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Hogwarts Shuffle! Chapter Fourteen
10/19 – Saturday
It took Harry two weeks and the threat of not taking her out the next weekend, before he was able to get Sia into the room of requirement for a training session. They had been working on her wand movements and incantations for over an hour now and she had at least a proficiency in all of the spell work to date. Her biggest problem had been ignoring the subtleties in the wand movements; which was somewhat funny to Harry (though he didn't laugh at her) because he'd recently been working on removing most of those movements himself. He figured removing the wand movements was the next step after learning to cast silently, and should help him to master her type of magic.
Speaking of which, "Alright Sia! I think you've done really well but we should stop before you get bored and start making mistakes."
She smiled at him and a shiver ran down his back, all of the touching they had done during the training session; while he had helped her perfect the small movements. It was just like their hands bumping in the movie theater, but constant. He wondered if those sparks he felt could actually be real.
"Hermione and Ginny were right, you really are a great teacher." She said.
He shrugged off the compliment, "Nah, I just...think about what would have been the easiest way for someone to describe it to me, and then I adjust that to the person I'm teaching. Anybody can do that."
She rolled her eyes and grinned, "Not just anybody can be a competent teacher, and even fewer are good at it. Thank you!"
He was starting to get embarrassed and could feel the temperature rising in his cheeks, "Well, since I'm not going to be agreeing with you any time soon. Why don't you try and teach me some of your magic?"
Her forehead wrinkled as she thought about it, he found that look very cute. "I'm...not even sure how to begin..."
"Well, what's the first thing you are taught about how to control your magic?"
She shook her head, "There is a problem here, we're coming at it backwards. When we first start using magic, it is all we can do NOT to do it. There is no trying, it's just there. The problem is in getting to small things."
He nodded, "You mean like summoning the milk from the refrigerator instead of summoning the refrigerator?"
She shook her head, "More like summoning a drink instead of summoning the kitchen...or the cow..or a whole farm."
He pondered that for a minute before speaking again, "When I was little, I remember little things happening like summoning a toy that I wanted but nobody would give me. But then...my Aunt didn't like that, they were Dudley's toys so I stopped doing that pretty fast I think."
"Do you remember doing anything...bigger?" Sia asked him.
"I turned my Aunt into a balloon and made her float away...I wasn't consciously thinking about it though, I just wanted her to go away."
Her eyes lit up a bit, "That is closer to what I'm talking about, you know what you want, you just don't know exactly how you want it to happen. Or you do know how you want it to happen, but it happens in a completely different way. You have to get a Feel for the magic."
"Did I hear a capital letter in that?" He asked, "It doesn't sound like you mean just a tingle."
She appeared to be straining a bit, trying to find a way to explain it to him, "Okay, I remember you saying you lit up your wand once without touching it. Do you think you can do that on purpose?"
"I don't know, I never tried." He said with a shrug.
He placed his wand on the ground and said the incantation a few times with no results. Pausing for a moment he thought back to that day, the way he felt with the Dementors bearing down on him, his panic at trying to find his wand in the dark, there had been...a Pull on his magic. Why hadn't he noticed it before?
"Lumos!" He whispered, eyes still closed. He felt that pull, centering somewhere in his chest, and he tried to grab hold of it. His face was scrunched up in concentration and his head was tilted to one side, the feeling was slippery like it was looking for a way out, trying to get away from him. He imagined his wand being in his hand and felt the direction of the...Pull...change suddenly only to be met with a block, it wasn't liquid exactly, but he could feel the pressure building as if there was some sort of dam in the way. He pushed harder, thinking about his wand...
And was smacked in the face by the wand as it shot off the floor toward him. "Ouch!"
Sia giggled at him as he rubbed his forehead and retrieved his wand off the floor, "That wasn't funny..."
"I'm sorry," she remarked seriously before bursting out in giggles again, her laughter was infectious and he soon found himself laughing along with her. "So were you trying to summon your wand?" She finally asked.
He shook his head, "No I was trying to light it, but it was like the magic was searching for something..a way out...so I was concentrating on the feeling of my wand, the movement...I guess I finally pushed hard enough but was concentrating too much on the wand, and not on the spell."
She nodded, "You can kinda see what we go through, you wanted to cast Lumos, but you needed your wand to do it, so the magic interpreted your need as a summons instead."
He thought about it for a second, moving over to a couch that appeared in the room and sitting down. "How does it feel when you cast with a wand?"
She looked up at the ceiling for a few moments, trying to describe it, "I'm already used to Feeling my magic, wrestling it under control to make it do what I want...Normally I have to grab hold of it, fight it for dominance. It takes less time the more you practice and the older you get; to get it under control. But reaching out for the magic is always a fight. When I use a wand...for one thing, it is really hard to push my magic through this little stick instead of through my body...think of it like trying to hook up a garden hose to a fire hydrant."
He nodded, "So not only do you have to fight the magic to gain control, but you also have channel only enough to do what you want without overpowering it?"
She grinned, "That sounds exactly like it."
He nodded, "So when you were trying to banish that pillow earlier, and instead you kept lighting it on fire. It was more like magical overload...like the hose exploded?"
She nodded, slightly but it was a nod, and her forehead wrinkled again, "Sort of, that is a mixed metaphor though... Actually, hearing you say it like that makes me feel a lot better. It isn't that I can't do it, it is just that I am putting too much into it..." Her eyes brightened as she found his and she smiled again, making his heart jump, "Thank you Harry, I feel so much better now!"
He looked away from her shyly, trying not to blush, "Well I'm trying to understand so I can learn your way of doing things, once I figured that out for myself it was easy to apply to your problem."
She turned his head to face her with a finger and locked eyes with him, "I really do appreciate everything you've done for me Harry..."
He found himself leaning toward her eyes, his own kept darting to her lips and back again, the smile could be seen creasing the corners of her eyes and her own cheeks were starting to glow, though it didn't look like a blush...more like a flush... "It was nothing...reall-."
She cut him off by pressing her lips to his, very briefly but it was like a jolt of electricity from his lips, through his brain and straight down to his toes and fingertips. He found himself leaning into the kiss and his arms came up around her waist even as hers went over his shoulders. The kiss itself seemed to have been building for weeks, ever since their day out to the cinema, and it was everything he could have hoped a first kiss would be. If he'd been at all coherent enough to think, he'd have realized that his kiss with Cho hadn't been anything close, exciting sure, but no feeling behind it.
They both pulled away slowly before his shyness overwhelmed him and he let her go, grinning and blushing. For Sia's part, she looked flushed and hungry, and incredibly happy as a grin brighter than the sun graced her features. "So uh...you...said you had to wrestle," he coughed nervously, "you had to fight to get a hold of the magic...I don't think I've ever felt that..."
She sighed, slightly, before getting back to business. Her lips were still tingling and she couldn't drop the smile, but she began working with him on how to Feel the magic.
-~Hogwarts Shuffle!~-
10/21– Monday
Harry had gotten used to having someone wake him up on school days, normally Ginny would either climb in bed with him, or knock on his door to make sure he was up. She would set out his clothes for the day before taking a shower, polish his wand...all manner of little things to let him know she cared. He kept trying to stop her but she never listened, and to tell the truth his protestations were becoming both less frequent and less heartfelt. A guy could definitely get used to being pampered.
Which is why it was odd that he woke on his own this morning, he saw that his clothes were set out on the dresser as usual but there was no perky redhead sleeping in with him. Picking up his wand he cast a spell to display the time, thanking Hermione mentally for the food preservative spell Hermione had adapted for his contacts, only to swear loudly as he threw off the covers and jumped out of bed. At this rate he had already missed breakfast and would just barely make it to first period.
He rushed his morning routine, barely taking time to cast a freshening charm on his mouth and to tame his hair in the enchanted mirror, ignoring the commentary on how hopeless it was, as usual. Dashing from the room he saw Hermione heading for the door. "Mione!"
The girl turned and looked up at him, "Harry? We thought you and Ginny had gone down to breakfast already."
He shook his head as he descended the stairs, "She didn't wake me up this morning..."
Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled at him, "You really shouldn't let her do that you know, you're getting lazy."
"I know, I know...but she won't stop. She says it makes her happy and I'm only human, it isn't like I force her to do it, and it isn't like I treat her like a house elf."
Hermione nodded, "You treat house elves rather well, which is the only reason I stopped complaining about Dobby. Maybe she's running behind as well? She's the only one of us who prefers her showers in the morning, you might check to see if she's still getting ready. I have to run though, I just came back after breakfast to grab my books, I'll see you in Charms."
He nodded and turned back for the stairs as Hermione exited the tower. He first went to her room and knocked on the door, when there was no response he called her name and slowly opened the door only to find the room empty. Next he checked Gabby's room just in case the other fifth year was running behind as well but still no luck.
His only remaining choice in the tower was to check the bath, as he opened the outer door he saw her clothes neatly folded in one of the baskets, her green panties laying on top...and pushed that thought away quickly. "Hey Gin? You know we've already missed breakfast right? I know you have a free period this morning but I just wanted to see if you were okay."
He waited nervously for a few seconds, listening to the sound of running water from the shower. After a few more seconds without a response he began to get worried, "Ginny?" He called again through the door, "I'm coming in..."
He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, hoping this was just some ploy to get him into the bath with her, and slid the door open. He walked into the room and quickly scanned from one side to the other, where the shower head was on and Ginny lay naked on the floor with water streaming over her still form. He rushed the few steps to her and knelt down on the floor, images of the Chamber coming unbidden to his mind. "Ginny!"
He rolled her over into his arms, carefully cradling her head and neck and checking for injuries. He reached up with a grimace and turned off the scalding water. The movement apparently woke the girl enough to recognize his voice, but she didn't open her eyes. "Harry?"
He picked her up, regardless of her state of undress, and carried her into his room and lay her down on his bed. He was panicking slightly, checking her from head to toe for injuries and making sure that the red skin he saw wasn't in need of immediate healing. Luckily it seemed she was more flushed than burnt, again she called his name softly, this time opening her eyes.
"Harry? What happened?"
He smiled in relief as he saw her twin brown orbs glint slightly in the light of the window, and moved up beside her. "You gave me a bit of a scare, I found you collapsed on the floor of the bath."
Her eyes widened slightly as she realized she was in his room, "Oh! I'm sorry. Let me get back to my room and..." She blushed, though it was barely visible on her flushed face, "Find some clothes..."
He blushed as well and pulled the sheet up so she had some semblance of modesty, "I think you should stay here, and I think I should go get Pomfrey to check on you."
She struggled, trying to sit up and shaking her head, "No it's okay, I'm fine now. You need to get to class, I can take care of myself. You don't need to take care of me."
He put a hand on her shoulder and easily forced her back onto his pillow. "Gin, you need to rest at least for a while. I don't want to leave you here by yourself when we don't even know if you hit your head or had a stroke or something."
She sighed, pouting slightly, "I've been feeling a little sick for the last couple days, just tired from all the studying I thought, but honestly I don't feel like I hit my head or anything."
He got a stern look on his face, "You need to take better care of yourself, and not worry so much about me."
"I like worrying about you, it's okay. I just need to take it easy for a while. Please Harry, you go to class. I have a free period this morning so I can rest here. If I don't feel better I'll go see the nurse."
"I'm staying here until you are ready to go to the hospital wing, and then I'm going there with you to make sure you don't collapse again."
"No!" She protested, "You need to go to class...I promise I won't go without you. Why don't you come back for me between first and second period and then you can go to class while I get checked out. You need to go right now though! You're already late!"
He sighed, "You promise to stay right here until I get back?" she nodded, "Alright, I'm ordering you to stay here though, don't think I won't know."
She grinned at that, "Yes master, Gin will be good while you are away."
"Stop that!" He knew she could see the smile pulling at the corner of his mouth by the way her own smile broke across her flushed cheeks. "I'll be back in an hour to take you to the hospital wing."
"Okay Harry."
-~Hogwarts Shuffle!~-
He was late to Charms, but went straight to Professor Flitwick and let him know the situation so he wasn't docked any points or assigned any detentions. He was also told he could leave class early if he completed the reading and the quiz. He sat down at the long table with the others, who were all giving him questioning looks.
"Good morning Harry." Nerine and Sia said at almost the same time, both with bright smiles though Rina was slightly more subdued as normal.
"Why are you getting to class late?" Rina asked.
He looked to Hermione who shook her head, "I didn't get a chance to tell them yet."
"Tell us what?" Sia asked in confusion.
He sighed as he opened his book to the chapter on the board, "Ginny passed out in the shower this morning, I got her back to my room and she is resting until after class since she has a free period. Then I'm taking her to the hospital wing for a checkup."
Both of the Princesses nodded sadly, Hermione though was the first to realize where he'd found the girl. "So you found her in the Shower?"
Ron finally caught on at that, "Oi! What are you doing peeping on my sister in the shower!?"
Harry put a hand over the redheads mouth and smiled benignly at his Professor, then turned back to him, "I was the only other one in the tower and she was missing. Lucky I found her in there or she'd have likely cooked herself as hot as she likes the water."
"And why.." Ron suddenly lowered his voice as he saw Harry's hand coming toward him again, "And why do you know how hot she likes her showers?" He whispered dangerously.
Hermione interrupted the argument before it could begin, "Ron, she is the youngest in your family. Everyone at the burrow shares the one bathroom and your heating charms are not the best, trust me. So she probably enjoys a nice long hot shower, so what? That also explains why she prefers to shower in the mornings I suppose, she still hasn't gotten used to the open showers and sharing a bath with us..."
The boys eyes glazed over slightly at the thought of the three girls present showering and bathing together, Harry...well he was fighting the image as hard as he could, and luckily it wasn't that much harder than Veela Allure or the Imperious curse... He snapped his fingers in front of the boys face, "In any case, I know how hot because I had to reach through that scalding water to turn off the tap. I barely even realized she was naked Ron, it was an emergency!"
The other boy pulled a face at that, "Merlin, did you have to put that image in my head? I was just having a nice daydream and you had to go and spoil it."
Harry was breathing and counting to ten, more and more thankful that Ron hadn't moved to Royal Tower with them after all. He was a good friend most of the time, but things would definitely be a lot more awkward with him around. It was bad enough with Neville, and they were getting along great. At least Neville had Luna to keep him distracted most of the time.
Getting back on track Harry refocused the conversation, "In any event, I'm going to get her after class and taking her to Pomfrey. The quicker I finish the reading and take the quiz, the sooner I can go take care of her."
With that, he turned around and dug into the text. Before he knew it he'd gotten through the reading and Flitwick was there to hand him the quiz questions on parchment, he answered them without much problem and spared a glance at the clock behind the Professors desk. If he left now he'd be back to the tower with 20 minutes to spare before second period, and be able to miss most of the between class rush.
He got up and handed his quiz to the Professor with a nod, "Mr Potter, I can see you are very worried about a certain redhead, but please do not rush and get yourself hurt on the way back. If something happened to you I'm afraid that girl might hurt herself..."
So apparently it wasn't just Harry who had noticed Ginny's odd behavior, he really needed to work on that... Thanking the Professor he left to go back to the Tower.
-~Hogwarts Shuffle!~-
When Harry reached the stairs he made the decision to go down instead of up, instead heading for the hospital wing. Several minutes later he was walking in just as Pomfrey came out of her office.
"Oh Mr. Potter, what have you done to yourself this time?" She asked with a smile.
He smiled back sheepishly, "It isn't actually me this time, I'm here for a friend. You know Ginny Weasley of course,"
"Of course." She responded.
"Well this morning I found her passed out in the sho..." He quickly rethought his approach, "That is, I found her running a fever and passed out. She seemed fine when I left her, alert but weak. She convinced me to let her rest through first period instead of bringing her directly to you for a check-up. Any chance you can come back to the tower with me rather than carrying her down here if she can't walk?"
The matron nodded and went to her office, quickly gathering a bag of potions and instruments before joining him in the corridor. They made their way back up the several flights of stairs to Royal Tower and Harry unlocked the door with his palm print. He lead her up the stairs and to his room, not seeing the slight questioning look from Pomfrey at his name on the door.
He knocked, "Gin? I have Madam Pomfrey with me to check up on you. Are you decent?"
He heard some slight shuffling before she called back for them to come in. Poppy headed directly for the girl in Harry's bed with only a sheet over her and felt her head for a temperature and then began waving her wand in intricate patterns. "Well Miss Weasley, you appear to be suffering from a slight witches cold as well as fatigue...and you have a slight concussion, I assume from collapsing earlier?"
Ginny blushed slightly, "I didn't collapse, I just slipped. I'm still getting used to the open showers and the water all over the floor."
The older witch looked up at Harry for a moment critically, "Whatever the case, you are going to be restricted to your bed until that concussion passes, I can give you a potion for it but I'm afraid there is a negative interaction between that and the one to speed along the cold. You'll be on bed rest for at least the rest of the day, and I'll check on you tomorrow to make certain the injury has passed before I administer a pepper up to help you burn through the illness."
Ginny struggled to get out of bed, letting the sheet slip enough for Poppy to see that she was at least topless beneath the sheets. "No! I can't be stuck here, someone has to take care of Harry!"
Her fight was in vain however, as she was extremely weak and easily subdued by the matron. "Mr. Potter, I realize this is your room but would you mind stepping outside while I examine Miss Weasley more thoroughly?"
"I don't mind if he stays..." Ginny said bashfully.
Poppy looked about to retort but Harry beat her to it, "No Gin! I'm fine, take your time Madam Pomfrey. I'll wait outside."
And he did, he waited nervously outside his door, pacing back and forth for a few minutes wondering what else could have been broken on the girl, and what impression Poppy must have gotten to find her naked and in his bed. He was busily trying to think of excuses that wouldn't mortally embarrass himself or Ginny when Poppy exited the room and pulled the door closed behind her.
"You heard the instructions Mr Potter?"
"I think so, just make sure she stays in bed right?"
The matron nodded, "She took quite a fall, nothing she hasn't done worse than on a broom, but the cold is making things more difficult. I apologize for kicking you out of the room, but I had to allay a few suspicions."
Harry quickly defended both himself and Ginny, "There was nothing going on I swear!"
The woman's eyes softened, "I know Harry, I just had to make certain as well as discuss a few other matters with her that you couldn't be privy to. She seems to think very highly of you and I know you wouldn't hurt her intentionally. Please be careful of her feelings, and make sure she doesn't leave the bed until tomorrow morning at the earliest. I assume you can sleep in one of the other rooms?"
Harry nodded, there were several empty rooms in the tower still, "That shouldn't be a problem...about her..state of dress?"
Poppy frowned, "She will need help getting anything on at this point, and with the fever it would likely make her very uncomfortable to do so. Luckily you have several females in this house that can help out in that department, correct?"
Harry nodded dumbly, he really should have asked Hermione to do this..it would have been much less awkward. Poppy saw him nodding and smiled once more, "Alright then, I've done all I can do here. Normally I would keep her in a hospital bed but I'm trusting you and your friends to alert me to any change in her condition. One of you should probably wake her up every couple of hours to make certain she is alert. If anything at all seems abnormal please use the floo to make an in building call to my office. Now if I'm not mistaken, second period will be starting in roughly 10 minutes. I'm going to head back to my office just in case any of the first years had trouble in their flying lesson."
With that the matron went down the stairs and stepped through the fireplace with a flash of green. Harry was about to turn to leave when he heard Ginny call his name. Steeling himself and clearing his head he opened the door and went back into the room. "Hey Gin, so you don't do things by half huh?"
Ginny rolled her eyes but didn't dispute the claim, she reached out a hand and he took it, "Thank you for saving me again, I promise I'll make it up to you if its the last thing I do."
He groaned inwardly, "Gin, it's what any friend would have done, I'm just glad you're going to be okay. You really need to take better care of yourself and not spend so much time and energy on me. Next time you feel sick its okay to take a day or two off."
She smiled, "I promise I'll take better care of myself, but I won't stop helping you, I love having you need me in so many little ways, it makes me feel complete."
He sighed as he realized just how dependent on those little things she did for him he had become and smiled back at her, "Alright, I need to go to class but you heard Pomfrey. You don't get to leave this bed until tomorrow."
She got a wicked gleam in her eye but he cut her off, "And don't call me master!"
-~Hogwarts Shuffle!~-
Harry had returned to check on Ginny at lunch to find her sleeping peacefully, he'd checked her temperature for all the good it did him, noticing only that she seemed just as warm as she had when he'd first found her. Instead of waking her he had flooed the hospital wing to ask Mm Pomfrey to arrange an elf to bring a tray if Ginny woke up.
In classes the others had noticed how preoccupied he was, both Rina and Sia found it incredibly endearing that he cared so much for his friend, even if she might be considered competition. Hermione already knew how much Harry cared for his friends and expected nothing less of him, while Ron seemed to shrug off the knowledge that his sister was sick though she was fairly certain she could see the worry in his eyes.
He skipped dinner to go check on her, having just scanned himself into the tower and blindly heading toward the stairs up to their rooms. He nearly missed the two adults sitting on opposing couches and playing a game of chess.
Eustus noticed his entry first, "Harry! Just the son-in-law I was hoping to see!"
Harry stopped dead in his tracks and turned to the two, nothing really good seemed to come from these surprise visits. "Hello sir, we don't normally see you mid-week like this."
Forbes nodded and motioned to one of the other comfy looking chairs near the table. "Indeed, however we need to check on Gabrielle and were awaiting her return from classes."
"Why?" Harry asked curiously as he sat down, "Is something the matter?"
The King of Gods shook his head and smiled as he returned his attention to the board, nudging one of the pawns forward; which seemed to be fighting the movement. "Nothing like that Harry, as you know Gabby is quite special and these are quite special circumstances. We simply wanted to ascertain her progress since moving here to be with you and the others."
Forbes motioned for his knight to move forward, and the pawn was skewered unceremoniously on its pike before being tossed off to the side of the board, Eustus frowned, "We need to take young Gabrielle back to my realm for a checkup, I promise she will be returned to you safe and sound before tomorrow morning."
Eustus grunted and motioned for his rook to charge half the board and take out the Knight with a shield bash and a quick stab into the horses neck. The piece then picked up the body and spun around before flinging it into the growing pile of red pieces. "But since you are here, why don't we talk about how your courtship of my daughter is going? I heard good things about your date with Sia." He said with a grin.
Forbes was studying the board again so Harry took an opportunity to answer, "I'm afraid there really hasn't been much time or inclination to explore our relationship further...is there some rush?"
The Red Bishop slid diagonally and took out the Rook without preamble, simply gesturing with its staff and causing the rook to slowly shuffle itself from the board with a guilty and dejected look. "I suppose there is really no rush, we are just excited to find out what decision you've made. Speaking of which, it really isn't fair that you have taken Sia for a date but not my Nerine."
Harry nodded, "I know...I don't enjoy being indecisive but I don't want anyone to get hurt... I'll try to take her out this weekend just to keep things fair. I don't want to cause any ill feelings between them."
Eustus seemed to become animated as he moved his Queen toward the middle of the board for the kill, decapitating the bishop with her chair before sitting back down. "Check! Now Harry...I know our worlds are different, but surely teenage boys are the same everywhere? Don't you want to explore things with as many girls as you can before making a decision? I mean, we're talking about marriage here. I had several relationships before I settled down with my first wife, as did she."
Forbes placed his pawn between the King and the White Queen, "I'll thank you not to talk about Cineraria like that, you make her sound like...what is it you say Harry? A Scarlet Woman?"
Harry nodded even though he was getting lost, Eustus slid his Queen back a few squares to take up a guard position for his own King as he'd just realized he was in danger himself. Both sides Kings were center board, which Harry found rather odd, as he always kept his own far from the action as possible,
"I said no such thing! I was just saying, that in both your world and mine, sex is just another part of getting to know your potential life partners." Suddenly Harry's eyes went wide and he felt like he was choking on his own tongue, when did they start talking about sex?
Forbes nodded and stared at the board with a frown on his face, "Well yes, but it appears that things are much less progressive in the Magical World of this realm, I know the non-Magicals have taken many steps forward in this regard, but it seems the long lives of those with magic lead to much slower advances in societal change."
Harry cleared his throat, feeling a need to defend his own dignity..in a strange way, "I cannot speak for anyone outside of the school, but I'd say that attitude is prevalent among the teenagers in this school if the stories I've heard about prefect patrols are to be believed."
Eustus too was staring at the board with a frown, "Well then? I don't want to be accused of throwing my daughter at you..." Harry coughed, trying to stifle an outraged laugh at that, "but Sia at least is obviously receptive to any advance you might want to make. I dare say the same for all the girls in Royal House if not the total female population of the school. You should really take a chance to explore your options, I promise our girls would understand...and likely be appreciative of your efforts."
Harry understood what they were trying to say, not that he believed them entirely, but had no experience with the subject and chose to be diplomatic in his response, "I...see what you are saying... Though I don't know if my own morals and experience would allow me to...explore...as you put it. I will try to at least take Nerine out soon, but I don't have the slightest clue how to begin choosing anyone, or even if I'll choose either of them."
Eustus sighed at the board, Both kings were locked one square from each other, and the queens had them boxed in on either side along with one pawn and one bishop each, "Damn...stalemate again, when will we learn to stick to games of chance?"
While it was not a pretty picture, it wasn't exactly a stalemate either, "Sir, you could still move your pieces..."
Eustus nodded, "True, but at what cost? We are evenly matched at the moment, and every move would bring devastation on both sides. One of us might end up winning but there would be no other pieces left."
Forbes smiled as he sat back from the board, "We've been playing strategy games for decades, as did our fathers before that. I think it may be best that all we can do is face each other down, I find it funny that it is almost always our Queens that put us in this position."
"Well we've tried adding Queens and that just seems to make it worse, how about a nice game of Dice later? I'll bring the wine."
"That sounds like a plan, once we get back from my realm. Let us not forget the real reason we stopped by today." Forbes said, somewhat ominously.
Just as he finished, the door opened and the rest of the house mates entered, talking animatedly. All except for Gabrielle who walked in silently and stood before the two men. "I'm ready to go."
"Go?" Hermione asked.
Sia nodded, though her eyes were sad, "Gabby has a checkup in the Devil realm, it won't take long."
Nerine smiled sadly, "This is much better than her being cooped up in that facility full time, she will be coming back soon. Won't she Daddy?"
Forbes nodded as he stood, "I haven't seen much to indicate a reason for this to be anything more than routine. She'll be back for classes in the morning, though she will be staying the night for observation."
Harry was still not comfortable with this, he stood as Eustus did and Gabrielle walked around the table and wrapped her arms around him, her head didn't even reach his chin thanks to a small growth spurt on his part. "I'll miss you Harry."
He returned the hug, "It's only one night, I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast okay?"
She nodded and took Eustus' offered hand, and they left the tower together. Forbes turned at the last moment, "Oh and Harry? We went ahead and removed the extra rooms from the tower for now and made each of yours more comfortable."
Harry was confused as he answered, "Thank you?"
-~Hogwarts Shuffle!~-
A somewhat morose Harry headed up the stairs to check on Ginny, who he found where he'd left her in his bed. She was laying on top of the covers once again and thankfully, she had procured one of his tee shirts. It wasn't that he disliked looking at her nude form, far from it, but it definitely helped him keep his mind on the task at hand.
He sat lightly on the bed and looked around his expanded room. There was now an extra dresser for some reason, and another closet. He didn't think he'd ever have enough clothes to fill all the space, but figured it was normal for a King to expect he would. The bed seemed larger too, wider than it had been last time he'd seen it. He briefly wondered if the old perverts had actually been in his room with the nude girl and found himself growling and huffing at the thought.
There was a knock on his door and he called out for the visitor to enter, "Harry?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Hey." Was all he replied, still contemplating his surroundings.
"How is she?"
He turned his head back to the girl in his bed and placed a hand gently on her forehead. "She isn't running a fever any longer, if I had to guess I'd say the concussion potion did it's work and her magic recovered enough to fight off the cold on its own."
The girl nodded, though still looked worried about something. He turned to look at her, "I'm sure she's fine now Hermione. If anyone knows anything about being sick or broken its me...or possibly you. Surely you've read a book or two on healing?"
She looked up at that with a smile, "Of course I have you prat, who is going to take care of you until we can get you to the hospital wing next time you do something brave and reckless." He shared her grin before turning back to the sleeping girl. Hermione continued, "That isn't what I came up here for to be honest. We seem to have a slight problem."
She now had his full attention, "What is it?"
"As you know there are seven of us staying in the tower..."
Harry really had no clue where she was going with this, and her nerves were starting to catch on to him, he gulped for some reason. "Yeah?"
"There are only six rooms now..."
"What?!" He exclaimed, quickly getting up and heading back out to the balcony and counting the rooms quickly. "What do those bastards think they are doing!?"
Luna walked up and answered is question rather succinctly, "If I had to guess, I would think they were hoping you would be sharing your room with someone."
Harry closed his eyes and began counting as he breathed in and out, when he opened them he smiled at the blonde. "Thank you Luna. I guess I'll have to move in with Neville then."
"Oh you can't do that, my room has already been combined with his. He was upset for a few minutes but I quickly changed his mind."
Harry looked at Hermione for help, "I thought you said there were 6 rooms?"
"There are..." She replied hesitantly.
Luna smiled back serenely, "There were, when I moved my things into his room the two combined."
"Luna! You can't just start living with him! It's... It..."
"Is perfectly natural, after all Neville and I like each other and it isn't as if anyone is going to be hurt...unless he enjoys that sort of thing in which case I'm sure I can accommodate his tastes."
The now stuttering and blushing brunette was at a loss for words to reply, so she turned back to Harry who held up his hands in resignation. "Gin and Gabby were sharing my bed nearly every night without anything happening. I guess we can deal with this in a mature manner until I can get my hands on those two and beat the sense back into them..." Unbeknownst to Harry, his eyes were shining again and a palpable aura of malice was filling the air near him as he contemplated the situation he faced. That was quickly disturbed by Sia and Nerine putting a hand on his shoulders as they came up behind him.
"Oh Harry isn't it wonderful?" Sia asked him brightly. "I think we should set up a schedule!"
Harry blinked...then blinked again and looked up to Hermione for help, unfortunately she appeared confused as well. "Schedule?"
Nerine grinned shyly at him, glancing from the corner of her eye as a blush infused her face, "For those of us who want to share your bed. We've been thinking about it for a while, since Gabby and Ginny started doing it."
"I... I..." Harry stuttered, "I don't..." He coughed, "I can just kip out on the couches downstairs, I don't know if..."
Sia got a wide eyed look on her face and grinned at him as she clapped her hands, "Oh! That's even better, You can just share our beds instead!"
"What? No!" Harry was feeling trapped...and yet there was a definite part of him, the part that the girls father had spoken to, the teenage boy with raging hormones, that was beginning to come round to the idea.
Apparently Hermione could see his resolve cracking, "Harry you can't do this!"
"Why not?" He asked, suddenly making his decision. "Nobody will get hurt as long as everybody understands the rules. It isn't like I plan on doing anything besides sleeping anyway."
Hermione was forced to accept the plan, but decided she had to protect him from himself if she could. "Fine, you can sl..sleep with me...tonight. Then we can figure this out tomorrow."
A stunned Harry just looked at his best friend...he hadn't expected her to be part of the rotation even if they'd been flirting playfully lately. He wasn't sure just how he felt about the idea. "Uh...okay..."
Sia and Nerine both had disappointed looks on their faces for a few moments before Sia smiled at her counterpart, "That's okay, I call dibs on tomorrow night and Rina can have the next."
Harry felt like the entire thing was getting out of control and decided to put a stop to it. "Wait! We are forgetting Ginny is sick in my bedroom right now. I think I need to stay with her tonight to make sure she's going to be okay."
Hermione wasn't entirely happy with that, but as he'd stated, he'd already been sleeping with Ginny and nothing had happened so at least that would keep him safe for a night. "I can work out a schedule tomorrow then..."
"My clothes are still in here too!" he said in sudden inspiration, before his face fell and he dashed back into the room, checking the other dresser and peeking into the other closet. He walked back out of the room sullenly, "So are Ginny's. I guess whatever those two idiots did decided she was living with me..."
Sia smiled at him, "Well she is kind of like your maid and it will save time in the morning for her to lay out your clothes."
Nerine perked up a little at this, with a distant look she said, "Daddy married his maid, I've heard the story from my mother many times."
Harry sighed, "I still wish they would ASK before doing something this boneheaded! I'm not going to make Ginny move around the tower and share a room when we all get our own."
Hermione was still trying to figure out a way around letting him sleep with Ginny on a permanent basis, "Gabby's room is open tonight, I'm sure she wouldn't mind..."
Harry shook his head and cut her off, "She'll be back tomorrow, and I'm not going to leave Ginny alone while she is sick. We'll figure this out tomorrow, right now I'm going to take a nice long bath and then go to bed."
He went back into his room and grabbed a change of clothes and then headed to the bath, ignoring the others. He wasn't brooding! He was contemplating.
A/N: UHG! I don't know why this took so long for me to write. I had the first 6000 words done in a night right after posting chapter 13...and the rest of this chapter just refused to flow. So I finally forced myself to get through it.
I don't know what it is that is holding me back on this story...anyone a big fan of Shuffle! And want to act as a sounding board for ideas? The story is mildly popular but my yahoo group isn't all that active and I don't know that I want to discuss whats next in the open and ruin the story for them with spoilers anyway. Send me a PM if you want to discuss/bounce ideas. Until my muse decides she likes this story again I'm afraid I'm going to look at my other two WIP fic's and see if they reignite my interest. This is supposed to be a hobby, not a chore, and I apologize for my long abscenses.
A million times sorry for leaving you all hanging. I think I need to write two or three chapters ahead like I did on SFTP just to make sure I know where its going and can post on a regular basis. Forgive me my transgressions