Chapter 21 – Into the Snake Pit

AN

Yes, it's only taken me twenty-one chapters to do it, but Harry's finally arrived at Hogwarts! Huzzar! I know I made a rod for my own back by keeping Harry and Ginny apart for so long, but hopefully the next ten chapters will make up for that.

Huge thanks to my beta buddies Tom and Arnel for all their help. I'm sure I'll be able to sneak a few SPaG errors through despite their best efforts. I'm talented at that.

Thursday, 19 December 1996

"Oh my god, look at this!" Hermione screeched, waving her copy of that morning's Daily Prophet around.

Ginny looked up without enthusiasm. She had experience of the sort of thing that got her bushy haired friend excited. There was probably a half-price sale on quills somewhere. She continued to eat her scrambled eggs without responding.

"I said, look at this," Hermione persisted. "Honestly, Ginny! You're the one who's always so interested in reading about Harry Potter. I would have thought a front page story about him would have got you excited."

Ginny looked up.

"Well, I didn't know it was a story about him, did I?" she snapped. "Don't tell me, another positive sighting of him. What is he doing this time? Raising hippogriffs in Spain? Fathering a secret Goblin love-child? Starting as the new conductor on the Knight Bus next week?"

Ginny felt a little guilty at snapping at her friend. She had been in a foul mood all week after her encounter with Dean. To make it worse, she had refused to tell Hermione or Luna what was troubling her, so things were getting a little strained between them. Looking at the hurt expression on Hermione's face, Ginny decided she really needed to stop taking her frustrations out on her friends.

"Look, I'm sorry, Hermione. I know I've been in a snit all week and I'm sorry I've been taking it out on you. I promise I'll try to be nicer from now on, okay?" she said in an apologetic voice.

For a second it looked like Hermione was going to tell her where to stick her apology, but she evidently changed her mind and gave Ginny a small smile. "I wish you would tell me what was bothering you, Ginny. I might be able to help," Hermione pleaded.

"You can't," Ginny said, shaking her head. "It was me being stupid about something. It's never nice to come to the startling realisation that you've been an idiot."

Hermione nodded, but didn't look happy.

Ginny sighed, knowing her friend wouldn't let it drop until she had forced her to reveal what was bothering her. The older girl would then analyse the problem in minute detail before offering a mass of advice that was probable very sensible, but utterly useless. Ginny decided to divert her attention. "So, what was all this about Harry Potter?" she asked.

Hermione's face lit up again. "Raising hippogriffs in Spain? I don't think so. Try breaking up a major Death Eater attack in Diagon Alley single handed!"

"What!" Ginny exclaimed, before pulling the paper over to her.

On the front page was a clear picture of a dark haired young man. He wore his hair long, and it was pulled back into a pony-tail. His robes were dark. At first Ginny thought they were black, but then she realised they were in fact dark green. The picture had him crouching down while firing off a spell at some unseen foe, before it repeated itself. The picture was taken from the wrong side to show if the young man had the famous lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

Interestingly, the paper had printed another picture next to this of what they claimed was the previously only confirmed sighting of Harry Potter. It showed a small, thin boy dressed in ridiculously baggy clothes looking into the camera in surprise. The scar was clearly visible on the boy's forehead. The caption stated the picture had been taken when the boy was seven and went on to make several comments about how Potter had changed in ten years. Ginny's eyes returned to the main story.

Apparently twenty Death Eaters had attacked Diagon Alley, and Harry Potter had fought them off, killing several of them. The DMLE had publicly confirmed the man in the picture was indeed Potter and that he had 'helped Ministry officials battle unknown assailants in Diagon Alley'.

Ginny's eyes returned to the main picture. She studied every line on the young man's face. Why did it seem so familiar to her? She could almost imagine hearing his voice in her ear. A small smile came to her face. For some reason she felt immensely happier now she knew that Harry Potter was out there, fighting evil. He was the handsome hero she had always imagined him to be. While Hermione was finishing her breakfast, Ginny slipped the paper into her bag unnoticed.

That evening Ginny retired to her bed early. She pulled the curtains and retrieved the newspaper from her book bag. She sat and stared at the picture again for a while before grabbing her wand and, using her weak cutting spell, carefully cut out the picture of Potter. She then stuck the picture to the headboard of her bed.

After she settled down to sleep, a gentle smile came to her lips. Harry Potter was above her head, watching over her as she slept. Now she had a new boy to dream about, and this one wasn't going to break her heart.

Monday, 1 September 1997

Desperately trying to stop the flow of blood from her nose, Ginny stumbled back to the compartment where Hermione and Luna were sat. As she yanked the door open and flung herself inside, relief washed over her.

"Merlin!" Hermione cried. "What happened to you?"

"You need to ask?" Ginny spat while trying to restrict the bleeding. "Slytherins!"

"They attacked you here on the train?" Hermione gasped. "But where were the prefects? Oh, we have to tell a teacher at once!"

"Are you mad?" Ginny gasped. "And will you please stop me bleeding!"

Hermione looked flustered and grabbed her wand. "Oh, sorry, Ginny. Episkey!"

Ginny sighed in relief as her broken nose straightened and repaired itself. The bleeding stopped and she was able to start wiping away the stains.

"I still think we should tell a teacher," Hermione persisted.

"What good would that do?" Luna interrupted. "Snape will just get involved, he'll decide Ginny was lying, and a week later she'll be found at the bottom of a staircase with broken legs, just like that Hufflepuff boy last year."

Ginny looked sadly at her friend. For the first time, she started to miss the dreamy-eyed Looney Lovegood she had known for the last few years. Luna had dropped a lot of her strange mannerisms over the last two terms, no doubt as a result of the frequent beatings she had received from the Slytherin girls. Not that the cowards in the girl's own House had been a lot better, abusing Luna and stealing her things. Luna's eyes now had a hard and distant look in them, and she rarely spoke anymore. Ginny was starting to become concerned at her mental well-being which, bearing in mind how the girl had acted before, was saying something. 'Looney' had been a happy girl; 'Luna' was definitely not.

"She's right, Hermione," Ginny agreed. "You know nothing will happen if we report the attack. I'll just get more grief off those bitches."

For a second Hermione looked like she was going to argue, but then just huffed and flung herself back into her seat. Ginny could sympathise with her friend to a degree, but Hermione needed to understand that she couldn't always rely on authority. No doubt she felt as Head Girl this term she should report any breaches of the peace. It said a lot about the state of Hogwarts that Hermione had finally realised that it would be no use.

"How did they get you, Ginny?" Luna asked. "You're normally so careful."

"I think they must have put a detection charm on the toilet," Ginny grimaced. "There was certainly no one about when I went in. When I came out it was the usual crew waiting for me: Parkinson, Greengrass, Bulstrode and the rest. For one horrid moment I thought they were going to drag me into the compartment with the boys in it."

All three girls visibly shivered. There had been some very frightening rumours going around the school last term about a girl that had been caught by herself by a group of sixth-year Slytherin boys. It was true that a fourth-year Ravenclaw girl had been withdrawn from school under mysterious circumstances, but one-one appeared to receive any punishment regarding the matter. There were other, darker rumours stating that it wasn't an isolated incident by a long way. The girls intended to stick together this term. They had never guessed they needed to begin on the Hogwarts Express.

By the time the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station, they had managed to get all the blood out of Ginny's blouse. It was her only really good one, and she was relieved it wasn't ruined. As the train stopped the three girls pulled on their cloaks as protection against the drizzle that was falling.

As she stepped onto the platform, Ginny looked around at the now familiar scene of chaos as everyone left the train. She nervously glanced at the Slytherins who all seemed to be grouped together at the end of the platform. Silently, she sent out a prayer to whatever gods might be listening that things would change for the better this year.

Lost in thought, she didn't notice a solitary falcon sweep low over the station and then fly away.

HPHPHPHPHPHHPHPHPHPHP

Harry approached the top of the mountain and landed softly. A second later he transformed back into human form. He turned and looked back towards Hogwarts, which was barely visible in the grey drizzle. It truly was a miserable day.

He had thought that flying in his Animagus form for a while would cheer him up, but it had not. The weather was horrid and his heart wasn't in it. In just an hour or so he would be enrolled into Hogwarts and he was not looking forward to it one little bit.

The last month had flown by. Following the funerals of Sirius and Remus, Harry had taken some time to grieve, but as he had suspected Grimmauld Place had become unbearable. He'd ended up staying at Mad-Eye Moody's house for a couple of weeks, and that definitely wasn't an experience he wanted to relive.

The worst thing had been the reading of Sirius's will. It had been slightly out of date in that it still bequeathed a sum of money to Tonks. It was ruled that as Harry was the recipient of nearly all of Sirius's assets, the amount left to Remus and Tonks would go to him as well. Great, Harry thought, more cash I'll probably never get around to spending. In the end, he'd given a sizable sum to Tonks's parents and made a very sizable donation to St Mungo's as well. Initially, he'd wanted to make the donation anonymously, but then he'd changed his mind. Lucius Malfoy had obtained a lot of positive publicity over the years as a result of his charitable contributions; Harry might as well get the same benefit.

More meaningful to Harry than the cash he'd been left was the personal message Sirius had included for him with his will. It had basically told him how proud Sirius had been to be Harry's godfather, and how much he'd enjoyed their time together. Sirius had then left him strict instruction not to mope about and to live his life to the fullest. Harry was also told to polish off Voldemort as soon as possible and, Sirius was adamant on this point, to get himself a hot girlfriend as soon as he could.

Sirius's message still brought a smile to his lips and ache to his heart. It had been so typical of the man. Harry also intended to follow the man's wishes, as well. He knew that death was just a journey that everyone must take one day, and he fondly imagined Sirius, Remus and his father reunited somewhere, getting into trouble together and no doubt driving his mother spare. He would honour his godfather's memory by living his life without regrets and by sticking his Katana through Voldemort's black heart as soon as he was able. As for a girlfriend…well, he wasn't adverse to the idea, put it that way.

As the start of September approached, he and Professor Dumbledore sat down and worked out how they were going to explain Harry's presence at Hogwarts. A cover story was agreed upon in which he would be attending as a seventh-year student so he could sit his NEWTS. They hoped no-one would check Ministry records and discover Harry had already taken the exams.

There were a number of things Harry and the Dumbledore disagreed on. Harry had flatly refused to sleep in a shared dorm room, and the Headmaster had reluctantly agreed he would have his own room, the justification being 'security' issues. Harry had also refused to follow the normal curriculum. If he was at Hogwarts he was going to learn something new, not rehash old stuff. A compromise was reached where Harry would attend most of the normal classes, but the teachers would give him more advanced work. He'd also refused to be taught by Severus Snape, the new Defence teacher that year. Surprisingly, Dumbledore had readily agreed to this and offered private lessons with him instead. Although Harry still didn't trust the old wizard, he would have been a fool to turn down the offer.

So here he was, killing time before the House sorting and the welcome feast. He'd flown over his soon to be fellow pupils a few minutes ago and was shocked at how young some of them looked. He supposed he was just not used to being around young people any more. Still, some of the older girls looked attractive. That was one bonus about the whole thing. He briefly wondered if Ginny Weasley would still be at the school. She was certainly of the right age, but after the horrific experience of the Chamber of Secrets, he wouldn't have been surprised if she'd been pulled out of school or transferred. Still, if she was here it would be nice to see her again.

Glancing at his watch, Harry realised it was time to head back to the school. Dumbledore had said that he wanted Harry to make a 'big entrance' which he wasn't sure about. On the other hand, a small, evil part of him thought it might be amusing. If nothing else it was bound to piss off Snape. Taking a deep breath, Harry morphed into his Animagus form again and launched himself into the air.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Feeling depressed and slightly soggy, Ginny followed Hermione into the Great Hall for the welcoming feast. As was normal, Hermione walked to the far end of the hall and took a seat as close to the teachers as she could. As Head Girl it was expected that she would sit there, but Ginny suspected Hermione would have done it anyway.

As she took a seat next to her friend, she felt a pang of sorrow for the bushy-haired witch. Hermione had been desperate to be Head Girl since the third year. Now she had achieved her dream, it was spoilt by the fact Draco Malfoy had been named Head Boy. Hermione had worked hard and deserved the recognition, Draco had not, and it was clearly his father's influence that had got him the position. Draco also hated Hermione and never wasted a chance to insult her. As the two of them were supposed to do patrols together, Hermione was becoming genuinely worried about her own safety. Ginny didn't blame her in the slightest.

She glanced down the table and saw Ron with his friends gathered around him, already holding court. While his popularity offered her some protection, he simply was never around much. In addition, while useful with his fists, in a magical duel he was only average. Malfoy and his cronies would make mincemeat out of him. Ginny had long since realised the only person who could protect her was herself. She kept her head down, avoided any Slytherin like the plague and, if all else failed, she had a wicked right-hook that had surprised several bullies in the past.

Soon the sorting process was underway, which she barely registered. She clapped whenever Hermione clapped, and let her thoughts wander. By now she was feeling hungry and just wanted the ceremony to be over so she could eat. At last, the final first-year was sorted and vanished towards the Hufflepuff table. Strangely though, Professor McGonagall remained standing on the raised dais, the sorting hat clutched in her hand. The Headmaster stood.

"While the placing of the last of our first-years into their House would normally be the end of the sorting ceremony, this year we have a rather unusual occurrence," he announced. Ginny sat up, interested in the break from routine. "This year we have a previously home-schooled student joining us. He will join the seventh-year classes in order to take his NEWTS. As he has never been to Hogwarts before, he obviously will require sorting. Professor McGonagall; if you would please continue."

The stern Professor unrolled a sheet of parchment in what Ginny thought was a rather overdramatic manner and called out the name of the new student.

"Potter, Harry!" she called.

The entire hall burst into near pandemonium. Many of the younger Slytherins looked like they were going to flee the Hall, while the older ones were had grabbed their wands in preparation for a fight. Everywhere people were on their feet trying to get a glimpse of the Boy Who Lived.

"Silence!" yelled McGonagall and the hall quietened down. Ginny noticed a figure dressed in black step onto the stage. He lowered his hood and Ginny gasped. Although she had his picture plastered on the headboard of her bed, the sight of him in the flesh just took her breath away. She felt her heart beating rapidly and a burst of excitement like she had never felt before. Potter walked over to McGonagall, pausing only to taunt the Slytherins which made her giggle. He pushed the stool that sat between them away roughly with his foot, and bowed slightly to allow the professor to place the hat on his head.

Ginny held her breath.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

As the gaggle of first-years nervously entered the Great Hall, Harry stepped from the shadows and followed them. As soon as he was in the hall, he immediately turned and, hugging the wall, made his way past the bottom of the Ravenclaw table and up to the Slytherins. He turned and walked the length of the table until he reached the far end, near where the teachers were sat. He was wearing a travelling cloak with the hood pulled over his head so he was unrecognisable. He'd also cast a notice-me-not charm on himself, which was working perfectly.

He lounged against the wall to await his turn to be sorted. While waiting, he took the opportunity to listen in to the Slytherins conversation and was appalled by what he heard. The boys were openly discussing things which would have earned them a one-way trip to Azkaban if they turned out to be true. The girls were little better, if rather more petty and spiteful. Harry had heard many tales of the activities of the Slytherins from Sirius, but from the sound of it their actions had risen to a new level. Obviously, Voldemort's increasing influence had emboldened them. Why had Dumbledore not stamped down on this ages ago?

Lost in thought, Harry nearly missed McGonagall calling his name. Cancelling the charm, he stepped forward and was amused to see several Slytherins jump out of their skin as he appeared suddenly from behind them. In fact, the whole table was looking at him in horror, like he was going to attack them without warning. He lowered his hood and stepped on the raised but stopped and looked back at them. He couldn't resist.

He raised his right hand to show them his crossed fingers. "Here's hoping for Slytherin!" he called out.

Half the hall laughed at that, while the Slytherins themselves just looked either horrified or furious. He chuckled to himself.

He approached Professor McGonagall and looked down. The stern Transfiguration teacher had earlier informed him that he had to sit on the stool while the hat was placed on his head. Frankly, if he sat on that little thing he would look ridiculous with his knees up past his head! He shoved the stool out of the way and grinned at the professor. She glared back for a second before giving a gasp of exasperation.

"Oh, just bend down, Potter!" she muttered.

A smile on his lips, he did just that and felt the hat being placed on his head.

"Ah, Potter!" the hat spoke directly into his mind. "Took your time getting here, didn't you? I expected to be on your head years ago."

"I took the scenic route," Harry replied. He was definitely feeling cheeky today. Sirius had obviously rubbed off on him more than he had previously thought.

"Quite," the hat drawled, clearly not amused. "Well, that's have a look at you. Oh my, you have been a busy boy, haven't you? The Flamels, Japan, Sirius Black; you have got around a bit."

Harry felt rather uncomfortable that his entire history was so transparent. The hat seemed to sense this.

"Don't worry, Potter. Your secrets are safe with me. Whatever I see in your head stays between the two of us," it assured him.

"You don't tell the Headmaster?" Harry asked.

"Especially not him," the hat confirmed. Harry instantly felt more relaxed.

"Now, where to place you? Hmmm, tricky. You have traits that mean you could be in any of the four houses," the hat pondered.

"You could put me in the house with the best-looking girls," Harry joked. There was a long silence.

"Did you know, Mr Potter, that Hufflepuff has the largest percentage of blond-haired girls out of all the houses?" the hat said. Harry blinked in surprise.

"Err… no," he said carefully.

"While on the other hand, Ravenclaw has the highest number of brunettes," the hat continued.

"Is this meant to mean something?" Harry asked.

"No, nothing at all," the hat replied smugly. "But I would warn you that your interpretation of 'best-looking' might be somewhat different to mine."

"Okay, point taken," Harry sighed. "Can we get on with this? I seem to be getting some strange looks because this is taking so long."

"I doubt the strange looks are for that reason," the hat sniggered. "Right, to business! Hmmm, despite what you said earlier, I don't think I'm going to put you into Slytherin,"

"Oh, but think what fun we all could have after lights-out," Harry said, laughing evilly.

"Exactly!" the hat replied. "I'm here to help promote school unity. Placing you in a situation where half the House would likely be slaughtered before morning does not achieve that!"

"That's a bit harsh," Harry objected. "I'm not a mass-murderer, you know."

"Yes, but you have a strong sense of justice and I'm afraid you might get carried away. So, no, you will not be put in Slytherin," the hat snapped.

"Spoilsport," Harry muttered, but was ignored.

"Having established that, I have to say that you're no Hufflepuff. I don't think they would quite be ready for you, Mr Potter. So, it's out of Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. You have a very good mind and an aptitude for learning but… no. I'm going to send you in the footsteps of your mother and father. GRYFFINDOR!"

Ignoring the cheers coming from the Gryffindor table, Harry stood and removed the hat before handing is back to Professor McGonagall. She looked at him sternly.

"Took you long enough," she sniffed.

"Well, the hat and I were having a nice chat," he said, grinning at her.

"Never mind that the rest of us were waiting to eat, I suppose," she said sternly. "Just remember, you're in my House now, Mr Potter. I'll expect good behaviour from you."

"Oh, always," he said with the grin still plastered over his face. After facing down Voldemort less than a month ago, he just couldn't be too intimidated by the witch. He was pretty certain he saw her lips twitch slightly. She turned and pointed to the end of the table at the far right.

"See that young lady with the brown hair? That's Hermione Granger, the Head Girl. Get her to show you round the castle and fill you in on our rules, customs and traditions. We're putting you in what would be the Head Boy's room if he'd been in Gryffindor, so she can show you where that is as well. Your things will already be sent there," McGonagall informed him.

Harry nodded and made his way over to the table. He resisted smirking when he saw the Head Girl's eyes widen at his approach. Then he glanced over at the girl sat next to her.

He nearly stopped dead in his tracks. It was her: Ginny Weasley. She'd grown so much he hardly recognised her. Gone was the cute puppy-fat and pig-tails. Now her bright-red hair hung down her shoulders like a coppery waterfall. She still had freckles across her nose and cheeks but they suited her perfectly. She looked slim but her figure had developed wonderfully, and Harry caught himself staring at her chest for a moment before he forced his eyes away from her. He suddenly felt decidedly odd. Trying to keep his voice calm, he approached the Granger girl.

"Hello, Hermione Granger? I'm Harry Potter. Professor McGonagall said you'd be able to show me around the school and tell me a bit about the place. They've put me in what would have been the Head Boy's room in Gryffindor Tower, and she said you'd be able to direct me." Harry offered his hand to shake which the girl grabbed and enthusiastically pumped.

"Oh, you'll be right next door to me!" she squealed. "Yes, I'd be more than happy to show you round. We can take a tour right after dinner. But what are you doing at Hogwarts? Why did no-one know you were coming? Did you really fight Bellatrix Lestrange?"

"Steady there, Miss Granger," Harry laughed. "One question at a time."

"Oh, I'm sorry. But it's just so exciting to have you here! There's a million things I want to ask you!"

"Well, I'm sure there will be plenty of time later," he said, trying to palm her off. His eyes caught Ginny's as she looked up at him, and he smiled as he addressed her. "Hello again"

The girl went bright red, and a confused expression came on her face. "I don't think we've ever met," she replied hesitantly.

For a second, Harry felt quite resentful. He'd saved the girl's life; surely she should at least remember him? But then he remembered how uncomfortable her parents had been around him. Without thinking about it, he maintained eye contact and, using his Legilimency skills, entered into her mind.

He found the memory block immediately; it was a huge crude wall within her mind. He was mystified by its positioning though, placed just to eradicate all memories of Ginny meeting him. His first instinct was to tear the block down, but he resisted. There might be a good reason for the block, after all. Not wishing to infringe on the girl's privacy too much, he retreated from her mind but not before he'd seen a good number of recent memories. He was amused and slightly flattered that she had his picture above her bed. What saddened him, however, was just how miserable Ginny was. Harry had caught only a general impression of the reasons behind this, but he felt he could help her. He wanted to help her.

"Sorry," he apologised. "My mistake."

He sat opposite Granger and tried not to look at the now confused red-haired girl. Granger also had a puzzled expression for a moment but shook it off. Then the food arrived.

Harry filled his plate and was pleased to see that at least the food was of a high standard. Pausing between mouthfuls of roast beef, he looked over at Ginny again.

"I don't think you mentioned your name," Harry said.

"Ginny… Ginny Weasley," she said shyly.

"Weasley? Ah, no wonder you look familiar. I've met your parents several times," Harry said, intending to cover his tracks.

Ginny blinked at him.

"You know my parents? They've never mentioned meeting you. Where do you know them…oh, yes. Perhaps you do," she stumbled. Clearly she knew something of her parents' involvement in the Order and had just realised Harry would know of it too.

"How do your parents know him?" Hermione asked.

Harry frowned. He had the feeling Miss Granger was one of those people who liked to know everything that was going on around her.

"From years back," Harry interrupted, saving a clearly floundering Ginny from answering. "Back when her dad worked for the Ministry."

"But that was years ago," Hermione objected.

"So?" Harry said a little forcefully.

Hermione went red and looked back down at her plate.

"How are your parents?" Harry asked Ginny. He caught the scowl on her face before she managed to replace it with a more neural expression.

"They're fine," she said sharply.

"Where's your dad working now?" Harry asked.

"Some place called B&Q in the Muggle world. I can't tell you any more than that," she replied, her anger starting to show.

"I didn't know your father worked at a B&Q," Hermione said indignantly. "It's a home improvement shop that…"

"I didn't say I wanted to know anything about it," Ginny snapped. An uneasy silence settled between the three of them for a moment. Harry decided asking Ginny anything about herself directly was a mistake, so moved onto more general topics.

"So, what does everybody do to keep themselves amused round here?" he asked them both.

"Well, we do have one of the finest libraries in Europe..." Hermione started enthusiastically.

Ginny rolled her eyes.

Harry managed to catch her gaze and grinned at her. He was delighted when she returned a small smile.

"…and our general education facilities are the envy of the Wizarding world! Really, Mr Potter, you should have attended Hogwarts much earlier. You've probably missed out on a great deal." Hermione was in full lecture mode.

"Guess I was too busy fighting Death Eaters," he said casually. "Oh, and by the way, you can both call me Harry."

Hermione stared at him like he was from another planet.

Ginny glanced at her and managed to look embarrassed on her friend's behalf.

"We play a lot of Quidditch," Ginny said. "Do you play, Harry?"

"No, never really had the chance. I'm pretty good flyer, but I'm not even sure I can remember all the rules," he admitted.

"Oh, well. Generally the whole House turns out to support our own team. I could explain the rules during the next game if you like," she said nervously.

"Yeah, that would be great," He replied, trying not to sound too enthusiastic. "Do you play then?"

"I think I would make a pretty good chaser, but I was never allowed to try out for the team." That bitterness he sensed earlier came to the surface earlier.

"Why not?"

"My darling brother doesn't think I should. He's worried I might get hurt, despite the fact half the Gryffindor team has been made up of girls for ages. As he's captain this year, I guess I'm not going to get the chance," she said in a tightly controlled voice.

"That's a bit unfair," Harry sympathised.

Ginny looked at him searchingly for a moment, perhaps wondering if he was being patronising. "Yeah, it is, but that's the story of my life, really," she said, obviously deciding he was being genuine.

She really has major issues, Harry thought.

"Have you finished eating, Harry?" Hermione asked, her earlier embarrassment apparently forgotten. "I could show you round the castle now."

"Yeah, great," Harry responded. He stood and looked down at Ginny. "You want to come along?"

Ginny looked at him in surprise for a second before a look of determination came onto her face. "Yes, I could do with a walk after all that dinner," she said.

The three of them made their way out of the Great Hall. They didn't notice most of the rest of the school watching them as they left.