Author's Note: I've noticed that more than one person has commented on my fast updates. While I love writing that fast, I feel that in my haste to publish my writing has suffered, so I'll probably be taking more time between chapters to get everything right. Not to mention I've overwhelmed myself suddenly with things that need to be explained...I didn't quite imagine this would get so involved. Ah, well. Lessons learned while writing one's first fanfic.
This was an inconvenient little chapter that had to be written...it's a bit shorter than I would have liked, but given its importance I couldn't jam it in with anything else.
In any case, I hope you all are enjoying the story as much as I am. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to all of Ron's fans out there - I know he usually isn't the jerk I made him out to be, so hopefully this makes it a little better.
-JS
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I did not come up with the line "several sunlit days", or Harry Potter. I love JKR for sharing her imagination with the world as all this belongs to her.
Chapter Eleven: Epiphany
Classes waited for no one, and Professor Harry Potter was up early the next morning, teaching his sixth-year Ravenclaws and Gryffindors again. He carefully avoided looking at Rebecca Princeton, having forgotten completely about in her in the events of the past two days. He felt a bit guilty because he didn't have a clue as to how to approach her, but he figured it would work out one way or another.
The class was relatively somber; something that confused Harry. It was no secret that his classes were some of the most enjoyed in the school, even if his course was considered the hardest. Usually Harry could tell that (most of) his students were eager to learn, eager to hear what he had to teach them from experience, but today they seemed rather reserved. He didn't doubt that they knew what happened between him and Ron, but if anything, he'd thought they would ask questions instead of appearing to be still asleep.
The general slowness dragged until the end of class, at which time everyone picked up their things and trudged out the door. Harry got the occasional odd look, but it wasn't anything that troublesome. He waited until almost everyone was gone before calling Rebecca to his desk. The Ravenclaw adopted a very formal tone and posture when she heard her name.
"Yes, Professor?"
"Do you still want to continue with your private lessons?" Blunt was best, Harry decided. At least this way he would get a straight answer.
"Yes," she replied stiffly. Harry knew there was something on her mind, but he also guessed it was the pregnancy. He'd have to confront her about it that night, and it was not something he was looking forwards to. Talking to Ginny had been bad enough, but at least Ginny had been happy she would never have to keep anything from him ever again.
"Six-thirty then?" That was their usual time now.
She nodded curtly, taking the dismissal in his voice. He didn't want Rebecca around when Ginny made her usual Monday morning visit, and he was rewarded with a minute to himself before the redhead made her appearance.
"I talked to Ron," she said, perching herself on Harry's desk. Madam Pomfrey had insisted upon keeping him overnight to monitor his wounds and be sure he had some rest. Curse wounds had a nasty habit of reopening even after they had been sealed, and there was no telling what modifications Harry could have made to the spell. He was, after all, the most powerful wizard in the magical world.
But now that wizard could only give a tired sigh, wanting all of it to go away. What happened to the days when Ron had suggested that Harry was the best man he could think of for her? He nodded silently at Ginny, but had no idea how to respond.
"He's fighting with himself, Harry. He knows he's being stupid, but he doesn't want to admit he's wrong. You know how stubborn he is."
Harry nodded again. He'd spent six years rooming with that pride, but it had never gotten in the way of their relationship like this. Well, maybe it had during the Triwizard Tournament, but they'd never attacked each other before. "I don't know what to think anymore. Yesterday all I wanted was for him to admit he was wrong and give me a chance, but today I don't care if he never speaks to me again as long as it makes him happy."
Ginny picked his hand up with a comforting squeeze. "He'll come around. You've certainly come a long way from this summer when you thought I didn't ever want to talk to you again."
Harry looked away in embarrassment. "I don't even know why you do want to, knowing how much of my self-deprecation you put up with."
This impressed her deeply. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny (as well as the other Weasleys) had always known Harry had the "hero complex" that made him thing he was never good enough for anyone, and was always looking for reasons he should give himself up for other people, but he'd always denied it, or at least not acknowledged it. "I'm not going to let something like that come between us," she said, rubbing his shin affectionately with her foot.
Harry sighed. She had a gift for bringing the truth about him out to the point where even he couldn't deny it. "You do so much for us already...I feel like I should be doing more."
She hopped down from the desk and moved to sit on his lap. He sat up a little straighter to give her room, and she leaned against him while propping her feet up on his desk. He raised an eyebrow at her smile, but didn't say anything.
"Harry, you give me a lot more than you think." She ruffled his hair affectionately. Harry was beginning to wonder if she had a hair fetish or something. "You don't know what it's like to have a guy you know won't leave you and can always support you, no matter what you want to do."
He wrapped an arm around her waist, balancing her on his lap. "What do you mean? I'm sure loads of guys are like that. Isn't that what it means to be together?"
Ginny smiled softly at his innocence when it came to romantic relationships. Some things about him would never change, and that made her quite content. "Not always. I know you're the first guy I've dated that I feel safe with." That might have had something to do with waiting for him and knowing she wouldn't be able to live her life with anyone else, but that was beside the point. All of her previous boyfriends seem to just be attached to the surface Ginny, and were in love with the idea of having her as a girlfriend, not being with her in any significant level.
Harry wondered how anyone could date Ginny and not want to be with her and support her. "I'm glad you know that...but I'm sorry you had to put up with jerks like them."
She laughed at his indignance. Harry Potter, savior of the world, was getting annoyed by her ex-boyfriends. "You're special, Harry. I hope you know that." She pulled off his glasses and set them on the desk before reaching up to kiss his cheek.
He could feel his face turning slightly pink from embarrassment; he had a sneaky feeling the Weasleys were rubbing off on him in that respect. He didn't know what to say back (she obviously wouldn't take his objections), so he reached inside of her robes and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into him. She gave him a seductive look and batted her eyelashes in exaggeration.
"Since when did you start flirting?" Ginny asked, her fingers crawling up his arm. Her voice lowered and reflected the seductive smile on her face. Harry rolled his eyes, and then smiled back serenely.
"Since my girlfriend taught me." He brushed her lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "And I think she's quite good at it."
"Oh, really...?" Ginny grinned into his lips, kissing him twice. "You'll have to show me...but how about let's skip it for now?"
His reply consisted of licking those soft, gentle lips and allowing her to wrap her tongue around his and draw it into her mouth. Her legs quickly slid off the desk and found their place on either side of him in the chair (he'd enlarged it a little for moments like this). As she extended and leaned the chair back by putting her weight on top of him, Harry decided (again) this was the best part of his day. His hands slid farther under her robes and uniform, slipping under her shirt to slide against the bare skin of her sides. Her fingers from both hands laced into his hair, her body moving up and down against his as her fiery intensity drove the kiss, while Harry's steady, passionate hands made their snogging into something slightly more...sensual.
Normally, it never went beyond the point they'd reached, so when her hands slid under his shirt, Harry pulled back from her kiss in surprise. He would have jumped, but her hands were soft, warm, and felt too good to pull away from. She gave him a questioning look, but didn't remove her hands.
"I don't know if I can keep from doing this forever," Ginny complained. Harry shook his head slightly and pulled her body completely against his. She looked at him in delightful surprise.
"It's okay Ginny. I need you to push me." He surprised himself with his own forwardness, but he suspected that was Ginny rubbing off on him (in more ways than one).
"In that case..." Her smile returned, looking slightly feral. Her wand hand slipped from under his shirt and brushed his chest on the way up his chin, which she pushed back rather forcefully. His eyes fell closed as her lips attached to his neck, eliciting a soft moan as her body rubbed against him. Her hand slid around his neck and pulled him into her teeth, a low growl forming deep in her throat. Her hair brushed his chin as she attacked his neck, a familiar scent wafting up and forcing him to smile. He had woken up to that scent the last three mornings – it had a light, almost indefinite fruity taste to it. Upon waking, he hadn't been able to resist it (he'd rubbed his face into her hair every time), but now it dominated him, subjecting him to her control.
She wasted no time in snogging him senseless for several sunlit days, a session which ended with her body wrapped entirely around his, breathing deeply and stroking his chest with blissful affection.
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Harry skipped lunch that day, instead preferring to meet Hermione at the school's gates before she picked up Ron from the hospital wing. They hadn't had time alone in quite awhile - as much as Harry loved having Ginny around, there was something irreplaceable about his sibling-like bond with Hermione. The two of them had quiet moments together that were graciously Weasley-free; they were still muggle-borns, and being from relatively quiet backgrounds, they didn't always have the energy to keep up with all of the redheads.
"Harry!" Hermione's face brightened at his presence as he gave her a swift hug. "Shouldn't you be in class?"
Harry chuckled. Typical Hermione. "I'm on my lunch break, and I thought I would come see you."
The two strolled toward the castle at a relaxed pace. Neither of them was in any hurry, and for a minute or two they just enjoyed each other's company in silence.
"I'm sorry about Ron..." Hermione said finally, looking down at her feet as if embarrassed.
Harry looked over at her, wondering how well she'd slept last night. It couldn't have been very well. "I just don't know what I could have done different. I shouldn't have attacked him like that, because I knew he was angry at me before we even fought. I should have just stunned him right though his shield charm, but I wanted to have a good duel for the kids." It didn't take a mind reader to see the pain in Harry's body language. The thought of the rift between himself and Ron hurt on a deep, personal level.
"Harry, I hate to say this, but it didn't matter what you did." If anything, her eyes got lower. "He's been angry at you for a long time, and I think seeing you and Ginny happy together is like a betrayal for him."
He blinked. "Why?"
Hermione shrugged. "There are some things about him even I don't understand. Believe it or not, he's very complicated emotionally. I just know that he started getting irritated whenever I mentioned you after you and Ginny left for Hogwarts. Maybe he feels like you're stealing his sister."
That was news to Harry. He wondered if the rest of the Weasley family was like that, but Ginny's voice in his head squelched the sinking feeling in his stomach.
No matter what, you'll always have me.
He smiled slightly, his nerves calming for the moment. He turned to Hermione again with a cocky grin that even his father would have been proud of.
"Is that why you married him then? Because he's the one thing you couldn't figure out?"
She rolled her eyes and shoved him gently with her shoulder, but her mood lightened considerably. "I won't deny I find that attractive, but you know I married him for more than that." Helping Hermione's relationship with Ron was probably the only good thing Harry had done in the year after Voldemort's defeat. He'd been able to explain his best friend's quirks in a way she could understand and accept, and he'd showed her that Ron wasn't someone could she get agitated about small things with. That had been one of the best changes in Hermione since becoming Ron's lover - she was still her usual detail-oriented self, but if something didn't go exactly right, she'd learned to relax and adapt.
"I still don't see what you see in him. He's the world's biggest prat." And my ex-best friend, Harry thought miserably, but kept his expression light.
She laughed as they passed through the Entrance Hall. The few students who were around tried to look disinterested in the pair, but sighting of Hermione Weasley was rare, especially with her job as an Unspeakable. "I would hope you don't - I don't need Harry Potter trying to steal my husband." She said the final word with loving affection, as if she was still awed by the idea.
He made a face, but the two walked in silence again, slowing even more as they grew closer to the hospital wing. It was nice being able to talk like this; it had been too long.
"Harry?"
He looked up, revived from his thoughts.
"Why didn't you tell us you can do wandless magic?"
Surprisingly, Harry's blush returned. "Because I can't, really. The only wandless magic I can do is a summoning spell on my wand. It's more of a magical connection than anything else.
His explanation did nothing to tame her curiosity. "Still, that's amazing. I thought we actually won."
Harry's face darkened, but he didn't say anything of it. "You didn't think I'd let you do that, did you?" His smile didn't reach his eyes, but Hermione knew not to ask when he changed the subject. "But what was that spell you used against me? Scared the bloody hell out of me." He wasn't exaggerating - his adrenaline and Prongs had kept him going during the fight - but thinking back on it, losing sight and hearing all at once during a duel was terrifying.
Hermione's lips turned up in a smug smile. "That spell is taught to all Unspeakables in case we need to keep something quiet. I'm rather surprised you could break it; usually only the counterspell from the caster can remove it."
"Trust me, it was no picnic." He shuddered. "Nearly burned my eyes out."
Hermione beamed, obviously proud that she had gotten in a good spell on 'The Chosen One'. "I wanted to end it fast. I knew it wasn't exactly fair, but I didn't want to give you and Ron a chance to get into it." Her smile flickered.
"Maybe I should have let you win," Harry observed as they came to the door to the hospital wing.
She gave him a hard look. Ginny's comment about Harry blaming himself for yesterday flashed through her mind. "Harry, this isn't your fault. I hope you know I don't blame you in the least."
He nodded to appease her, but he was fast looking for a reason to escape going in there with Ron. Unfortunately, Hermione could read him almost as well as Ginny. She grabbed his arm in hers and pulled him all the way to Ron's bed, despite his many protests.
"You could die if you carry that too much farther Hermione," Ron said, not quite joking. He still looked a little pale and weak from blood loss. Hermione quickly gave him a kiss, whispering in his ear to be nice.
"How long until Madam Pomfrey lets you out?" She asked, turning to sit on his bed. Harry stood a few feet away, looking uncomfortable.
Ron shrugged. "She won't give me a time, as usual. Please tell me you've come to break me out?"
"He'll be out when he's good and ready." The school's nurse scolded the couple, coming to give Ron another blood-replenishment potion. Harry had a strong suspicion Ginny had brewed it, because Ron nearly threw up when he drained the vial.
"Ugh! It's even worse than usual!"
A snicker came from behind them, but Harry knew who it was without turning. "Serves you right." Ginny's voice said, followed quickly by her appearance next to Harry.
Ron scowled, but he didn't have the energy to fight her. Madam Pomfrey gave her apprentice a reproving glare, but she left them alone. Not even she could argue for Ron's need to rest after twelve hours of dreamless sleep.
Harry tried to stop Ginny from wrapping her arm around him, but she was insistent. He resigned to avoid Ron's eyes and looked down at his feet. Ginny's irritation felt almost tangible next to him.
"Oh, grow up you two. Really." Harry looked at her in shock, but she didn't stop. "I'm sick of this. Ron, you need to get over yourself, and Harry, stop being such a coward."
Both boys stared at her. She stared back, crossing her arms and shifting her gaze between them. Harry recovered first. "How do you figure I'm a coward?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Because you're afraid to even look at me in front of your best friend?"
"He's your brother!" Harry broke away from her arm. "And in case you haven't noticed, he hates me for being with you!" Harry's temper quickly got out of hand as he gestured toward Ron. The Weasley boy gaped at him, but Harry didn't notice since his eyes were locked on Ginny, whose temper flared to match his own. She'd wanted this fight for a long time.
"You'd think that if you loved me, you wouldn't care!"
That was low. Harry cringed from her tongue-lashing, but he couldn't back down from her. Not in front of Ron and Hermione. He kept his body language in a furious expression.
"Maybe if you loved me, you'd understand I don't want to lose one of my best friends!" That wasn't exactly true anymore (Harry believed he'd already lost Ron), but it had been true until the day before.
Heated silence filled the room. Hermione squirmed in her seat, feeling rather uncomfortable at hearing Harry and Ginny fight, and so quickly after Ginny had wrapped her arm around him, happy to see him. She'd always thought they were perfect and never had to row like her and Ron. Ginny had told her nothing of their little argument in the Chamber of Secrets; she'd just returned with Harry and both of them looked extremely happy. Ron reacted the opposite of his wife - he laid in his bed, moving about as much as a rock. Harry's outburst had jarred something loose in his head.
Ginny, however, knew Harry had a better point, and felt horrible for ever getting angry with him. Her eyes watered as she realized her mistake, and how self-centered she was being. She was only worried about the relationship between herself and Harry - she'd completely forgotten that Ron had been Harry's best mate for longer than she'd even known him. Harry's arms surprised her by wrapping around her waist, pulling her close to his body.
"Ginny, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you." She only responded with a sniff, willing her tears to hold until she could get away. Unfortunately, Harry's arms felt so safe and comfortable, and when he kissed her forehead, she wrapped around him and cried silently into her shoulder.
Ron stared at the scene before him, feeling almost as horrible as Ginny was. He avoided Hermione's pointed gaze, preferring to stare at a wall than face her. She'd been telling him this since the wedding, but he hadn't wanted to listen. He knew she was trying to tell him it was time to apologize and hope Harry could forgive him, but admitting he was wrong was not something Ronald Weasley did well. Unbidden, the image of Harry getting killed by a Hungarian Horntail popped into his head and forced the Gryffindor courage to the front of his mind.
"Harry?"
The raven-haired wizard turned with his girlfriend in his arms, never letting go of her, but rotating so he could look over her shoulder and see Ron.
"I..." He paused, wondering what he could possibly say. "I reckon I should have given you another chance." Harry's words from the duel the day before seemed to be the only right ones he could find. Ginny's head whipped around, her eyes red, but there was a disbelieving look in them all the same. Harry smiled, and that was all Ron needed to ease the tension that had worked its way up his back and held him hostage.
"Caught on, have you?" It was funny how words from years ago came back in the most unexpected times. Ron's eyes flashed in recognition, and a grin appeared on his face.
"Let's just hope Hermione doesn't run away crying this time."
"Ronald Bilius Weasley!" Hermione smacked him on the arm, his medical condition not withstanding. Ginny finally smiled, letting herself believe that her brother had come around. After the duel yesterday, she'd resigned to the fact she would have to tell Ron to come and talk to her when he grew up.
"You know, it took Mum forever to get her to say that right." Ron winked at Harry, who laughed, which caused Ginny to giggle. Hermione looked vaguely put out, but the sight of her three best friends laughing together saved Ron another slap to the arm.
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Harry supposed he should be dreading Miss Princeton's arrival, but it was hard to dread anything after setting things right with Ron. The peace between them was still a little awkward (months of their feud was hard to just forget), but everything would be okay, especially with Hermione there to talk sense into Ron. He smiled at that - it seemed Hermione was always talking sense into them all. In the events of the past few days, he'd forgotten to tell her about his lessons with Rebecca, but he knew he'd get an earful whenever he did. Ginny had wanted him to write her, but that wasn't the kind of thing you told someone using an owl. Even worse, if the letter for some reason got intercepted, its contents would look very...bad.
A soft knock came on his door, driving away images of what Azkaban must look like. He took a moment to put on his professor mask, and then spoke to the door. "Come in."
Rebecca came into his office looking very timid. Out of habit, she sat in her usual spot, but her eyes never even looked at him.
"You made progress last time," Harry said, encouragingly. "You threw it off entirely."
"I..." She faltered, having no idea what to say. "I don't think I could do it again."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"Because...I don't know how I did it." That wasn't the truth - she knew that something had touched her baby inside of her, and she had become aware enough to focus her magic around her unborn child as a ward. That ward had thrown the curse completely off her, but only because Harry had tried to control her child. She still couldn't do a thing about the curse for herself.
He realized this was the time to tell her he knew about the baby. "Do you think it might have anything to do with what I tried to do to you?"
She stared at him for the first time, eyes wide. "What did you try to do?" She thought he didn't know what he'd done, but perhaps she'd been wrong.
"I didn't know at the time...but I do now." He let her think about that. It was painful watching the terror and shock run through her eyes, but he didn't know how he could have made it any better.
"You...you know?"
Harry nodded slightly. "After last time, I forced it out of Headmistress McGonagall. I was worried that there might be something wrong with you."
A look of supreme confusion set itself on her face. Of everything, that was the thing he least expected. Anger, despair, or even relief he could have dealt with, but confusion was, well, confusing.
"You...what?"
Harry blinked. "I made the Headmistress tell me about your pregnancy. I thought there might be something wrong and..." He trailed off, the shock on her face increasing. No one had ever bothered to care like that before; certainly none of her friends would argue with a teacher over her, let alone the Headmistress. "Is something wrong?"
"No...of course not." She flushed, but her skin didn't do much more than turn a soft shade of pink. Harry wondered what could scare her pale and cause her to blush at the same time, but in any case, he thought it might be nice to save some of her right to privacy.
"She did not tell me anything besides that you are pregnant, any other details are beyond what I need to know." It didn't matter that he was pretty sure she'd been used by the Imperius Curse; he didn't know, and it could stay that way if that's what Rebecca wanted. He was determined to be professional about this.
"Do...do you mind if I tell you what happened?"
What?! Harry stared at her. He couldn't force his jaw to work for a long minute, and his professionalism went right out the window, its owner unable to think about keeping it up. Genuine concern now laced his voice. "If you want to talk, I'll do my best to help." He'd never had anyone come to him with something like this before. Well, Hermione had, but they'd been through so much in even their first year that it only seemed natural.
"I...I came to you this year because I didn't want this to happen again." She seemed remarkably composed, but it had to be a front. She'd seemed terrified when she'd began lessons, and Harry could see why now, but even the uneasy trust she'd developed for him wasn't enough to reassure her. "I don't even know who the father was...and...I really don't even remember..." Her front was cracking, and her voice broke. "...doing it."
Harry stood, mostly to give himself something to do other than process what she was saying. A combination of anger and tears formed in his eyes, but he blinked them both back, knowing if he showed her any sign of how much she affected him, she would have no chance at holding herself together. What had happened to her linked far too easily to Ginny, and if anything like that every happened to her...
Wait...isn't Ginny here? She could help...but...Harry cursed silently. She was having dinner with Hermione for a little girl time before the bushy-haired witch returned home. She didn't come to all of the lessons anymore anyway. Now that he thought about it, the familiar tabby in the window wasn't there either. What was going on? Why did the world have a conspiracy to make him deal with this on his own?
"I don't know what to say." He figured honesty was best. "There's nothing that can erase what happened, but you know that you can move on and not let it control you." When did I get this smart? By this point, Harry was running on instinct, and his instinct was telling him he needed to protect her and shelter her. It wasn't a friendly protection...or a feeling like he would have for Ginny...no. He couldn't possibly know it at this point in life, but it was a fatherly feeling, one that hadn't surfaced until now.
She looked up at him with glistening eyes. "No...no one has ever told me that before." Indeed, all anyone had tried to tell her was forget about it...not to accept it.
Huh? He walked around the table and leaned against it in front of her, giving her the comfort of proximity without invading her space. "That's the only thing you can do. You could get your memory modified, but that wouldn't change what happened. The only way you're going to get over this is to stare it in the face and win." The parallels to his dementor lessons with Remus were starting to play in the back of his mind, and it was unnerving.
"Professor...I..." A tear slipped down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away. She wasn't to the point of openly crying, but it wasn't far away. Harry waited for her to compose herself. "Thank you."
It seemed the gratitude would never stop coming in his life, for one thing or another. "For what?" This time, he couldn't possibly know what it was for.
"For..." The truth was, she didn't really know what for. All he'd done was provide a safe environment every Monday, a place where she could do something to help her get over her summer without having to talk about it. He had repeatedly used the Imperius Curse on her, and she could remember what happened every single time he did. Something about that had built her trust in him like nothing else ever could. "For being someone I can trust."
Images of Harry's childhood before eleven flashed through his mind. That was what sparked the feeling inside of him, what motivated him to help her and gave him the strength to protect her. Somewhere along the line, he'd recognized a part of himself in her, the part that had been alone all through his childhood with no one to turn to. His heart went out to her, and he knew he couldn't let her down. Suddenly, his desire to teach explained itself. Harry realized that was his calling now, his purpose. Ever since Voldemort had died, he'd been living without a purpose, and that had dragged him into a feeling of helplessness and despair. He thought he'd fulfilled his purpose for existing and the rest of his life was just a waste, but now he knew Voldemort was only the beginning. He not only had one purpose in life, but two. The first was Ginny...she was his life in some ways...but teaching and preparing his young children for the life ahead of them was his passion.
"If it makes you feel any better, Miss Princeton, know that you've already helped me in more ways than you can imagine already." Harry smiled in spite of everything, resisting the urge to chuckle at the bewildered expression on her face. "Don't worry about it...I'm not sure I could explain it if I wanted to. But thank you, also."
The look of confusion never faded, but she gave him a nod of acceptance. They sat there in silence for a moment, before Rebecca slowly looked up at him. "Would it be all right if I didn't feel like practicing tonight?"
Harry nodded. "I think you have done all you need to for now." She stood, but Harry's voice kept her from turning. "But I do think next time we need to talk more about this. I think one of your problems might be that you haven't dealt with...this." He couldn't think of any better word, but the gratitude in her eyes was clear as day. Harry wondered if she'd ever had anyone to talk to in her life - he knew from student records that she was an orphan, much like him, and had a different set of foster parents every summer. She certainly didn't have siblings, and though she'd obviously made friends in Ravenclaw, she always had a hard outer shell that projected an unfeeling scholar rather than the soft, hurt child that Harry saw in her tonight.
"Um...right. I...I'll look forward to it." She almost turned to go, but she turned back, looking almost afraid again. Harry was able to truly appreciate how fragile she was, looking it both physically and emotionally. "Could...Could I..." she trailed off, shaking her head. At Harry's curious look, she sighed. "Never mind. Thank you for your time Professor." At once, her hard shell was back up, but Harry knew she needed some sign that this meant something to him.
"I'm sure everything will be fine, Rebecca."
She broke out into a soft smile, and Harry instantly felt wonderful about everything. This was what life was all about.