pulse and leaned close to listen to him breathing. "We don't have to get Madame Pomfrey, Hermione. It looks much worse than it actually is. I'd like your help to heal him though."
"Where do you want me?"
"Check his legs for injuries and straighten them out. Just grasp his ankles and I'll try calling up the bond magic. Hopefully Harry can join in and help heal himself."
I didn't question what Ginny wanted to do. She knew what healing spells to use and I knew that we had enough practice to use the bond magic to try healing. It only took a couple of seconds to carefully stretch Harry out on the stone floor.
Ginny put her hands on the top of Harry's head and waited until she was sure I was positioned at his feet. We concentrated called up the bond magic and Ginny tried to apply the healing spells she knew to her friend. I smiled as she saw a small yellow glow surround Harry and felt the healing flowing through his body. It was only a minute later when we released our grip and both knelt down on opposite sides of him. Ginny was watching for signs of Harry waking up and I was suddenly reminded of how we all met back at Ollivander's.
There was a groan from the boy laying on the floor and a pair of bright green eyes were suddenly staring up at us.
"Haven't we done this before?" Harry asked calmly.
"Yes and we'll keep on doing it until we get it right Harry" said Ginny.
Harry winced as he heard Ginny's voice and I was afraid that he was going to get up and run away again. Harry sat up and just stared at Ginny. The longer he stared at her, the redder Ginny got.
"I'm so sorry Harry", Ginny cried as she finally broke down and tried to flee herself. Harry caught her by the elbow and easily pull her back down. He then stood up and held out his hands for both of us. We took his hands and Harry led them up a half flight of steps of the owlery so they couldn't be seen from below.
"I want the whole explanation, that's all!" Harry fell silent as first Ginny and then I poured out each our stories to him. Harry flushed, with either anger or embarrassment once or twice, as he heard the reason Ginny had hit him.
"… and then we overheard Malfoy say somebody had hurt you and we ran and found you at the foot of the stairs. Ginny and I managed to heal you with the bond magic. And that's the story, Harry."
Ginny had her head bowed the whole time she was reciting the afternoon she had. She had no idea what Harry was going to say to her.
"Somebody pushed me from behind when I was coming down the stairway with Hedwig. I didn't see who it was; I just got a glimpse of a black cloak. I must have hit my head a time or two on the way down because I don't remember anything else."
"But I do remember what happened this morning." Ginny winced at those words. She just knew she was in big trouble with Harry.
"Do you have any idea of what we should do about our friend here Hermione?" Ginny looked up at these words and looked worriedly from Harry to me and back.
"She was the one that hit you Harry. I think whatever you decide will be fair."
Ginny turned her gaze back to the boy with the unruly hair. He took a long minute to think and look at her. Ginny was hoping that Harry wouldn't want to be rid of her. That would be unthinkable!
Harry finally made up his mind and then smiled at Ginny. "There are four things you can do to patch things up with both of us."
"Anything", said Ginny with a hopeful smile.
"Number One - you hit me right here." Harry pointed at his chin. "Isn't it customary to kiss it and make it better?" Ginny leapt to her feet and kissed Harry on the point of his chin.
"Number Two - you will write at least ten times: 'I will not ever deck my bond mates ever again or jump to conclusions without checking."
"Number Three - you will bring some of your mum's pastries to school just for me and Hermione until the end of the school year."
Ginny was starting to worry as none of the conditions yet seemed really hard. Harry was leading up to something she knew she probably wouldn't like very much.
"Number Four - you let us check your memory of that dream and we all sit down and work on this jealousy thing together. I kind of understand what you felt Ginny. That's why I'm not totally mad at you! I'm guilty myself of being jealous of you and Hermione."
Ginny and I looked at Harry in disbelief! We couldn't understand what he had just said to them. "Why?", came the eventual question from Ginny.
'I get upset because I can't show either or both of you the affection you can show each other. I don't dare hold hands with you like I want to because Malfoy or others would want to hurt you! You talk to each other as you're going asleep because you're sharing Hermione's bed. I'm jealous that I can't touch or hold you for comfort and you can't comfort me. I swear I'm not talking about anything dirty. After all those years at my uncle's, I know I shouldn't expect anything. I'm just so… at … I'm sorry!'
Harry stood up suddenly and rushed down the steps away from the girls. Before he had been gone 20 seconds he came back up the stairs carrying Hedwig. "I've got to take her back up to the owlery. I'll be right back down if either of you still want to walk back to the feast with me."
Ginny looked over to me in amazement. "He's not really mad at me. After what I did! And he's jealous. That must have been hard for him to admit."
"That's quite a wizard we have there, Ginny. I hope we can do enough to hang onto him."
"Now I feel about two inches tall", Ginny said. "Let's go find Harry's glasses. They shouldn't have gone too far. We can at least start with that."
"Let's wait for Harry first. I think there's something else he needs from us." I blushed a little as I said this but Ginny grinned at her in understanding.
When Harry came down the stairway a couple of minutes later he was met by two pretty young witches. We each had a special hug and a private promise for Harry that left his face very red. It was quick work finding Harry's glasses and then we three friends made our way to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast.
(End of Hermione's point of view)
