Harry's Dilemma

Epilogue

Harry stood outside Professor Dumbledore's office for one of the few times in his Hogwarts career, and stared apprehensively at the door. He exchanged a glance with Ginny who was holding his right hand in both of hers. She patted it gently.

"I'll wait for you," she said, with a nervous smile, "Then we'll go and do our homework together – you can help me with my Transfiguration!" Harry grimaced.

"Oh, please!" she begged, "I really don't understand it at all!" He smiled.

"I think you should wait for me in the Common Room." He said, "I have no idea what this is about, or how long I'll be." Her face took on that obstinate expression Harry was learning to know very well indeed.

"Well, I'll stay for as long as I can." She said, stubbornly, "I've brought enough work with me – I'll wait in this empty classroom here." Unwillingly, Harry nodded then with a final squeeze of her hand, he knocked on the Headmaster's door. Ginny melted into the background as Professor Dumbledore's voice was heard to say "Come!" As he entered, Harry closed the door behind him.

"Ah, Harry!" said Professor Dumbledore genially. He was the only teacher who consistently used students' first names. Harry inclined his head respectfully.

"You wanted to see me, sir." Professor Dumbledore fixed him with a piercing gaze.

"Yes, indeed I did, Harry – Oh, sit down, please." He indicated a chair in front of his desk. It looked rather uncomfortable, but Harry could see that he had little choice in the matter: he sat down. Professor Dumbledore paced about the room for a moment or two, then turned to Harry.

"This is rather awkward." He confessed, "It has been brought to my attention that certain – magical residues have been detected in one of the training rooms. Not to put too fine a point on it, in the gym." Harry's eyes shot open, and his self-preservation instinct abruptly went into overdrive.

"Sir, I can explain." He began, "It's – somewhat embarrassing, but perfectly innocent, I assure you." He stopped a moment to work out a vague plan of action.

"I'm sorry to have to bring personal relationships into this, Sir, but it concerns, er, Ginny. Miss Weasley, that is."

"Ah, yes." responded Dumbledore, "The unusually talented fifth-year. Professor McGonnagle informed me of her sudden leap in abilities. Please continue."

"Well, " Harry went on, "She and I had something of a misunderstanding – she had been avoiding me for some weeks – and eventually I decided that we really had to bury the hatchet, after all, Ron is my best friend," He smiled ruefully at Dumbledore and was slightly disconcerted at the lack of reaction, "Anyway," he continued, "We met up in the gym – because it was pretty much deserted at that time in the evening – and had a, well, discussion. The reason there was magical residue in the air was because I conjured a sofa." He considered, "And a coffee table. And some cocoa." He added, then "Or, at least, I think Ginny did that - the cocoa, I mean. I'm really sorry, sir, I know it was technically out of bounds, but we weren't doing anything wrong, and we really needed some privacy, you know? Somewhere – away from the others …" Harry trailed off into silence and fixed his eyes on the floor. He had never felt so exposed in his life. Dumbledore let him sweat for a while longer, then took a slightly deeper breath.

"Harry, I do not need to remind you, I am sure, that school rules are there for a purpose." He began, "The gym, as a room, is perfectly empty – nothing within that could possibly be of any harm to any student who might unwarily venture in, don't you think?"

"Well, yes, sir." Replied Harry, hesitantly, not sure where this was leading.

"There you would be wrong, Harry." Dumbledore paused before continuing, "A large open space, which is used for broomstick manoeuvre practice when the weather is bad is a temptation for certain – forbidden – even illegal - activities." Harry looked puzzled.

"In the past at Hogwarts – the past, but nevertheless in my time here – the gym was used as the venue for a sorcerous duel." Harry felt the colour drain from his face. Dumbledore nodded seriously.

"Yes, Harry, you may well look grim, for the outcome of this particular duel was not only unfortunate, it was tragic. A young wizard died, due to simple inexperience and the over-enthusiasm of his rival." Silence fell. Harry couldn't meet Dumbledore's eyes. Eventually the Headmaster spoke again.

"Now you see, Harry, why members of staff were particularly alarmed on detecting traces of magical activities in the gym, and why you were very wrong in entering it out of school hours. A precedent must not be set, unless we want a repetition of the earlier tragic accident. In future, the gym will be locked outside school hours." Harry was still silent, pondering his narrow escape.

"That will be all Harry."

"Thank you, Sir." He got up and made his way towards the door.

"Oh, and Harry?"

"Yes, sir?" Harry turned back politely before opening the door.

"In confidence, and strictly off the record of course - who won?" There was a sudden roaring in Harry's ears, his knees turned to jelly, his cheeks stained red. Dumbledore knew, he knew! So why hadn't he punished Harry accordingly? More to the point, how did he know? These and many other questions flooded through Harry's panic-stricken mind. He could be expelled, so could Ginny! The Weasleys would be horrified – they would never let him see her again. Slow down, Harry. The logical side of his brain started to cut in. Dumbledore had asked the question off the record. That meant that he didn't want to punish either Harry or Ginny, nor did he want anyone else to know about their misdemeanour. He merely wanted an answer to his question – and, perhaps, to remind Harry that there was very little going on within the walls of Hogwarts Castle that he, Dumbledore, didn't know about. Harry squared his shoulders and at last made eye-contact with his mentor.

"She did, sir." he said, to his own everlasting surprise, "I'm afraid I cheated. I underestimated her strength, and she very nearly got the better of me. I won't make that mistake again; she could one day be a great sorceress." Dumbledore smiled.

"Indeed she will, Harry." He replied, "Please endeavour to remain, er, friends with Miss Weasley: I would rather the foundations of Hogwarts remain intact for the present, and on a more serious note, in view of your present situation with regard to the problem of Voldemort, you need strong allies, like the Weasleys." Harry nodded.

"That had occurred to me, sir." Dumbledore waved him away.

"Good luck, Harry." He said quietly. Harry was not sure whether he was speaking generally, or more specifically about Ginny, but he did not stop to worry about it; he almost ran from the room in his eagerness to leave.

Once in the corridor, reaction set in. Harry leaned against the wall while the ceiling and the floor revolved prettily around his head, his ears rang and his face was alternately red and white as he pondered now near an escape he had had. Cool hands pushed hair away from his face.

"Harry! Harry, are you alright?" Ginny had been waiting in the empty classroom, too worried to work. Harry sighed and stood upright.

"Yes," he said, wearily, "I'm okay, really I am. But I very nearly wasn't. Oh, Ginny!" he turned and took her by the shoulders, staring intently into her warm brown eyes. She smiled.

"It's alright, Harry," she whispered, "You need to calm down. Let's go back to the Common Room, get warm by the fire and have a cup of cocoa – it was freezing in that classroom! – and then you can tell me all about it." Harry gazed at her, drinking in her strength, absorbing her warmth and support, knowing within at that moment how much she would mean to him throughout their lives. Her face gradually lost its smiling expression under the intense scrutiny, and she raised her eyebrows questioningly as Harry drew closer. Soft lips brushed hers, touched and held as his arms slowly encircled her back. Ginny paused, savouring the incredibly delicate sensation of Harry's mouth searching her own, then her arms twined lightly around his neck, holding his head, prolonging the kiss until they both broke apart gasping for air. Harry at once pulled her back against his chest, stroking her hair, trembling with reaction.

"Oh Merlin! I've wanted to do that for so long!" he breathed, hardly believing he'd had the nerve. Muffled sounds of merriment greeted him as Ginny raised her head laughing delightedly.

"And I've waited so long for you to pluck up the courage!" she countered. He stared in astonishment.

"You wanted this – as much as I did?" She clenched her fists in exasperation.

"Harry!" she said through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry." He backtracked slightly in confusion, "I just – don't know very much about girls."

"That's an understatement!" she responded rather too quickly, then more gently as she noted his despondent expression, "But you certainly can kiss! I guess it must be – natural talent?" Harry raised his eyes.

"Then – then you truly want me?" His hesitant manner made her pause. Her expression turning serious, she reached out to hold his face in her hands.

"Do I really need to answer that, Harry? I thought I had already made my feelings on the subject quite clear over the years. Oh, I know you have a dangerous future ahead – you're a marked man, Harry Potter, and until Voldemort's put in his place, you'll never really be safe. And I'm well aware that anyone closely associated with you runs a similar risk. But Harry, my family all love you dearly and will risk their lives for you: why should I be any different? Besides, you're going to need all the help you can get, magical or otherwise, and you know how good I am – don't you?" He eyes glinted again with mischief. Harry held a finger to her lips, his eyes wide.

"Okay, okay, I admit it." He looked around furtively, "Just don't ever tell anyone how I know, alright?"

"Do you really think I can be such a good sorceress and have a defective brain?" Ginny protested hotly. Emboldened by his previous behaviour, she stood on her toes and kissed his lips in a way that promptly made his pulse rate exit through the ceiling. "Harry," she murmured in his ear, "The next time you want to do something like this, tell me – you never know, I might just want to do it too!" Giggling madly, she tickled him in the ribs where he was most sensitive. With a squeak of surprise, Harry jumped quickly aside releasing the red-haired girl, who took off at the speed of light.

"You little minx!" he exclaimed, leaping after her.

"Last one in the Common Room's a flobberworm!" her voice echoed mockingly through the corridors. After making a token attempt to catch her, Harry slowed down and took the last few flights of stairs at a reasonable pace. For some reason, that irritating Divination lesson had surfaced from layers of memory again, and he smiled, now fully aware of the reality of it. True, he would cheerfully have swallowed glass shards rather than reveal its substance to anyone during that lesson, but now he could admit that there really did seem to be something in Divination after all. For in the depths of the scrying crystal, he had seen a young woman with long, bright red hair. He could not see her face, but he had identified her immediately. She had been sitting at a desk signing a letter - "Ginny Potter" - and it was that signature which had really freaked him. Now he smiled contentedly at the recollection: he was sure Professor Dumbledore had been referring to a long-term relationship, rather than merely a friendship when he had spoken of Ginny that evening. He didn't know when any of this would happen, merely that he and Ginny were destined to spend their lives together and that, not least because she was such a formidable sorceress, he could not have chosen anyone better to share his life.

FINIS