Chapter Thirty-Four
"Quills down!" Harry said. He needn't have bothered. The Test-Timer Charm Professor Flitwick had taught him had immediately whisked the quills out of all hands at the pre-appointed time; quills suspended in the air across the classroom as Harry spoke. Students looked up at their quills wistfully, wishing to finish a few questions or sentences. They handed their parchments to the front of each row, and Peggy Andrews in the first seat by the door took them all to Harry's desk.
"Thank you, Peggy," he said, smiling as he took them. Peggy blushed and returned to her seat. The girl blushed anytime anyone said anything to her, and she normally hid her face in her dirty-blonde ringlets. In fact, Harry wasn't sure she'd ever said a word voluntarily. She must not get much attention at home, he thought as she took her seat. Harry shuffled the papers and returned the quills to their owners.
"I'm sure you all did very well," Harry said, standing and coming to the front of his desk. "We will finish with practical application tomorrow. If anyone forgets their wand, you'll have to make do with a school-issue."
The first "practical application" Harry had tried resulted in three students forgetting their wands. As third years, this was somewhat inexcusable and they had points taken off their graded exercise for it. The second time, the only boy who had forgotten his wand was Jeremy Trotter. Last week he had forgotten his homework in the Gryffindor common room and Harry came to the conclusion the boy likely suffered from the same ailment as Neville once—and often still—did.
Almost on cue, Jeremy raised his hand, his short brown hair sticking straight up along with his hand.
"Professor?" he asked, getting Harry's attention.
"Yes?"
"Can I leave my wand with you now, just in case?" The class giggled and Jeremy grinned sheepishly. His white teeth stood out against his olive complexion. Harry sighed and nodded.
"Just leave it on my desk," Harry said, tapping a space beside him. Jeremy dug into his knapsack and produced the wand, running it to the front of the class. He placed it on the desk with a grin.
"Better do it now, before I—"
"—forget," the class finished for him. Harry nodded.
"All right, Jeremy. Any comments about the test?" Harry asked, addressing the class. He had always taken something of an open forum after tests, feeling out students' opinions.
"Too easy," drawled one boy in the back. A few of his nearby classmates hissed at him.
"I'll take that into consideration, Shawn," Harry said with a smile, recognizing the murderous looks in Shawn's classmates' eyes. Hermione had received quite a few of those. Shawn was one of those all-around guys it was hard not to like, even if you didn't want to. He reminded Harry something of Cedric.
"Anything else?" Harry asked, looking around the room.
"I thought question six was tricky," said Faye, a soft-spoken girl with long toffee coloured hair. She always left it hanging straight down her back, with only a cloth headband keeping it out of her eyes. Harry was always amazed that none of the boys had ever decided to use Faye's hair against her—the typical dip in the ink and so on. He looked into her grey eyes and almost shivered. Through the gentility, Harry sensed a bite that would be much worse than any bark.
"Let's take a look at it then," Harry said, turning slightly to pick up an extra test sheet from his desk. He enjoyed relating to the students like this. When he made the test, sometimes his errors weren't obvious until the students pointed them out. In cases such as those, he would reward them points on their test sheets.
The bell rang just as Harry finished reviewing possible essay answers.
"Practical application tomorrow," he called as the students jumped from their seats and began to pack. "Hint: review chapters six through eight," Harry said as the students filed out of the room.
"Jeremy," Harry stopped the boy before he entered the crowded hall.
"Will you need this for other classes today?" Harry asked, holding up Jeremy's maple wand. Jeremy thought hard.
"No, I don't think so. Arithmancy and Herbology. That's it, Professor." Harry nodded and motioned the boy along.
Harry was in the midst of teaching the first-years basic defense (Expelliarmus) when Jeremy burst into the classroom out of breath. He lunged forward, panting, and snatched his wand off the desk.
"Transfiguration!" he gasped, before turning and running out the door again.
~*~
A knock on the door interrupted Harry from grading test papers.
"Come in," he responded, circling an answer on the paper.
"Do you have a minute, Professor?" Ginny leaned against the doorjamb, her arms crossed. Harry looked up at the sound of her voice and smiled.
"A lifetime. Take a seat," he said, pointing to the chair placed in front of the desk. Ginny obliged and took a seat after closing the door behind her.
His office was fairly simple. Most of his decorating energy had gone into the classroom. His office served mainly as a storage area of sorts for creatures he intended to introduce to the class. The cage in the far corner, for instance, rattled angrily from time to time.
"What's that?" Ginny asked, referring to the cloth-covered cage. Harry glanced over his shoulder.
"Oh." He rolled his chair over and lifted the sheet from it. Inside sat something that reminded Ginny of a cottonball. It turned glassy black eyes toward Ginny and growled mutinously.
"I repeat, what is that?" Ginny said as the cottonball flung itself against the bars of the cage, desperately trying to escape. Harry dropped the sheet and the desperate clanging subsided.
"A Nimberball. Cute as hell, but don't get it mad. They're like mini-vampires engulfed in fluff," Harry said, rolling back to his desk. "For the third years."
"How do you like the kids?" Ginny asked.
"Great. Some of them are brats of course. But for the most part, they're enjoyable." Ginny pursed her lips and glanced around the room. Her eyes lit upon a large green spot on the wall that resembled an amoeba. It kept reaching and pushing with its shapeless self, moving along the wall.
"Got that from Moody, isn't it great?" Harry asked, following her gaze.
"I think so," she said, her eyes still glued to the creature. For all its movements, it hadn't gotten very far.
"It's a form of security. I put a password on my door when I leave the room. Anyone who enters without the password immediately gets a room full of knockout gas.
"Of course, I really don't have much use for it. There's not much in here that students are especially keen to get. I've thought about making it a gift to Snape, seeing as how he's always complaining about people getting into his potions. But it's a clever bugger all the same," Harry said proudly. "Name's Sherbert."
"Interesting," Ginny murmured, watching as "Sherbert" inched onto the ceiling.
"What brings you to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.
"Besides a very good looking teacher?" Ginny said, leaning on the desk. Harry grinned.
"You and Snape serious, then?"
"Harry!" Ginny shrieked, appalled at the thought. "That's disturbing!" She laughed.
"You free?" she asked, slightly teasing.
"Unfortunately, no. I've got to get Fluffy over there ready for tomorrow, finish these tests, and read some essays the 7th years turned in last week."
"Harry, we had a date!" Ginny exclaimed, fearful he wasn't joking. She pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket. Harry looked at it curiously.
Dearest Ginny—
Can you come to Hogwarts for an evening? I'd like to get out. Thursday around seven?
Yours,
Harry
"Oh," Harry said sadly. "I'm really sorry, Gin. I forgot.""You're not joking," Ginny said quietly. "You put off their essays for a week, what's another day?" she said, trying to bargain.
"I really can't. I promised them tonight," Harry sighed.
"What about us?" Ginny said, standing angrily.
"You've put us off for almost two months!" She said, her hurt evident in her eyes. She swept the papers off Harry's desk in frustration. Harry looked at the mess and then up at her, something hidden in his face.
"I should've known better. The great Harry Potter is just in too high demand," she spat. Harry stood.
"Ginny," he said in a low tone. "Please don't do this."
"You haven't answered any of my owls since Christmas," Ginny said, hot tears forming in her eyes. "You keep canceling our dates—what am I supposed to do, Harry?"
"I think—" Harry paused as tears streamed down her face. "Maybe you should go lie down for awhile."
"You are something else," Ginny said slowly. Tears were rolling down her cheeks silently. They stared at each other, Ginny in hurt and Harry in worry.
"Fine," she said quietly. "But don't wait up for me."
~*~
Ginny wandered the halls angrily. She even found herself in the company of Moaning Myrtle and enjoying it. Of course, it was mostly because she didn't hear a word Myrtle was saying. The blood rushing in her head and her raging thoughts of Harry blocked most sounds.
"I thought he was just busy. First year and all that. He didn't even act happy to see me, never mind our date," Ginny spat angrily. Myrtle had stopped prattling for a moment and the words fell out of Ginny.
"Boys are useless," Myrtle said loftily. "I'd never let a boy break my heart," she continued.
"Shut it," Ginny snapped irritably. "I didn't let it happen, it just did."
Ginny hadn't the heart to visit any old professors to take her mind off Harry. She feared she'd tell them about the row. At the moment, she didn't want consoling words, just time to be mad. After leaving Myrtle and wandering the castle for duration, Ginny unexpectedly found herself in front of the secret entrance to the teachers' quarters. It was nearly midnight, and she had now wandered the whole of the castle in about four hours. Ginny's anger had now ebbed, leaving her exhausted. Determined not to talk to Harry, Ginny took the hall to his room. She'd sneak in, nap on the couch, and escape early.
When Ginny opened the door, the darkness was heavy with a sweet scent of lilacs. She ventured into the room filled with curiosity. A low fire was burning in the hearth, lighting the room with a soft glow. Candles atop the mantle and beside the fireplace flickered slightly with the movement of air the door had created. The candles appeared to be the culprits of the perfumed air. Ginny's gaze finally took in the couch where Harry sat, the firelight dancing on his face. He leaned forward slightly, arms resting on his knees, and he held a glass of red wine in his hands. His gaze was pointed to the table in front of him. He turned to look at her when she stood beside the couch.
"Ginny," he said softly. She loved the way her name sounded on his lips. But she wouldn't let that break her.
"I told you not to wait up," she said flatly.
"People are usually sarcastic when they say that. I took a chance," Harry said. She turned away, headed for the door.
"Ginny, wait. We need to talk," said Harry, putting his glass down on the table.
"Fine." Ginny stood by the couch, her arms folded resolutely.
"Could you at least sit down?" Harry suggested, making room on the couch. Ginny sighed and flung herself on the couch, pushing herself into the corner, as far away from Harry as possible.
"First, I want to say I'm really sorry about not answering your owls. I did get caught up in things here, and time flew by. I hadn't realized how many you'd sent until I just check…and I realized I couldn't remember the last time I sent you an owl. I'm really sorry, Ginny, and I hope you can forgive me," Harry said honestly. The firelight glinted off his glasses.
Ginny looked at him dubiously and didn't respond.
"And second…well, this is rather stupid, actually," said Harry with humility written on his face. "I didn't forget about our date…really. I thought that if you thought I'd forgotten the date, this would come as more of a surprise," Harry said, picking up something from the table. Ginny hadn't noticed that box before.
So help me, if that has earrings in it, I'm going to kill him, she thought, her heart beating wildly.
"I had no idea you'd take it so hard," Harry admitted, his hands still tightly clasping the black box.
"What were you thinking? How could I not be hurt?" Ginny finally asked. Harry smile apologetically.
"I wasn't. I don't think very clearly when it comes to you, I'm afraid," he admitted. Ginny felt her heart soften. Harry cleared his throat and continued.
"I just wanted this to be a surprise," he murmured, holding the box. "I really am sorry, Ginny. I've behaved terribly. And maybe this isn't the best time to ask, considering you're mad right now and might not answer the way you normally would…and I know we haven't been dating officially for very long…but it doesn't change the fact that I do love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Harry cracked open the box to reveal a small and simple gold band adorned with a modest diamond-shaped emerald. Ginny could the firelight reflected in the pristine metal. A sound escaped her that was something between a sigh and a gasp, which Harry thought would be a difficult combination.
Ginny threw her arms around Harry's neck as she fought back tears.
"You great prat," she said, her voice quavering. She kissed his cheek as she drew away. "You are horrible."
Harry smiled.
"That sounds like a yes to me," he said, pulling the ring out of the box and offering it to her. Ginny held out her hand and Harry slipped the ring onto her waiting finger.
"Moaning Myrtle will be furious with me," Ginny said, throwing herself at Harry again.
"What?"
"We had a boy-bashing session in the girls' toilets," Ginny said, smiling. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Promise me you'll never do that again. Not with her, anyway. I'd like to keep her as far from my personal life as possible."
Ginny laughed. "Agreed." They shared a lingering kiss, after which Ginny pulled away with a sigh. She glanced at the hearth, where she saw that the painting had again been covered. She smiled.
"A bit presumptuous," she said, nodding toward it.
"I took a chance," Harry murmured, meeting her lips again. Ginny melted into his arms and remained content to absorb the perfection of the moment. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her…well, she supposed that was good enough.
Fin
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Well, it's been fun, folks! :) It's been really rewarding getting all those super reviews! ^-^ I don't know if I've hit writer's block or not w/ this story, but I am feeling this might be it. If there is an epilogue waiting for me one day when I wake up or something, then I will definitely write it. I'd like to see R/H and H/G have kids but I dunno how much more I can get away w/ when there's no plot! ^-^ Thank you so much for sticking with this!!