Chapter 14

Adjustment

Harry woke slowly with a head full of chaos. He was completely unable to focus, and couldn't make heads nor tails of what had happened, or what was happening now. He was awash in a sea of emotion, most of which was extremely potent, and much of which he couldn't even vaguely interpret.

He didn't feel right.

Or at least not normal, even given the chaos in his head.

He waited as patiently as he could for it to subside, but it refused to do so. If anything, the emotional onslaught was intensifying. Trying to ignore that fact, he instead tried to figure out what happened to him. Everything was so very hazy…

He felt something shift against him, and dimly registered that he had something in his arms. No, it was someone. Ginny, probably, gripping him tightly in what he interpreted as terror. Was she also involved in this?

He managed to tighten his arms around her a little in the hope of offering at least some comfort, but that was nearly all he could manage.

His eyes were already closed, so he just tried to relax. He couldn't afford to give into this, but he couldn't see a way to calm it. He was just going to have to wait it out, at least for the moment.

He lay there for an indeterminate amount of time, but nothing changed. Oh, the emotional mess ebbed and flowed, weakening and strengthening, but it was all the same. And he felt that it was subtly getting worse.

And then his memory finally started to engage, and something floated up out of the depths.

Kissing Ginevra.

That was the last thing he remembered. Grabbing on with both metaphorical hands, he searched desperately for anything that happened after, but found nothing. Just that one, beautiful, amazingly powerful kiss, and then… nothing.

What had happened?

Enough of his brain had finally reengaged by now that he remembered letting go of the mental construct that provided him with all of his emotional control. Was that the problem? Maybe if he reconstructed it — a tall order in this mess, he thought — he could beat this back and get to where he was functional again.

And so he began.

It was painstaking work, complicated by the fact that so much of what he was feeling right now was ephemeral, wisps that slipped through his mental fingers before he could even hope to categorize and sort them. He soldiered on, though, and ever so slowly managed to start making some sense of his state of being. It was still ultimately confusing, though.

He had no idea how long it took, but eventually he was left with only things he couldn't grab onto, and that helped tremendously. Without his own feelings and emotions mucking up his mental landscape, he could now see that there was something very different about these others. It was almost indefinable, but most definitely there.

For one thing, there was a stark terror present that he didn't think he was feeling himself.

Harry Potter had learned in the earliest years of his life that feeling the terror associated with his nightmares was a recipe for disaster. It would invariably result in a beating, and how severe was directly proportional to how loud and long he screamed. He had always had nightmares — ever since his parents were killed — and so he had been forced to train himself not to feel that terror when he woke.

It was instinct, and had not failed him in many, many years. So why was that terror floating through him now? He was detached from it, as though he was aware of its presence, but wasn't the cause, and wasn't actually feeling it himself. It was nothing like he'd ever felt before.

And then his companion shifted in his arms again — and tightened her grip on him, even as the terror intensified slightly.

That caused him to finally open his eyes.

He found himself staring at the ceiling of their master bedroom, and sure enough, Ginny was wrapped tightly around him. Now that he was more aware of his surroundings, he could feel her shaking like a leaf. He was fairly certain that she was awake, but there was no rational thought going on there, he felt. She was simply outright terrified.

And if what he had just realized proved to be true, then she probably had very good reason.

That didn't matter right now, though. They needed to get this under control so they could function properly and figure out what was going on. It had helped Harry, so maybe it would help her?

"Occlumency," he whispered into her ear, barely able to keep his voice steady in the face of the torrent of her chaotic emotional sate.

"Occlumency, Ginevra," he repeated in a sightly stronger voice. "Use your Occlumency to reign it in and get control of it."

He could feel the faint shift in her emotional state as she heard his words and slowly acknowledged them to herself. Unwittingly fascinated, he closed his eyes and turned his attention to her completely, while also ensuring that his own emotions were under complete control. She didn't need that distraction.

Somehow, he thought, they were feeling each other's emotions.

Carefully, ever so slowly, he felt her addressing each different aspect, and putting it away where it belonged. Each time she did, the feeling didn't vanish, but faded from the forefront and into the background. It was very hard to describe, but from the way her efforts were picking up speed, it was also very effective.

And then there was silence.

Harry allowed himself to relax and loosen his grip a little, enjoying the moment. It wasn't true silence, but now everything was where it should be. Nothing was vying for his attention. He could think again, and that was excellent.

When she also loosened her grip a little — though not entirely — he was pleased. He could feel the echo of her emotions shifting slightly as she tried to make sense of things. He could have stayed there all day — it was absolutely fascinating to experience — but they really needed to find out what was going on.

"Better?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," she breathed. "Thanks."

He could sense her state of mind directly, and could hear it coming through in her tone of voice. She was still scared, but was at least thinking now. Like him, she had no idea what had happened.

"Let's sit up," he said quietly. "I have no idea what's going on, and we need to figure this out."

Ginny nodded against him, and then they both slowly pushed themselves up into a sitting position. She was white as a sheet, her freckles standing out starkly on her face, her hair in total disarray. The emotion buried in her eyes was still one of terror, but it was more muted now — and he could still feel it echoing within him.

She was absolutely beautiful, but he put that aside for the moment.

She blinked, and he figured she'd probably caught his reaction to her appearance, but that was neither here nor there.

"What do you remember?" he asked softly.

Ginny just shook her head though. "The last thing I remember is–" she blushed prettily before forcing herself to finish, "kissing you."

Harry smiled a little. He didn't know where that had come from; it wasn't his intent when he started tearing his mental construct down. But then the instinct had come over him, and like so many before, he just automatically accepted it and went with it.

Everything involving Ginny was a mystery, he supposed.

"I hope you didn't mind," he frowned quietly. "I don't know what came over me, but… It was really amazing. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

She finally met his gaze then, her brow furrowed in obvious concern. With his new insight into her feelings, he could somehow tell that he was the target of that concern. If this continued, it was going to take some getting used to.

"Are you kidding?" she quietly breathed, her hand coming up to brush his cheek almost automatically. "I love you. You kissing me will never make me uncomfortable. Especially–" She shook her head, even her blush deepened. "Especially when it was so unbelievably wonderful."

The dreamy tone she spoke those words with made him smile. He had no idea where things were going with them — he was too uneducated in emotional matters — but he also wasn't a complete idiot. He could only hope that it worked out between them.

That said, they needed to get back to the point. While he was actually surprisingly comfortable with things now that the maelstrom was under control, there was still a question here. And he felt it was very important that they answer it.

"What do you remember after we kissed?" he asked quietly.

She frowned slightly, and he could swear that he could feel the gears turning in her head. Finally, she shook her head in frustration. "Just waking up here," she said, meeting his gaze with a worried one of her own. "What happened?"

"I don't know, Gin," he said quietly, brushing her cheek with the back of his hand. It just seemed right to do. "Somehow we ended up in bed, and I'm pretty sure we're feeling each other's emotions."

She slowly nodded. "I noticed once I stopped freaking out," she frowned. "I have no idea what this is."

"Me either," he frowned.

They remained silent for a while after that, and barely moved other than to arrange themselves such that he was against the headboard with her ensconced in his arms. No matter how he tried, he could come up with no further memory, and from her own feelings she was having no more luck. Whatever had taken place was a total mystery.

And then he had a brainwave.

"Dobby?" he quietly called.

The loyal little elf popped into existence, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Master and Mistress are awake!" he squealed.

And then there was another pop, and Winky was there, wearing the widest smile he'd ever seen on an elf. "Winky make breaky!" she announced. "Master and Mistress wanting pancakes and bacon?"

"Er, that's fine, Winky, thank you," he agreed faintly.

And then she was gone.

Ginny just sat there watching this with a wide-eyed shock that he couldn't see, but could definitely feel. The elves were wonderful, but he'd never seen them act quite like this before.

"Dobby?" he finally said. "Do you know what happened to us?"

"Master and Mistress being kissing," the little elf announced. "Then Dobby and Winky beings putting you to bed. Master and Mistress was needing sleep."

Harry blinked as he tried to sort that out in his head. Elves were very literal creatures at times, and he didn't think that Dobby was trying to skip anything. It really didn't make sense though.

"So we passed out when we were kissing?" he frowned.

Dobby just nodded. "Master and Mistress being using many magics. Master and Mistress being needing rests."

Ginny remained silent in Harry's arms as he contemplated this.

It was only then that Harry registered exactly what his elves were calling Ginny. And that was not a minor deal. But Ginny managed to get her question in first.

"How long were we asleep, Dobby?" she asked.

"It being two days," answered Dobby.

Harry blinked. That would explain why his head was so muddled. He'd had that happen before when he slept for too long. Clearly something monumental had happened to them, and now they were going to have to recover.

But first…

"Please don't take this the wrong way, Dobby," he said very quietly, "I'm not upset by it, but I need to understand. Why are you calling Ginny Mistress?"

Dobby blinked oddly at him. "Dobby calls Mistress, Mistress, because Mistress is being Mistress!" he explained helpfully.

Harry snorted, and he felt Ginny's amusement as she giggled in his arms.

"Not quite what I meant there, Dobs," he replied, unable to keep from grinning a little. "She wasn't Mistress before, why is she now?"

The little elf frowned. "Dobby is not knowing," he finally said. And then he smiled brightly. "But Mistress is being Mistress now, and Dobby and Winky is very happy for Master and Mistress!"

Harry endeavored to keep his frown off his face; it was hardly Dobby's fault that he didn't know what was going on. An odd suspicion was forming, though he had no idea how it would be even remotely possible. His life was never normal though, of that much he was absolutely certain.

"Ok," he finally said. "Thanks, Dobby. We need to talk, but we'll be out in a short while."

"Dobby understands," smiled the elf. "Dobby be helping Winky with breaky!"

And then with a pop, the elf vanished.

In spite of his words to Dobby, neither Harry nor Ginny spoke for a while. Both of them were busy trying to make some sense of the situation, but neither was succeeding. Whatever was happening wasn't something that either of them had any knowledge of.

He couldn't help but keep coming back to the new form of address for Ginny, though.

"What is it, Harry?" Ginny finally asked. "I can feel you worrying over something."

Harry smiled at that. She always seemed to know his mood anyway, so it wasn't really that new — it was just more direct somehow. He was surprised to find that it didn't bother him in the slightest.

But she also deserved an answer, and he was a a little nervous about that.

"Elves are pretty specific, Gin," he said quietly. "For all that they mangle the English language, they do choose their words pretty carefully, and that's never truer than with how they address people, and especially their masters."

Harry paused then; he wasn't sure how she would react.

"Just tell me, Harry," she said softly, having obviously detected his hesitation. "Whatever happened is not your fault, nor is it mine. Neither of us did anything wrong. Just tell me, and if you're right, then we'll deal with it."

Harry took a deep breath. "I think he thinks we're married, Ginevra."

Her emotions blanked out briefly in shock at his explanation, but it was only momentary. He could feel her turning it over in her head, and was surprised to find that it didn't bother her overmuch. There was a curious sense there, like she would be honored to be considered so.

Then again, if he thought about things in reverse, he felt pretty much the same. He might be emotionally uneducated, but Ginny was amazing, and he knew that anyone would be truly fortunate to have her. He supposed that he would be honored as well.

"Okay," she finally said. "Why would he think that?"

"Something to do with whatever happened, I guess," sighed Harry. "Maybe some kind of magic?"

She paused briefly to consider, but then–

"Elves obviously have a really good magical sense," she frowned. "If they're sensing something magical between us, and it looks like a marriage bond…"

Harry blinked a few times as he considered that. And then he suddenly slipped out from behind her, causing a sense of loss to run through her. That was probably more flattering than her feelings regarding a potential marriage between them, oddly enough.

He ignored it, though, and headed for the dresser, quickly pawing through the detritus there to grab up their four passports. Two were the fake ones, and two were their real ones. He then slipped back in behind her, making her smile. He no longer needed to see it to know it was happening.

Holding them in front of them both, he started flipping through them, quickly setting the false ones aside. His real one was unchanged; it listed him as Harry James Potter. But Ginny's…

…listed her as Ginevra Molly Potter.

"What?" he breathed.

"Did the elves change them?" asked Ginny faintly.

"No," said Harry quietly. "The real passports have a spell on them that tracks name changes. This is real, Gin. I don't know how or why, but this is real."

Ginny reached out and gently took the passport from him so she could look more closely at it. He was surprised at the feelings coursing through her; there was a gentle sort of pride radiating from her. She reached up and ran her finger over her apparent new name, and he could tell she was totally speechless.

Oddly, he felt that same pride brewing in his own feelings. He would be lucky to call her his wife.

"What does this mean?" she finally asked, finally looking up at him, her expression clearly worried.

"I don't know," he said as he brushed her hair out of her face again. "I think it means that Magic thinks we're married. Why that is? I don't know." He nervously forced himself to quietly add, "And from what I know, magical marriages are permanent."

Ginny stared for a moment before she sat up and turned around so she could truly see him face to face. She reached up and gently cupped his cheek, much as she had before all this came about. It was something he couldn't help but cherish.

"I should probably be upset," she mused after a moment, "but I'm not. But what about you? Are you okay with this?"

Harry slowly nodded, never taking his eyes off hers. "It doesn't bother me in the slightest, as odd as that is," he admitted. "I don't know why, Gin, but it just kinda feels right."

Ginny smiled then, and he wasn't entirely surprised when she leaned in to kiss him. He met her equally, and felt somehow that he could happily do such things with her for a very long time to come.

Both were vaguely disappointed not to feel that intoxicating feeling again, but they weren't complaining just the same.

===[~]===

A/N: House-elves were far more articulate in canon, and I know that the whole concept of elven manglish is more or less a fanon invention. I happen to find it apropos, though, so I've used it in this story. Not to mention, when I realized what I'd done I went back to think about correcting it, but I just couldn't lose Dobby's part in this scene. Too much fun!

And that should at least start to answer a lot of my reviewers who asked about a magical marriage. More to come on that.

And holy moly! Lots of reviews on that last chapter! Thank you so much for your support; I love reading them!

dawnmichellem: Aw, I'm sorry! I know how that feels! Could be worse, though, I could be publishing weekly. =)

jmsdragn: Yeah, like I said in my original A/N, the chapters tend toward the short in this one. Part of that is because I'm not following my normal process, so they don't get expanded as much as they could if I put that much effort in, but with this story, it would never have been published at all if I tried that.

SomeGuyFawkes: Artistic license. Looking back at GoF, it does vaguely reference continuing classes in the last chapter, but I'm going to pretend that they cancelled them in this one.

I would answer more of you, but I got so many reviews that my responses would be longer than the chapter. Thanks again! And yes, McG in this one is a bit messed up (and I do have issues with most of the staff in canon, so…). Is it Dumbledore's doing? Are they just horrible at their jobs? In many cases, you will be left to your own imagination on that one. =)

See you tomorrow!