Disclaimer: I do not, in anyway own the wonderful world of Harry Potter, or Charmed. I am just dabbling in the world they left for us.

Chapter 36

Truly Scrumptious.

MONDAY December 22,

Time: Late Afternoon.

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The silence that rang throughout the Great Hall was deafening and the tension, so thick, that it could be cut with a knife as the two Gryffindor's faced each other to secure a spot in the final round. The entire Hall watched with bated breath as the two begun to circle each other; not sure what to expect. In the previous duels these two had fought and won with such fervor that it was difficult to pick out who would win. Some were rooting for the Male, some the Female and some were rooting for the both of them. Though there were some who did not care who came out as the victor. Which just happened to be the majority of Slytherin House, and they just hoped that one of them to be hurt by the other.

None of this seemed to matter to Harry or Ginny who continued to circle each other waiting for the other the make the first move. They had gotten together before the duel and both of them had come to the same agreement; end the duel as quick as possible. Neither liked going up against the other in a battle, even if it was just for fun. If the truth be told, both of them wanted to win, but they did not want the other to lose. That is why it didn't matter to them who won.

There was a look of concentration etched on Ginny Weasleys' face as she circled The-Boy-Who-Lived, but to the well trained eye, one could see the smirk that lay beneath that mask of concentration. Something that Harry Potter had not failed to pick up on. 'Don't hold back she says' Harry thought 'Well if she's sure', and with that Harry Potter pointed his wand towards the ceiling and cast the first spell of the duel.

The crowed cheered as the silver streak made its way to the top of the dome, though just before it hit it took the form of a sphere and moved no more. The silver ball looked liked it was made out of metal; mercury to be precise. The onlookers, as well as Ginny, looked up at the unmoving ball of silver which was now growing in size. When it reached the size of a Quaffle it turned a cool blue and then without any warning, it exploded, causing all present to either jump or scream; including some of the professors. Through all of this Harry remained still, eyes never leaving Ginny's face.

He smiled slightly as he saw her raise her wand and cast a shield charm over herself so that the mist, which was now falling to the ground, would not get on her. This was not necessary due to the fact that the mist never reached her, as it had dissipated on its way down. Not bothering to cancel the shield charm, Ginny turned her gaze back to Harry, who still had a smile on his face and yelled out "Terricula Defixum".

Harry looked surprised, though only for a moment because with one quick, fluid motion he conjured a full length mirror; which sent the Bat Bogey hex careening back towards the unsuspecting red-head, who dodged out of the way just in time for the amplified hex to miss her.

Not wanting to be on the receiving end of one of her own spells anytime soon, Ginny opted to go on the defensive after she cast at least one more offensive one. So with a quick movement of her wand and a smirk in Harry's direction she called out "Genero Caligo" which caused a thick layer of gray fog to issue from her wand and fill up the entire dome. This blocked everything from view both inside and out.

Harry had to guess that if he could not see Ginny through the heavy fog then the same held true for her as well. However, he was sure that she would not have conjured it if she did not have a way to see through it. He tried many times with many different spells to dispel the fog that clouded the arena but to no avail. It seems that having the brightest witch of the age as your tutor really did pay off.

As he was silently giving his bushy haired friend kudos, an idea began to form in his head. However if he wanted it to work it would have to be done quickly. So Harry made his way into the middle of the dueling platform, or as close to the middle as he could get. What with having no way to determine where the exact middle of the platform was in this dense fog he had to do it the old fashioned way; an educated guess.

When he was in position he closed his eyes and began to focus on everything that was around him on the platform; namely Ginny. After what seemed like an hour Harry smiled, he had found her. It had taken some time, but he had been successful in the end and he could not wait to tell his parents. Mostly he just wanted to tell his Dad. This was something they had been working on just before Harry had left for Hogwarts, and he knew that his Dad would be more than happy that he had accomplished it; he would be over the moon.

In the moment that Harry had found her he knew that she was going to try and catch him from behind. It made the most sense for her to do this as it would seem that he had no idea as to what was coming. But how wrong she was, and Harry decided to have a bit of fun with her first. So with a quick movement of his wand he cast the same spell three different times, in three different directions with a gap of about twenty seconds between each. The spell itself was not at all harmful; as all it did was send out great bursts of wind along with flashes of light, though only after giving off a resounding 'Bang'. And while he did know where Ginny was, he had cast the spell in the different directions so as to not tip her off that he knew.

Harry briefly glanced down at his watch and noticed that the duel had gone on longer than he or Ginny had meant for it to and decided that it was time to end the duel. Not letting any more time pass, he quickly shot off the 'Tickling Jinx' to the spot he knew Ginny was in. Any doubts that Harry had about the spell not hitting its mark were soon gone as he heard the tell-tale signs of her laughter, which were not far from his current position.

Quietly and Disillusioned, Harry made his way over to the red-head; who was rolling on the floor in stitches, unable to stop the gales of laughter from spilling out. Taking pity on her, Harry canceled the spell and no sooner had he done that did she jump up and begin to look around. Not seeing any sign of Harry close by she slowly began to make her way to the last spot he had been at. Harry just shook his head in amusement and decided to follow her.

When they had reached said spot he saw Ginny look around once more though when she still did not see any sign of him she began to get a little frustrated. Harry smirked as an idea came to him and while she may not take kindly to it, she would forgive him. So when he was sure that she was occupied he silently crept up behind her and gave a whispered "Marco". What happened next Harry had not expected. Ginny Weasley gave a blood curdling scream and turned, mid-scream, to see the smiling face of one Harry Potter just before passing out.

-

Ron and Hermione both jumped in surprise as the silver ball exploded. "Well that was unexpected" Ron said with a growing smile.

"I wonder where he got that one from" Hermione mentioned "I mean, it doesn't seem to have done anything."

"That we know of" Ron replied still looking at the stage.

Hermione turned to look at Ron thoughtfully and then turned back just as quickly as she had seen Ginny cast the spell that she had helped her find. "That's the 'Smoke screen spell' and it is going to fill up the entire dome from top to bottom." She said as the nudged Ron in the side.

Ron nodded in understanding "But Harry will be able to counter it." He replied.

"No, only the caster can do that." Hermione countered "Well that is unless…"

"Unless the caster gets stunned, at which point the spell will end." Ron said as he finished her thought for her.

"That's right." Hermione said in surprise.

Feeling her eyes still on him, he turned to look at her and smiled "So I have been studying a bit more, big deal."

Hermione was about to respond when an echoing 'bang' cut her off. Both of them looked back to the dueling platform just in time to hear two more bangs not very far apart, and see the flashes of light that followed them. The entire hall was quiet as they again waited with bated breath to see who the victor was. All of them wished that they could see what was going on inside the dome, but the thick fog shielding the two duelers made this impossible.

Then without any warning the protective shield dropped and the smoke vanished before it had the chance to spill out into the crowed. With the smoke gone they were finally able to see the dueling platform, though what they saw caused the cheers to come to a screeching halt. There kneeling on the platform was the figure of Harry Potter with the unconscious form of Ginny Weasley in his arms.

Hundreds of whispers sped quickly through the crowed like wild fire. Ron and Hermione however were trying to make their way as close to the front to get as close as possible. This was Hermione's friend and Ron's sister and they wanted to make sure that she was okay. Then without warning, somewhere in the crowed came a voice that yelled out-

"Potter's killed her! He really is the Heir of…" But this voice was cut short thanks to a Stunning spell that was sent by Professor McCreedy.

"Thank you Professor." The Headmaster said as he walked up the steps of the platform to where Harry was sitting; with the still unconscious Ginny. "Care to explain Harry."

Harry looked up at the Headmaster and gave a sheepish smile and then looked out at the sea of faces staring up at him and the aged professor. He noticed that Ron and Hermione were now standing just feet away from the front of the stage and smiled at them. "Well sir" Harry began "To quite honest with you she just fainted."

"A simple 'rennervate' should be enough to wake her." The Headmaster said with the ever present twinkle in his eyes.

"Yes sir, but you see that would cause her to be awake and I am not sure that would be a good idea." Harry said.

Dumbledore just looked at Harry and silently chuckled before speaking again "Harry, one does not just faint for no reason."

Harry looked up at the Headmaster again and then to his two best friends; one of whom was shaking slightly with a smile on his face. Harry sighed and looked back up to Dumbledore "Well sir the thing is" Harry began as he stood up "her fainting may; meaning more than likely, be the result of me having snuck up behind her."

Albus Dumbledore was trying his best to hide a smile, but was failing at it miserably and decided to help Harry out just a bit. "How much of a head start would you like my boy?"

"Now would be good for me, just give me some time to get a good distance away." Harry replied as he made his was off the stage. As soon as both of his feet were on the floor he was off, dodging this way and that trying his best to get out of the Great Hall as soon as possible.

Harry winced slightly and picked up his pace as he heard voice call out that he knew was Ron's, "Better run faster Potter!"

Just after he rounded the corner leading out of the Great Hall and into the long corridor that lead to the stairs he panicked as he heard a voice, which he knew had not been magically amplified, yell out-

"HARRY POTTER, YOU HAD BETTER RUN!"

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Hours later, Ron, Hermione and Ginny could be found sitting in the Room of Requirement laughing at the predicament that Harry was currently in.

When Ginny had finally caught up to him she had made good on her lingering threat. For as soon as she caught sight of him she had sent a barrage of spells at him causing him to no longer look like himself but that of a little Dutch Girl; but Ginny's fun did not end there. She sent a paralyzing curse at him causing him to freeze instantly, and then placed him atop a music box that was wound by a key.

Finally done she stepped back to admire her work "What a Truly Scrumptious sight, don't you think?" she asked Ron and Hermione, who had walked in just as she was putting the finishing touches on it, which caused it to spin as the music played.

"Ginny" Hermione began with a smile "Don't you think you could let Harry down now?"

"I guess your right Hermione, but not before taking a few snap-shots" and with one stride she went and picked up the camera that the room had provided. After taking several choice shots of Harry she canceled all of the spells and let him down.

"That should teach you Harry that you should never dare mess with a Weasley."

"Never mess with a Weasley, got it." A smiling Harry said as he looked at Ron who met his friends gaze just before he started to laugh again.

The four of them sat and chatted for quite some time and before they knew it they had missed dinner. Harry suggested that they could summon a house-elf and have dinner here. Hermione was against the idea at first but soon agreed due to the persistent grumblings of her stomach.

When most of the food had gone Harry sat forward and said "Okay, I know that I said that we should go about our daily lives but I was curious to see how much, if any, progress had been made on the DA front." This comment caused the other three to sit up and pay closer attention to what was about to be said.

"Hermione" Harry said motioning for her to start.

Hermione nodded and began "Okay when you gave us our things to do, I am not going to lie and say that I didn't focus on it much. However, the task that you set me Harry was a big one, but I am proud to say that I am only days from really finishing it."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked in surprise even though he knew that he should not have been, this was Hermione after all.

"Very" Hermione said with a knowing smile.

"That is good to know then, how about you Ron?"

"Well, I started to look into old Wizarding battles, but there is really not much there. So I decided to look into the Muggle battles and let me tell you that it is a gold mine." Ron said with a look of joy on his face.

Harry nodded and turned his attention to Ginny who had already to begun to talk. "Well, I have been doing some research and the only ones that seem to fit your parameters are the most basic potions, not unlike the ones that Pomfery keeps in the Hospital Wing."

"That was to be expected, but if you want I can lend you a few of my books just remind me when we get ready to head back." Harry said looking at the young red-head.

"Thanks Harry." Ginny said.

"No problem" Harry replied "Okay so my job was to find a better place for us to meet and I think I have it, but I am waiting on just a few things before I know for sure. But suffice it to say that it will be well worth the wait."

The four of them sat in silence as they sorted through all of the information that they had been given. The silence did not last long as Ginny decide to break the silence with a thought that would help them out in the long run. "Harry, I think that we need to have a different name for it this time so as to not arouse suspicion."

Harry nodded in agreement and turned to look at all three of them and said "This was something that I have been thinking about as well. I am really glad that you brought it up Ginny and I think everybody should take this on as well, though we will not decide on anything concrete until closer to the start of it."

With everyone in agreement the spent the rest of the time enjoying each others company and chatting on about random things, like the fact that the coming Wednesday was Christmas Eve. All too soon it was time to head back to the dormitories and call it a night. As they were on there way out Ginny pulled on Harry's arm just a little to gain his attention.

"Harry you told me to remind you about the books."

"Right, thank you Gin, here you go." And with a wave of his hand three books appeared on the table that had been in the middle of the four chairs.

"How did you do that?" She asked, though the answer came to her as soon as she had asked it "You're not going to tell me yet, right."

"Right in one" Harry said and just as he was about to leave he stopped and turned back to her "Look Ginny, I was wondering, with the ball being tomorrow and all, I was hoping that you would know if you were going to accept Flynn's offer or mine to take you ."

"Harry" she began with a sigh and she almost wish she hadn't because she could tell that he already knew what she was going to say.

"Don't worry about it Ginny, I would have been surprised had you said that you were going to go with me. But I am glad for you and I think that you are going to have a great time with Flynn." Harry said as he headed off her rejection. "I am really tired, so I will see you tomorrow Gin." With that said he opened the door and left Ginny staring after him as he walked out of the room, with silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

A/N: So Ginny decided to go to the ball with Flynn, no surprise there, but what will happen at said ball? I can tell you that you will find out in the next chapter for sure, because I have taken a Break from typing to get you this early christmas present. Chapter 37 is almost done so keep an eye out. That is all to be said as of right now, except if you could please hit that button just belwo and review this chapter. Also I will have a new poll up so that you can give me an idea of what to do with one of the characters.

Mudbloodpotter.