Deconstructing
Harry by Chryslin
Chapter
7: A Conversation, a Cupboard, and
Chocolate
Harry sat
against the wall outside the door of the transfiguration classroom. The empty
corridor echoed and amplified the tapping of his wand against the floor. Harry
had been following Ginny around like the Secret Police for two weeks now.
Dumbledore had agreed that it was probably for the best and had advised his
professors of the unusual arrangement. Ginny was obviously in danger and the
Headmaster also knew that Harry would be no good to anyone if he spent every
waking minute worried about her safety. In vain had Harry attempted to convince
him that he needed to be present AT her classes. Dumbledore had simply twinkled
at him saying "I think, Harry, that our fine faculty will be at least
sufficient to protect Ginny, should the occasion require it. At least until you
can get there."
Harry
had grudgingly agreed. Ginny was relieved.
"Well,
at least I know that there are still places a SHADOW can't go," she'd grinned
up at her disgruntled boyfriend.
Ginny's
class was running late again. He closed his eyes and softly pounded his head
against the wall at the mere thought of being late for potions again. The last
time, Snape had sneered that "as usual, Potter is above mere mortals and had
better not fall behind in his work because Miss Weasley is not capable of
looking after herself." Harry has swallowed the rage that swelled inside him
with difficulty, knowing that it would be much worse if he said what he really
thought. The Slytherins in particular seemed to enjoy spreading word of Ginny's
"fright" around the school. She was now the subject of several jokes, as well
as the target of snide comments and derisive laughter, Harry DID notice
however, that Malfoy was strangely silent at those times. This residual effect
of Harry's protection didn't endear him to his beleaguered girlfriend, but she
didn't complain. Harry assumed it was either because she was too proud to act
like she noticed or because she thought it was futile to argue the point. It
was.
Hermione
had steadfastly refused to accompany Ginny to the bathroom, saying that she
personally would rather be kissed by a Dementor than have someone do that to
her. She brightly suggested that Harry
get Myrtle to do it, saying that he could probably convince her if he made
another appearance in the prefect's bath without his trousers. Ron at least,
took the danger as seriously as Harry did. He promised Ginny that he wouldn't
worry their parents about it if she promised to do everything he said. She had
to use the constrictum spell three times on him before he amended himself and
agreed that she didn't have to listen to him, just let him guard her when Harry
wasn't around. It was to his credit that he was so determined. Ginny tended to
take out her frustrations with the situation on him rather than Harry. At Ron's
protest, she cheerfully agreed saying that there were many more advantages to
being nice to her boyfriend than her brother. She'd then proceeded to run her
foot up Harry's leg under the dining table and reminded him of one of those
advantages.
The
classroom door opened and the fifth years spilled into the hallway.
"Hi
Harry!" Colin Creevey came up to him and leaned in confidingly. "Just wanted to
let you know that everything seemed OK in class – I sort of keep an eye on
Ginny when you're not around, y'know?"
"Uh,
thanks Colin," Harry mumbled uncomfortably hoping that Ginny didn't hear him as
she walked up.
"Don't
I, Gin?" Colin put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed. Harry's brow
furrowed.
"Of
course Colin," she smiled sweetly up at him. "Thanks very much."
"Just
let me know if there's anything else I can do to help OK, Harry?"
"Yeah,
sure Colin." He grinned mirthlessly as Colin gave a beaming thumbs up and bounded
off.
Ginny's
smile vanished and she shook her head, eyes rolling. This was the kind of thing
that got Harry into a lot of trouble these days. He braced himself. No storm.
NOW he was worried.
"Uh,
sorry Gin…"
"Oh,
he means well, " she sighed, falling into step with him.
"How
come you never say that about me?" Harry grumbled. He was only half kidding.
"Because
I'm hopelessly in love with Colin Creevey, didn't I tell you?" She waggled her
eyebrows at him and laughed at his grim face.
"Oh
Harry! What's wrong? Why are you so cranky today?" She grabbed his hand and
with one strong yank, pulled him into the empty Defense Against the Dark Arts
classroom. Anything I can do to help?" she giggled, pressing against him on
tiptoes and kissing his ear.
Harry
gasped slightly, then laughed. She never could let him stay in a bad mood for
long. Arms crept around his neck and her lips met his eagerly. He pulled away,
smiling wickedly down at her before reaching around and scooping her up. She
laughed out loud, throwing her gleaming hair back with abandon and wrapped her
legs around his waist. That alone was enough to send Harry over the edge.
"Gin…I
..we can't…stop it! "He groaned as she trailed kisses down his neck. She looked
around wildly, then pointed giggling at the supply cupboard at the back of the
room.
"There?"
Harry chuckled and shuffled over, still carrying her wrapped around him. Ginny
pressed her face against his shoulder to stifle a shriek. Finally losing his
balance, they both crashed to the floor amidst gales of half-smothered mirth.
Ginny staggered to her feet, giggling and tangled in her robes. Harry, doubled
over with laughter, reached for the doorknob.
Suddenly,
the room went cold and stiff as a corpse. A wall of dizziness assaulted Harry,
making him stagger back, the breath sucked from him. Ginny fell against the
wall; face drained of all color as she stared transfixed at the open door.
Before Harry could wheel around, he heard it – the sickening rattle of death.
He turned and saw a scab-covered hand appear. The air was clammy and
suffocating and drove him back. He threw himself against Ginny, pressing her
behind him as he fought the whirling in his head. He had to stay upright and
conscious! He HAD TO. Through a threatening darkness, he saw the Dementor
appear in the doorway, the huge black hood hiding the gruesome head. Harry
heard a soft gasp, then felt Ginny slide to the floor. He fell to his knees and
covered her crumpled figure with his own. He could hear the screams…the
pain…the agony –the voice crying – Wait! That voice! That voice wasn't that of
his mother, like he usually heard– it was Ginny. He was hearing that horrible
day last year when he'd been forced to witness her in the throes of the
cruciatus curse. The air was being forced from his lungs as the thing glided
silently toward him, making his vision blur. He pushed himself up, fighting
back the awful sound that threatened to drive him to despair. He grabbed his
wand.
"Expecto
Patronus!"
A
thin wisp of silver smoke trailed ineffectually out the end of it. It formed a
large blurry shape, then dissipated. The Dementor never hesitated. It was
almost upon them. What happened? Desperately fighting off the urge to panic, Harry shut his eyes and concentrated.
A happy thought! The happiest one he could think of… Ginny and the hearthrug.
Wrapped tightly in her embrace as he looked into her eyes and they merged into
one….
"Expecto
Patronus!"
The Dementor
stopped. Harry raised his head, staring. A sudden thought had hit him with the
impact of a curse.
Harry felt the
energy surge from him through his wand. The silver smoke was pouring
purposefully out now. Silver threads came together to form the magnificent
stag. It reared up causing the monster to fall back. Now it charged -- antlers
down, pushing the huge figure back more. Watching it carefully, Harry thought
there seemed to be something odd about the Dementor. It was – getting
smaller? Yes! It was! He jumped up,
shut his eyes again, and imagined it in a pink tutu.
"Riddikulus!"
Suddenly,
there was a loud POP and the Dementor disappeared all together into the
cupboard. The stag slammed the door shut with its back legs before turning and
bowing nobly to Harry. He nodded numbly
in return and watched it disappear. The silence reverberated.
Harry
collapsed on Ginny's prone form, panting.
"Gin..Gin!"
his voice shook as he grabbed her shoulders. She wasn't responding! "GIN!" He slapped her cheek, flinching, but
acting out of desperation.
She
started, eyes fluttering.
"Please! Please Gin, wake up…" Harry gathered her up
and smoothed her hair, pressing his lips against her forehead.
Her
eyes opened, looking blank for a moment before filling with alarm. With a weak
cry, she started up, clutching his robe.
"It's
OK! It's OK! It's gone, I swear!"
She
put a hand to her eyes and flinched.
"I…I
heard your voice…I heard you …in pain, screaming. I couldn't get to you…then
there was a green light and …it hurt horribly…" her eyes filled with tears.
"I
know…I know…" He cradled her against him. "I heard the same thing – I mean…. I
heard you… " his voice broke slightly.
He
held her while she cried, remembering how she had reacted almost as badly as he
the first time they'd met a Dementor. His stomach still felt numb from the
horror and despair it had created. They sat wrapped together on the floor of
the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom as the minutes ticked by, waiting
out the depression.
"Ginny."
he finally asked hesitantly. "Are you OK?"
She
nodded less than convincingly. "Of course…" her voice trailed away as she
looked around fearfully. "Harry… where did it go?"
"Gin..It
wasn't a Dementor."
"N-not
a Dementor?" She looked up at him with exhausted, wet eyes.
"I
should have thought of it sooner. I'm so sorry Gin! It finally occurred to me
after the Patronus started driving it back…" he shook his head, then noticed
the confusion in her face and hastily explained, "It was a boggart, love! A stupid, dumb ugly boggart out to scare
us to half to death." Damn near succeeding,too, he thought to himself. "I guess
we're both more frightened by Dementors than anything else."
It
was silent for a moment. He felt her take a deep breath and struggle upright.
Harry gasped.
"What
happened Gin?" He reached hesitantly and she flinched away, putting her hand up
to her head. It came away covered in blood.
"Oh.
I guess I hit the floor or something…Don't worry Harry! " she actually chuckled
weakly at his horrified face. "This seems pretty minor compared to the other
stuff we've seen here today."
"Still,
we've got to get out of here." Harry answered grimly. He stood up, grabbing on
to a desk. He felt drained, not only from the Dementor, but from conjuring the
Patronus as well. "We need to get to Madam Pomfrey so she can fix that AND to
get some chocolate for us both." With that, he sat back down on the floor
again. Hard.
"Oh,
wait – I have some chocolate frogs! "Ginny rummaged around in her robe and
pulled out two rather deformed ones. At
Harry's surprised look, she shrugged, "Trust me. There are times when a girl won't go a meter without some
chocolate on her." She held out one to him. He didn't take it. She cocked her
head questioningly and nudged him. "Hey…"
"How
do you do it?" he asked softly. He felt humbled by her strength and humor.
"Do
what?" she reacted with teasing defensiveness. She shoved the frog in her mouth
whole.
He
shook his head numbly. "How can you be so... I don't know – sane? How do you
just keep bouncing back from every…thing?"
"It's part of the package, of course." She answered
promptly with her mouth full.
"What?"
"You
know – part of loving you… I know, it's probably not what you want to hear at
the moment, but basically, I signed up for it." She shoved the chocolate frog
into his mouth and kissed him. Now they were both chocolate smeared. She
grinned, looking like his Ginny. The terror was gone from her eyes. Harry just
looked at her, slowing chewing his chocolate. Finally, he found room to answer.
"I
guess there's no point in mentioning that I'm no good for your health, then?"
She
smiled ruefully. "No more so than there is for me to complain that I can't
shake you from following me everywhere. Harry, given a choice between having my
life boring and safe without you or having it threatened daily WITH you, well –
it's not much of a contest, is it? And how many times do we have to have this
conversation anyhow?"
"Don't
make me answer that." Feeling his strength slowing returning, he pulled her
into his arms. "I love you more than anything in the world. Even more than my
Firebolt." She broke up at that like he'd hoped she would – he loved to hear
her laugh.
"And
here I thought that we were going to have a romantic moment….Come on – let's
go." She pulled herself up, a trifle feebly. She brushed away his hand as he
attempted to help, of course. They were both still a little shaky despite the
chocolate. "Oh, and Harry?"
"Yeah?"
He pulled her to him.
"
Next time we get in the mood to…uh you know…" her still-pale face flooded with
color.
"Uh
huh?" he grinned, flushing a bit himself.
"I
think we'd be more safe in the middle of the Great Hall than in a cupboard from
now on…" she giggled.
He
chuckled. "Are those our only choices?"
"Well…"
she laughed "Remember, holiday is coming up…There's always my bed…."
Harry
stumbled slightly.
"Is
that an invitation?"
"No."
she grinned at him with her loving brown eyes. "It's a promise."