Chapter Twelve: Life as We Knew it is Over…
Ron and Hermione were sitting alone in the Gryffindor common room. They were sitting together on one of the scarlet couches, waiting in silence for Harry and Xavier to return from their detentions. Neither had actually done anything wrong, but Headmistress Umbridge had requested a meeting with both of them after the last class of the day was over.
"I wonder what she wants from them…" Hermione was thinking out loud
"Probably just wants to make their lives miserable for having the guts to say he truth… She makes me sick to my stomach…" Ron responded angrily
"I wonder what's going to happen to the school with Dumbledore gone. Umbridge can do anything now…" Hermione stated sadly
"I'm sure everything will be okay…" Ron pulled Hermione into a comforting embrace, and she grabbed him tightly."
"Whoops… didn't mean to interrupt anything… My bad Ron." Xavier had walked in through the portrait hole, and Ron and Hermione's faces both turned a bright red.
"What did she want with you?" Ron and Hermione asked at the exact same time.
"Nothing much. She made me do some manual labor. She must really hate me. All because of the first day I was here. Kinda made a bad impression on her, I think." Xavier smiled for a brief second, but then a frown came to his face, and he continued. "But I'm not really sure what she wanted with Harry. She called him into her office. And he was still in there when I left. I could hear muffled voices, but I couldn't make out what they were talking about. But the witch sounded like she was pissed about something…"
"I knew it." Hermione interrupted. "She's trying to interrogate him."
"Huh?" Ron and Xavier both asked in unison. Neither got what Hermione was talking about.
"Think about it. She knows about Harry and Dumbledore. And she also knows that she almost caught Sirius in the fire earlier in the year. So she wants to force Harry to tell her where they are. Thankfully he can't because of the Fidelius on headquarters. And Dumbledore just won't be found…"
"I guess that makes sense… Do you think…? No she wouldn't… There's no way she could legally do that…" Xavier started to think out loud before Hermione interrupted him
"What? Use Veritaserum on Harry. I think that's exactly what she is going to do. But it won't get her anywhere." Hermione had a triumphant smile on her face as she said this.
"She didn't interrogate me, you're all paranoid." Harry entered the room with a smile on his face. "She just made me sit there, while she yelled at me for helping criminals and rebels. She was trying to make me feel guilty for what I'm doing, so I would tell her everything that she wanted to know. Like that worked…" Harry was almost laughing as he said this.
"Now that's the most impressive prank I have ever seen…" Xavier was standing in awe as he watched fireworks fly through the hall. He could hear students all over the school wowing over Fred and George's work. Xavier couldn't believe that Fred and George had the guts to let fireworks loose in the Hogwarts halls. He shuddered at the thought of what would happen to them if they were caught. Interrupting his thoughts was a giant Catherine wheel that rolled right by, causing Xavier to dive out of the way. Dusting himself off, Xavier bent down to pick up his hat, when he heard a voice screaming somewhere down the corridor.
"DON'T TRY TO STUN THEM FILCH!" Xavier couldn't suppress a laugh as he heard Umbridge shrieking, and unsuccessfully trying to get rid of Fred and George's work.
"You think this is funny, don't you? Well, you should think of what could happen to them if they're caught. They'll be expelled." Hermione had just gotten out of her Arithmacy class, and was shocked at the fireworks. They were in every color and design imaginable, and even she was impressed by the twins' work.
"Lighten up, Hermione. You enjoy watching the fireworks…" Xavier turned to face Hermione, and with a whisper added, "And watching Umbridge and Filch trying to deal with them…"
Hermione looked angry for a brief second, but then smiled, and said, "I guess you're right. They are rather beautiful aren't they? And it is fun watching the Headmistress…" Hermione said this word particularly venomously "deal with them… But we really should get to lunch."
Hermione and Xavier walked into the Great Hall for lunch, and saw Ron and Harry talking to Ernie MacMillan, Hufflepuff prefect.
"Hermione, Xavier. How are you?" Ernie shook both of their hands, before turning back to Harry and saying, "She's having quite a struggle with those fireworks. She tried to stun one, and then it just exploded in her face…"
"Well, the old hag deserves it…" Hermione started before she was interrupted by an unexpected individual.
"Do you really want to finish that sentence, Miss Granger?" Draco Malfoy asked her. "I think that will be ten points from Gryffindor for insulting our new Headmistress."
"You can't take points, Malfoy." Ernie spat. "Only teachers can take points. That would completely undermine the prefect system." He continued.
"Prefects can't take points. But members of the Inquisitorial Squad can." Seeing the puzzled looks on their faces, Malfoy smiled, and continued, "Certain trustworthy students picked by the new Headmistress have additional powers…" Malfoy showed them his new badge, a silver I, before adding, "So that will be ten points from Hufflepuff for contradicting me, ten from Potter because I don't like you, ten from Weasley because your shirt isn't tucked in, ten from the American cause he's well American, and I don't like him either. And ten more from the Mudblood. Have a good day, Potty. Weasel King. New head, new times." Malfoy walked away, leaving the enraged group behind
Xavier wanted to laugh. There was no way blatant corruption like that would be allowed in the House points system. But he heard a gasp from Hermione, and swears from Harry and Ron, and he turned and faced the hourglasses which kept track of the House points. The four Gryffindors and one Hufflepuff watched in shock as colored gems fell from their hourglasses. At the start of the day, all three houses had been far ahead of Slytherin. But they soon realized that Slytherin was tied for the lead with Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor was now in last. Realizing there was nothing they could do, they all went to their tables and sat down to lunch. But as soon as they sat down, they heard a familiar "Ahem, hem…" and turned around.
"Mr. Potter. Do you have any idea how much trouble these fireworks have caused me today? I know you were involved somehow…" Professor Umbridge was livid, and her face matched the ridiculous pink cardigan she was wearing.
"But Professor, I was in your office. I couldn't have set them off…" Harry stated simply before turning back to his meal.
"Then it was one of your friends… Mr. Dalton or Mr. Weasley then." Umbridge was desperate to punish someone as an example.
"Professor. None of us did it, or know who did it. So will you please leave us to our lunch? I'm hungry." Ron asked her.
"The three of you, up to my office now!" Umbridge shrieked.
"What did I do to deserve this?" Xavier mumbled and Umbridge apparently heard him because she shot him a death glare for a brief second.
"Can I at least bring a sandwich?" Ron asked meekly.
"NO! You may not bring up a sandwich!" Umbridge yelled. The three boys sadly followed her up to her office, but not before Ron silently summoned himself a sandwich for the walk. Harry and Xavier couldn't quite hold back a laugh, and Umbridge turned around quickly. Ron stuffed the sandwich into his mouth before she saw, and she turned around confused.
Walking through the hallways, Harry stared at all of the portraits on the stone walls. He watched as a bunch of old wizards played poker on one painting, and then looked at the next one, which showed a young witch picking a flower from a beautiful field. Harry almost forgot what he was doing before he was brought back to reality by the sound of Umbridge's office door opening, and Harry entered with his two friends. Harry took a second to view the pink, cat painting filled office that he hated so much, before sitting down in the last open chair.
"Gentlemen, what would you like to drink? Tea, coffee, milk…" Umbridge asked sweetly.
"I'll take a coffee, Professor. Please and thank you." Xavier asked with as much charisma as he could possibly muster. It wasn't nearly as much as he usually had. He had spent far too much time doing detentions for the woman to like her.
"Tea for me, please." Ron asked, although it was hardly understandable, as he was still trying to swallow his food from earlier.
"I'm not really thirsty, Professor." Harry stated. Umbridge frowned, before her "sweet" smile returned.
"Let's not play games, Harry dear. Now what would you like to drink?" Conceding, Harry asked for a cup of tea as well. Harry watched the professor closely as she poured the drinks, and she took forever to add the milk, and she had her back turned. Harry could hear Mad-Eye Moody's voice in his head telling him not to drink under any conditions.
"Drink up boys. You look thirsty." Umbridge was smiling. And with this, Harry got it. She was trying to drug them. Harry faked a large gulp. He could see Xavier and Ron about to drink, but he could do nothing to stop them.
"Now, who set off the fireworks earlier today?" She asked with a triumphant smile on her face.
"No clue." Xavier responded, looking right past the professor and focusing on a cat painting on the back wall of the office.
"I don't know either." Ron blurted out. Harry was worried about his friend cracking, but couldn't say anything before Umbridge continued her interrogation.
"Ok then you can tell me the location of Sirius Black. I know he was contacting you that night in the House fire."
"Sorry Professor." Harry stated. "I don't know where he is."
"Neither do we, Professor." Xavier spoke for himself, as well as Ron.
"Then tell me where Albus Dumbledore is. You three have been in with him since the beginning."
"Look, Professor. Stop asking us these stupid questions. You aren't going to get anything out of us, because we don't know anything. We're just a bunch of kids trying to get a damn education. So can we go back to dinner now? Please?" Xavier had snapped. Harry kicked him under the table to get him to shut up.
"Very well. Just remember boys, I have the might of the Ministry behind me. So tread carefully." Umbridge said slowly and confidently before opening her office door, and dismissing the three Gryffindors.
"We can still grab some dinner." Xavier whispered while glancing down at his watch.
"Important question for you two. Did you drink any of the stuff Umbridge gave us?"
"I had a sip… But her coffee tasted horrible. Why does it matter, Harry?" Xavier looked confused.
"I didn't have any. I really didn't feel like tea, but I didn't want to be rude." Ron said.
"It's important because…" Harry gave his friends a look as he spoke. "I think she slipped some Veritaserum into our drinks. That's why she was asking us those questions. And she was expecting to hear the truth. Good thing none of us drank…"
What?" Ron was pissed. "I'm going back there and giving her a piece of my mind." Ron took one step back towards Umbridge's office before Harry grabbed his robes.
"Are you honestly that thick? Imagine what she would do if you accused her of that? Even if it's true…" Harry was trying to talk some sense into Ron.
"He's right." Xavier hated that she could attempt to drug them without repercussions, but he knew that calling her on it would only lead to further trouble. "You gotta know when to keep your head down, and right now is when you just head down to dinner and let things go…"
Ron reluctantly turned around, and the three friends headed down to dinner in complete silence, each lost in their own thoughts…
"Harry, you look sad. What's up?" Ginny was looking into Harry's green eyes, and she could just tell that he was dealing with some internal troubles.
"No, not really. I'm just trying to figure out how to tell someone something that I'm not exactly sure I can say. But I have to…" Harry took a deep breath after responding. He started to sweat. He wished Xavier was sitting next to him, whispering the right things to say in his ear. And Ron wouldn't help him for obvious reasons. And Hermione would be really smug about it, if she even agreed to help him out. But Harry and Ginny were alone. Xavier was taking a walk to get away from Ron and Hermione, who were fighting again. Harry and Ginny had run to the library to get away from the yelling and screaming.
"Harry. You should just tell whoever it is whatever it is. You'll feel better that way." Ginny advised him. Harry didn't notice that Ginny was looking at him closely.
"Alright. Ginny… I…" Harry started to tell Ginny his feelings for her before he was interrupted. Again.
"Harry. Ginny. Just wanted to let you know that lunch has started. Oh, and Ron and Hermione are still fighting. Real surprise there." Xavier had popped his head into the library, and had seen his two friends sitting alone at a table. He quickly realized that maybe something was going on between the two of them. He had seen the chemistry before. He then felt bad for interrupting, and walked out as quickly as he had entered.
"Damn, the moment was ruined… Again." Harry thought to himself. "Shall we head down and get something to eat?" Harry asked Ginny. She nodded sadly, and they followed Xavier down to the Great Hall for lunch.
"And Davies scores, making the score 10-0 in favor of Ravenclaw" Harry and Xavier groaned. Ron had missed another save. It was the final game of the Quidditch season. Gryffindor needed a miracle to win the cup, and most people in the stands thought they were just playing for respect.
Xavier was completely taken in by the game, and didn't notice Harry and Hermione follow Hagrid out of the stadium.
"And Bradley now has the Quaffle. He dodges Spinnet, and Bell is taken out of the way by a Quaffle. Johnson is too far behind, and Bradley makes a move on the Keeper. He feints, and then shoots…" Xavier couldn't look. He couldn't bear to see Ron miss another save. He felt horrible for his friend. "And Weasley makes the fingertip save!" Lee Jordan, the commentator, was yelling. Xavier couldn't believe it. He looked up and saw a grinning Ron holding the Quaffle. Ron finally had his swagger back.
As the game progressed, it was clear that Ron's save was not a miracle, but rather the confidence boost he had desperately needed. Ravenclaw was piling shots up on Ron, but he kept stopping them. Many of the saves were one-handed, or even one-footed. And the rest of the team was playing with a new attitude. The Beaters knocked out one of the Ravenclaw chasers, and Gryffindor was scoring goal after goal. After an hour, the score was 250-40 in favor of Gryffindor. Xavier was sitting in the stands in utter shock and confusion. He had just realized that if Ginny caught the Snitch, Gryffindor would win the Quidditch cup. But they would come in third if Cho Chang caught it for Ravenclaw, which would win the Cup for Slytherin. And then Ginny zoomed out of nowhere and caught the Snitch right next to an oblivious Cho. And after a brief minute of emptiness because of the abrupt, stunning, ending of the game, the Gryffindor section of the stands erupted into pandemonium. Scarlet and gold clad students were flooding the field, and mobbed their championship team. Before he knew it, Xavier happily saw that Ron had been hoisted up on the shoulders of the crazier fans, and the whole house filed out of the stadium, singing a slightly modified version of "Weasley is Our King."
It was at this point that Xavier noticed Harry and Hermione running towards them. Harry ran like lightning past Xavier and the other boy knew immediately where he was going.
"Harry. We did it. We won the Cup." A breathless Ginny could be heard yelling over the noise to Harry. Harry grabbed her and pulled her into a congratulatory embrace. His could just feel that this was the perfect moment. Harry thought at the current moment, Ginny was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her windswept fire red hair and her soft brown eyes made Harry melt as he held her in his arms. Harry tilted her head to face his own, and he leaned in for the kiss he had been waiting for…
"HEY HARRY! WE DID IT! WE WON THE CUP! LOOK!" Ron yelled over the crowd noise.
"Aww hell… Not again…" Harry thought angrily to himself. He just hoped Ron hadn't noticed the somewhat compromising position he was currently in with his best mate's little sister. He was really confused. Harry's heart told him to kiss the breath out of Ginny. Harry's brain was telling him to go and congratulate Ron. But his heart won…
And before he knew it, he was kissing Ginny. Time froze, and Harry didn't notice anyone around the two of them. He had his hands in her hair, and the kiss was soft and tender, and yet passionate at the same time. Ginny was running her hands through Harry's messy black hair. Harry realized that this was what kissing someone was supposed to feel like, not the teary, odd, awkward affair it had been when he kissed Cho under the mistletoe. Harry thought that it just felt so right. He couldn't really put a description on the feeling, but he could feel his stomach doing continuous back flips.
After what had only seemed like a single, perfect moment to Harry, they slowly broke away from each other. As Harry held Ginny in his arms, he realized that their kiss had been a lot longer than just a moment. Ginny pulled him closer and whispered in his ear.
"Harry…" and before Harry could say anything, she continued. "I've been waiting for that moment since I was eleven." Ginny was breathless as she said this. She was shocked that Harry finally had feelings for her. After all the years of barely noticing her, Harry finally felt the same for her as she did for him.
"And I've wanted to do that ever since that day I chased you through the snow and Ron yelled at us." Harry responded with the lightest whisper, it was barely audible. Harry felt a tap on his shoulder.
"I'm happy for you two, but I'm not sure Ron is… He ran off when you guys started… well you know… and Hermione followed him. If anyone can talk some sense into him it's her." Xavier had appeared out of nowhere and gave Harry a slap on the back.
"Shit, I thought that was going to happen. Ah, guess I'll have to go talk to him." Harry said.
"And I'm coming with you." Ginny added.
"Alright, Ill see you guys in the common room later then. That's going to be a fun conversation with Ron by the way. Real fun." Xavier walked off, and Harry and Ginny stood there for another five minutes, just enjoying each other's company, before following Xavier back to the Gryffindor common room.
"What do you mean it's the best for both of them? Ginny just has a little girl crush on Harry from those stupid stories Mum used to tell her. And I have no fucking clue what Harry feels about her!" Ron was yelling at Xavier and Hermione in the Gryffindor common room. Ron was standing, pacing, clearly stressed out. Xavier was sitting with his feet up on one of the couches, trying to appear disinterested. And Hermione was following Ron around the room. Everyone else in the house had intelligently cleared out, anticipating the explosion that was coming. But they all had pairs of Fred and George's Extendable Ears. Not they had needed them so far. Ron's hundred decibel yells easily carried to the dormitories.
"Look, bro. You gotta relax. They're going to come back soon. And Harry seems genuine. I talked to him about it." Xavier was telling a little white lie to help back his friend out of a corner.
"So let me get this straight? You knew about this, and you didn't fucking tell me?" Ron was getting even louder and redder in the face, if it was humanly possible to do so.
"Well yea. Harry wanted to be the one to tell you." Xavier responded coolly.
"Yeah he did a great job of that."
"Listen Ron; just give Harry and Ginny a chance. The chemistry is there." Hermione added her opinion into the discussion. Just before Ron was about to yell at her, Harry and Ginny walked through the portrait hole, smiling and holding hands.
"Potter. Ginny." Ron spat.
"Since when have you called me Potter?" Harry asked, slowly loosing his cool. Ron wasn't even going to give him a chance to speak before judging the two of them.
"Since you started hitting on my sister..." Ron was raising his voice as he spoke each word. Harry was silent for a minute. He didn't know what to say. But thankfully he didn't have to speak.
"Ronald Bilius Weasley. You have no right to do this. You should be happy for your best friend. Not to mention your little sister." Ginny had taken over the fight. And quite well Harry thought. Ron momentarily had no answer for this, and he looked from Harry to Ginny, to Hermione, and then to Xavier, before he realized that he was clearly on the minority side. Hermione and Xavier clearly supported Harry and Ginny. He wasn't surprised, but he was still angry.
"I… Well it's clear that the two of you…" Ron glared at Hermione and Xavier. "support this. So I guess I have to, for now at least. But Harry. If you ever hurt her, you better hope you can take a curse. Seven or eight of them." Ron said with as much venom as he could muster.
"Don't worry. I won't. I care too much for her to do that. And if on the off chance I do, I'll let you and your brothers' deal with me." Harry responded. "Thanks for giving me this chance, Ron." Harry patted his confused and distressed friend on the shoulder, before sitting back down with Ginny.
The next week or so was somewhat awkward for the entire group. Ron was struggling to deal with the fact Harry and Ginny were dating. This made things tense between him and Hermione, because he would go off at the littlest thing, and they would fight often. That meant that since Harry and Ginny wanted a lot of alone time, Xavier was the new Harry, in that he would be trying to mediate the Ron/Hermione fights. He wasn't very good at it. But as the week progressed, and Ron started to accept what he couldn't change, he embraced Harry as his best friend again Saturday morning. That night, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Xavier, and Ginny were the last people in the Gryffindor common room, sitting silently watching the fire die. Harry and Ginny were sharing his favorite chair and she was sitting on his lap. He was absentmindedly stroking her hair while she was finishing her Charms reading for the night. Ron and Hermione were sharing a couch. Ron was tossing a practice Quaffle to himself repeatedly, and Hermione was reviewing for the upcoming O.W.L exams. Xavier was sitting and cleaning off his favorite Boston Red Sox hat. It had been accumulating dirt, and this annoyed him. But he quickly got bored, and brought the first thing he could think of up for conversation,
"Well, its been an odd last three weeks or so, hasn't it?" Everyone was startled to hear someone talking. It had been silent for nearly twenty minutes or so.
"Yeah, I guess it has. With Dumbledore leaving, and Umbridge taking over. And Ron turning into the House Quidditch hero. And Grawp…" Harry agreed.
"Don't forget me, Harry." Ginny whispered in his ear.
"How could I forget. The best thing that's happened to me in awhile…" Harry gave Ginny a quick kiss. They both laughed, and Ron had pointedly looked away.
"But not all these changes are good. As happy as you two are together." Hermione abruptly brought Harry and Ginny back to reality. "We are in serious trouble. Both inside and outside Hogwarts. So we have to be careful." Harry didn't realize how right Hermione was. There was another brief silence, before Ron summed up the crazy series of events.
"Guys, I hate to say it, but… Life as we knew it is over."
AN: I know that Ron's reaction to Harry and Ginny wasn't exactly canon, but I figured that since Ron hasn't dated Lavender yet, he'll be jealous and take it out on Harry. Three or four chapters left for OOTP. Then I'm going to start on HBP. Hope you like my story so far. Please drop a review. They're appreciated.
