A/N:
Chapter 7 is here! Thanks to all who reviewed and especially thanks to
TsukiKou.
Disclaimer: I'm just playing with J.K. Rowling's toys, in the words of
another author here at ff.n that I can't remember right now. It's not mine.
Mixed Messages
By Ariel Star
Chapter 7
"You want my help in getting you hooked up with Ginny?" Raven
whispered loudly over the top of her Transfiguration textbook, her eyes shining
with happiness. "Harry, you wouldn't believe how long I've been waiting for you
to ask me this - "
"Shut up a minute and listen," Harry forced carefully
out of the corner of his mouth. "I don't want to get hooked up, exactly – I
just want…"
"Okay, I understand, you don't want to admit it. Denial is always one
of the beginning steps in a long-lasting relationship," grinned Raven. "Of
course I'll help. This will involve a lot of underhanded scheming, you
know…can't let Ginny suspect anything…dear, dear…"
"Very funny," Harry whispered back fiercely. "Try to be a bit less
conspicuous, will you?" he added. "People are staring at us." Raven and Harry
didn't usually partner up in Transfiguration, and their hidden whispering was
bringing out whispers around the rest of the class. Raven rolled her eyes and
scooted her chair closer to Harry's, simultaneously shoving all of her
materials closer to his. Leaning over and whispering wickedly in his ear, she
said, "Let them think what they want, the chowderheads. We've got bigger fish
to fry."
Harry blushed, wondering how someone as low-key and sweet as Ginny
could have someone like Raven for a friend. But then, Ginny was naturally
friendly…he blinked his eyes, hard, and turned back to Raven.
"I don't know why I'm even talking to you," he said slowly. "But I
don't know where to go next. Cho's invited me to the ball, and I can't turn her
away now, I already accepted. But after I saw Gin on the stairs…I'd rather go
with her. Anytime."
Raven smiled knowingly. "Ask her to dance and she'd come running," she
said, stroking her already-completed guinea pig. It nestled down lower into her
lap. This lesson had been the last day for cross-species, and most people were
already done with their project – Harry had successfully managed to get rid of
the wings on his guinea pig last lesson and was taking this period to speak
with Raven.
"All I think you have to do is ask her to dance or something!" Raven
said. "She'll say yes, I know she will…"
"But after that?" Harry asked her bluntly. "What do I do? Kiss her?
Would that get my intentions across?"
"Yes," Raven giggled, "I believe it would." Harry sighed.
"All I want," he said, "is a nice, comfortable relationship. Is that
too much to ask?"
"Yep," Raven said, leafing through her textbook. "No relationship is
simple."
"You know, you are absolutely no help?" Harry said pointedly. It was
Raven's turn to sigh.
"Fine," she said, turning to face him. "You want my advice? I think
you should kiss her. That would get the point across to dear Cho as well. And
Justin," she added as an afterthought. There was a borderline evil thought
forming in her mind. She grinned.
"Won't she wonder why I even accepted to go to the ball in the first
place with her if I'm going around kissing Ginny?" Harry wondered, missing her
Justin comment.
"Probably," Raven replied. "Why are you? Going to the ball with her, I
mean?"
"Oh…she asked," Harry said. "No real reason." He sighed again, thinking
himself a fool for not asking Ginny in the first place.
Raven laughed. "I think that's the same reason Gin's going with
Justin," she said. "Think."
Harry stared, just hearing the Justin idea. "Justin? As in Justin
Finch-Fletchley?"
"The one and only," Raven said, examining her fingernails. "He's
really quite a catch – pretty handsome, though a bit of a prat. Smart of Ginny
to accept his invitation – a step up from Neville, don't you agree?" She stole
a sideways glance at him. He looked, to her satisfaction, torn between panicked
and disgusted – a bit like he'd swallowed a nasty-tasting potion that he had no
idea what it contained.
"Justin?" he asked again. "You're sure?"
"Positive," she said happily. "She was just sighing about it to me
earlier today."
"What do you mean?" Harry forced. This certainly was a new emotion –
jealousy! He'd never even thought that Ginny could fall for someone else,
though of course he knew others liked her. Even Dean Thomas thought she'd grown
up to be 'adorable' – but still, she could never like any of them back! Except
him, of course…
"Oh, going on about 'sweet Justin' and 'dear Justin' and the like,
nearly making Gwen and me sick," Raven stated matter-of-factly. In fact, this
was not totally a lie – Ginny had been speaking sarcastically, and Raven and
Gwen were about to be sick from giggles.
Harry clutched the table, making his knuckles turn an interesting
shade of whitish-purple. "Do you really think she likes Justin?" he asked.
"Oh, I don't know," Raven said carelessly. "Anyway, if she doesn't,
there are certainly plenty of other guys that give her the time of day, more
than you used to do - " The bell rang. Raven scooped up her books, shouted "See
you at dinner!" and raced out the door. Harry placed his head in his hands.
Ron walked over, Hermione at his side. Ron looked unusually
embarrassed, and Hermione looked unusually thrilled. Harry glanced at her
through the gaps in his fingers and asked, "What, get a hundred and twenty on
your guinea pig?"
"Oh no," Hermione said, a bit pink, "haven't even finished yet." Harry
slowly looked up. He could forget even his girl troubles in the face of
Hermione Granger skiving off an assignment. "You what…?" he asked quizzically.
"That's not the reason we came over," Ron said. "Are you feeling all
right? You look seriously depressed."
"Oh, I'm fine," Harry sighed, picking up his books and slinging them
over his shoulder. "Just aggervated. You know that Raven couldn't tell me
anything about Ginny, I think she was being difficult on purpose – " he stopped
at a look from Hermione which clearly said 'say nothing to Ron!'
Ron, however, hadn't noticed Harry's blunder. He was too intent on
staring at Hermione. Harry grinned, and walked from the room, nearly tripping
when Ginny Weasley sailed headlong into him on the steps.
"Ouuuch – oooh, sorry, Harry," she said, picking herself up from the
floor.
"Here, let me help you," Harry smiled down at her, stretching out a
hand to help her up. Ginny grabbed it and pulled herself right. "Oh, my books,"
she said softly, "they're all over…" She fell to her knees again and started to
gather the scattered textbooks. Harry bent over to help her, picking up her
Advanced Herbology book to hand over. As their hands touched, Harry suddenly
didn't know what came over him. He was going to kiss her. She looked so
perfect…her hair was pulled back into French-braided pigtails, and that light
dusting of freckles on her otherwise perfect complexion was so completely
sweet. He leaned in…she leaned in…and took the book.
"Thanks," she grinned, and bounded back up the stairs, shouting over
her shoulder, "see you guys at dinner!"
"Harry, you sure are acting weird lately," Ron mumbled. Harry rolled
his eyes, shaking at his near brush with disaster. What if he had actually
kissed her? It certainly wouldn't have gone over well with Ron. Hermione,
struggling to hold back laughter, said, "Come on, we've got Care of Magical
Creatures next…"
~*~*~*~*~*
Ginny awoke on the morning of the dance with a horrible feeling in the
pit of her stomach. Not her very favorite way to start the morning, considering
whenever it happened, her day went terribly wrong…but no. She shook the hair
out of her eyes and said sleepily, "Today is going to be great."
"I'll say," a voice echoed from the next bed. "I've been looking
forward to this for weeks."
"Lucky," came a third voice. "Just because you've got a steady
boyfriend - "
"Robby's not my steady boyfriend!" Gwen cried, outraged. She sat up in
bed, simultaneously with Raven, who was the owner of the third voice. "We're
just very close."
"Close enough to be snogging last night on the couch…" Raven said with
a hint of smugness.
"Oooh, you…" Gwen said, blushing deeply. "You were spying!"
"I only wanted to know if you were as serious as Robby said you were,"
Raven said, hopping out of bed and crossing to her trunk. "He said he was going
to kiss you at the dance, but I had a bet with Ginny that he wouldn't wait that
long - "
"Ginny!" Gwen howled. "You didn't!"
Ginny laughed and threw back her covers, clambering out of her
four-poster. "Actually, I did," she said. "And Raven won, I really would have
thought Robby was more of a gentleman than that…" Gwen flushed again. "Robby's
the perfect gentleman!" she yelled.
"All right, all right," Raven said. "We believe you. We love Robby!
Don't we, Gin?"
"Yeah," Ginny said, digging through her trunk for clothes. "Love him
to pieces."
Gwen sighed dramatically and fell back onto the bed. "I can't believe
that I'm the only one here going with someone from our year," she said. "Raven,
I thought you wouldn't turn down Jamie O'Neal…"
"Well, Seamus had already asked," Raven said, brushing her hair from
the vanity seat. "And I think Jamie's a prig anyways. Too stuffy."
"Picky picky," Ginny said softly, tying her sneaker.
"Yes, and you shouldn't be one to talk, Ginny!" Raven said, grinning
hugely. "Justin's quite a catch, as I told Harry only last week…"
"You what?" Ginny gasped.
"Oh, Harry and I had a little chat in Transfiguration," Raven
whispered wickedly. "I told him all about your great friend Mr. Finch-Fletchey.
He looked, to say the least, not pleased."
"You didn't, Rave!" Ginny screamed. "Oh, no, oh, no, oh, oh, no…"
"Relax," Raven said, stretching her legs from her chair. She shrugged.
"I only put him on his guard. I didn't tell him you were engaged or anything."
"You don't get it," Ginny said sadly. "Harry and I just aren't meant
to be! I know because…" she faded off, looking at Gwen and Raven.
"Why?" Gwen said, slipping off her bed and coming to sit at the foot
of Ginny's.
"I did something so terrible," Ginny whispered.
Gwen looked around at Raven. Raven stared back. Gwen covered one of
Ginny's hands with her own. "Gin, you can tell us," she said.
"I…I put a spell on Harry," Ginny said quietly.
"You…w-what?" Raven stammered.
"A spell. On Harry. By me." Ginny choked out.
There was a long pause. Each girl was thinking about what to say.
Finally, Gwen asked, "What kind of spell, need I even ask?"
"Love."
"Exactly how did you pull it off?" Raven asked carefully.
"It was simple," Ginny said. "An incantation. Touch the one you love,
say the words, and that night when they go to sleep, they dream of their own
true love. I ran into him in the hallway before bed. Accidentally-on-purpose."
"Didn't he notice?" Gwen wondered.
"No," Ginny sighed. Horrible as it was, it was better to get it off
her chest. "Boys are morons. He thought, I suppose, that I was apologizing for
running into him."
"Understandable," Gwen said, nodding. "But what if they have more than
one dream?"
"Oh, sorry," Ginny said, clarifying. "The true love will be wearing a
gold ring – and I asked him about the dream in the morning, and he told me he
dreamed about Hermione. And Ron." Two great tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Oh," Raven said quietly, "I'm sorry, Ginny."
"It's all right," Ginny said. "I guess I'm fine being friends. But it
would have been nice…" she gave a watery smile.
Gwen, however, was busy thinking. "Wait, Ginny," she said. "I have a
few questions. First of all – does it show the person's one true love for
forever, or their true love at that point in time?"
Ginny stopped. "I don't know," she said. "I don't know. I can find
out, though…" She ran to her trunk and pulled out an old, dusty volume from its
depths. The title read "Dreams and Visions – Inducing, Expelling, and
Interpreting." She flipped to chapter 8, section 5 (Dream Inducing – Love), and
traced her finger along the page until she came to number 4.
"Here it is," she called out. "The Lover's Ring Dream." She read out
the instructions:
Touch your love* and repeat the incantation:
Love, tonight, dream of me,
I hope that I your love might be,
No matter who, place on their hand
A tiny, golden, shining band.
"If the instructions are followed completely and correctly, the
subject should dream of their current love. A sparkling golden ring should be
placed on their ring finger. In rare cases, a person may see more than one true
love, such as the true love of a very close friend or family member. This
person will also have a ring, but it will either be a different color or have a
different shine.
"If the person casting the spell wishes to have the same dream as
their love, so to avoid arousing suspicion when questioning them about it, you
should concoct a potion containing the following and drink it one and three
fourths hours before…wombat nails, dirt from a freshly dug grave, dragon dung,
one hair from the true love's head…" Ginny faded off, "oh, I didn't do that, so
let's just skip down to the bottom." She traced her finger down a few
paragraphs and read:
"* - Wand is not needed for this spell."
Ginny slammed the book shut and her friends caught a glimpse of her radiant
face. "Oh, Gwen, you were right!" she cried. "It's only his current love!
There's still hope for me!" She laughed happily.
"You never know, Ginny," Raven said, "maybe his true love has changed
between the time you cast the spell and now." Raven thought about her
conversation with Harry, whom she knew wanted to get hooked up with Ginny. For
some reason, she chose not to tell – she left it up to Harry to spill his own
feelings. It wasn't her place, and Harry had told her in confidence. Ginny
nodded slightly to Raven's comment.
"Maybe," she agreed. In any case, Ginny looked much happier than she
had – well, all year. Her friends were amazed they hadn't noticed how quiet she
was all year. It was as if a new person was smiling out of the mask that was
Ginny's face.
"Well," Gwen said, "I think it was perfectly courageous of you to
bewitch him in the first place, Ginny."
"Yes, I know," Ginny grinned. "But I couldn't stand it anymore! Always
wondering…" Raven had picked up her book and was leafing through it, frowning.
"Gin, where did you GET this book? There's some spells in here that
are kind of, well…"
"Illegal?" Ginny smiled.
"Yes. That's the word I was looking for," Raven said flatly.
"Yes, well, it's been on my bookshelf at home for as long as I can
remember. Seems to me I remember mum giving it to me when I was about two –
saying that someday, when I'd met some boys other than the ones who live above
and below me, I might want to know what they were thinking. I don't reckon she
ever read the whole thing – she'd be scandalized at some of the things in
there, wouldn't ever let me lay a hand on it." Ginny smiled again. "You can
look through it if you want – thinking of trying something out on Seamus?"
Raven blushed, a rarity for her.
"For your information, I know Seamus likes me without having to poison
him - "
"I didn't poison him!" Ginny cried in outrage.
"Whatever," Raven said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "I think
Seamus likes me and I think Robby likes Gwen and I think Harry likes you because
he told me so." Forgetting about her earlier promise to keep quiet, Raven told
Ginny a hint of Harry's and hers earlier conversation. Ginny crashed back onto
her bed, hugging a pillow to her. "Oh, Rave, you really mean it?" she cried
estatically.
"Yep," Raven said, grinning back at her. "So now you'd better start
thinking up some charming, witty things to say so he won't find out what you're
really like before he changes his mind." Ginny threw her pillow at Raven. Gwen
laughed and said, "Let's go down to breakfast, guys. Harry might be there."
That was all it took for Ginny to race out of the dorm, Raven making cat-calls
and Gwen giggling hysterically. As they heard Ginny's loud thumping footfalls
fade away, they heard the sound of another pair of feet racing after her, their
owner calling in an all-too-familiar high-pitched voice: "Ginny! Ginny, gimme
my money! I want my Galleons right now, you can't get away from me again,
Ginny, I'll have you…"
TO BE CONTINUED
I don't think there's much more, a few more parts and we'll be done.
Dance is next, don't touch that dial! You'll regret it! Please review – and has
anyone else seen the Harry Potter trailers? I just got back from the movies and
I saw the second one and loved it. You can see them both at HarryPotter.com.
Tell me what you thought if you've seen them!
