A/N: It's been a rather extended hiatus for me, but I was having trouble with this chapter. I'd like to thank Paula for being the slave driver that she is, and for all the wonderful comments I've gotten on this story and my others. That's pretty much all I have to say right now. I hope this chapter amuses everyone out there.
Chapter Six
Special Ops
The situation had become much more dire after the Slytherins' last prank—or, at least, it had to Ginny. After the scene caused by the constantly chattering Gryffindors, she had pulled Larissa—who had secretly found the situation somewhat amusing and upsetting at the same time—aside and the two had arranged to meet in one of the empty classrooms to discuss their next move.
Ginny was just wondering what could possibly be keeping her friend and partner-in-crime when Larissa burst into the room. Her face was flushed, she was panting with exertion and tiny wisps of her mousy brown hair floated wildly around her face. But what Ginny noticed most were Larissa's eyes—which were lit with triumph—and her wide, smug smile. Ginny gave her friend a quizzical look, to which Larissa spoke, in between trying to catch her breath. Ginny! I'm sorry I'm late, she gasped, but I just heard the most interesting news.
Ginny eyed her friend incredulously, wondering what could possibly have gotten the normally cool and level Larissa so excited. What is it? she asked carefully.
Larissa walked fully into the room, closing the door behind her, and jumped up onto one of the desks, her face still split into the smug smile she'd run into the room with. she began, clearly itching to tell Ginny everything, but also realizing the value of suspense. Do you remember that first Slytherin prank when you and Potter ballroom danced on the table and then—
I remember! Ginny interrupted quickly, flushing in spite of herself.
Larissa's grin turned positively mischievous. I thought so. Anyway, guess what?
Not sure she was in the mood for guessing games—particularly after being reminded of one of the most humiliating events of her short life—Ginny merely shot her friend a Look, which convinced Larissa to continue. Leaning closer to Ginny, Larissa lowered her voice conspiratorily. Well, the word is that Harry Potter fancies you.
Whatever Ginny had expected Larissa to say, it sure wasn't that. She blinked uncomprehendingly.
Larissa nodded, her eyes alight with excitement. It's true. Apparently, he was thinking about that kiss you two shared—and of course he said it out loud, being under the influence of that potion.
Ginny was having a hard time processing this information. It just seemed—to use the first expression that came to mind—bloody unlikely. Ginny had long ago come to the conclusion that the good, great, famous Harry Potter could never fancy her. It had gone some way to allowing her to move on with life and to get over her silly crush on him. And, make no mistake, it was just a silly crush. Nothing more at all. Really.
Larissa was watching her expectantly, in a sort of half-smug, half-excited fashion, and Ginny—despite herself—had to know how her friend had acquired this information. Ginny just couldn't imagine that Larissa had found out from Harry himself. How do you know?
she began with relish, I was just talking to Colin—you know how he is, Harry Potter this, Harry Potter that'—and he heard all about it from Parvati, who apparently told anyone in the common room who'd listen that she'd heard it directly from Neville, who was actually there! Larissa finished with a flourish, obviously proud of herself at being the bearer of good news.
But to Ginny, it wasn't good news. She could literally feel the hopes that she had unwillingly built up at first hearing Larissa's pronouncement deflate when hearing the explanation of just how this information had been passed from person to person. There was no telling what exactly Neville thought he'd heard, and Ginny was almost positive that Parvati—the gossip queen of Gryffindor—had no doubt embellished what she'd heard from Neville, and she was sure that Larissa had probably summarized Colin's version. It was like a bad game of fire chat—a perfectly sensible statement being misheard and twisted by each person in the line until, when it reached the end, it was nonsensical and totally unrelated to the original statement.
Ginny looked at Larissa, who was obviously waiting for some kind of response. So she gave it to her. She started chuckling. You can't honestly tell me that you believe that, she said. Larissa just looked at her, so she elaborated. I mean, Neville isn't always the most reliable person in the world—he can hardly remember where he put his Rememberall half the time—and you should know by now that Parvati makes half the stuff that comes out of her mouth up anyway. Nevermind that the only reason Colin was paying attention at all was because Harry's name was mentioned. He probably missed anything that didn't contain Harry's name in the sentence. Besides that, I'm sure Ron was sitting near Harry at the time, and if Harry had said anything of the sort, there would be a tell tale bruise somewhere on his person, which there isn't. It's all a bunch of rubbish, and I'd rather focus on something that isn't fiction, thank you very much.
Larissa was a bit stunned by her friend's tirade, but rather unsurprised by the sentiments expressed. She'd had the feeling, even as she literally sprinted to the meeting room, that Ginny wouldn't believe her. It was something that Larissa didn't fully understand. Though she was not at all gullible, she knew that if the shoe had been on the other foot, and Ginny had been the one to rush in the room with news, Larissa would have been inclined to believe her friend. Obviously, Ginny was scared of getting her hopes dashed. It was up to her to take matters into her own hands and get down to the bottom of this rumour. That was going to mean getting close to the source itself—or, rather, himself—and she had a brainstorm: what better way then by helping him plan the next prank?
***
Ginny had already moved on to talking about how to stop the war. Larissa was only half listening and occasionally adding in her thoughts. She was more concerned with coming up with a plan to take to Harry, and how to get him to open up to her. They were hardly friends. The discussion about their options to put a stop to the war was going nowhere fast, something that Larissa was rather grateful for. It made coming up with ideas somewhat easier, but she was still stumped. She already knew how she was going to get information from Potter—she was going to barter for it. She would provide him with the next prank and she would force him to answer her question—or questions—honestly. Her problem was the actual prank. It had to be something good if she had any hope of getting any information from him. And, to her eternal relief, her best friend unknowingly provided her with the answer.
They had been wrapping the conversation up, no closer to a solution, when Larissa turned the conversation back to Harry Potter.
Humour me for a second and clear something up for me: why are you so sure that Harry couldn't possibly fancy you? Larissa was pretty sure she knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it from Ginny herself.
Ginny sighed the sigh of the long suffering. How could she possibly explain that Harry being interested in her that way was about as likely as suddenly sprouting a second head—without magic, mind—or Hermione falling madly in love with someone like Ron. In other words, utterly impossible and against all the laws of nature.
Look, it's . . . she sighed again, and attempted to organize her thoughts. She started over. It would be like the world turning on its head. It's just not . . . the way it's supposed to be, I guess. Ginny looked over at Larissa, desperately hoping that the latter understood what she was trying to say. By the look on Larissa's face, she rather guessed that she had missed the mark. Larissa opened her mouth to say something, but Ginny just wanted to finish the conversation and go to bed. So she spoke quickly. she yawned, admittedly one that was a bit exaggerated, let's get back to Gryffindor. I'm rather knackered and would like to knock off at a decent hour tonight.
Fine, fine, Larissa replied, and followed Ginny towards Gryffindor. But, she thought: Yep, definitely afraid. I'll have to do something about that. But what, exactly?
And then she thought: . . . the world turning on its head'? Hmmm . . . .
***
Harry was sure that the note hadn't been there a moment ago. He was quite certain on this point. And yet . . . it was undeniably there, poking out of his Transfiguration book. He blinked at it. Yep. Still there. He glanced surreptitiously around him. As far as he could tell, he was the only one in the library. He mentally shrugged and grabbed for the slip of parchment. He opened it, and immediately became suspicious at just how mysterious the contents were:
Potter—
Thought you could use a little help with your war. Meet me at the Astronomy Tower tonight at 1.30. Bring no one. Tell no one.
It was obvious what he would do. He wouldn't go. Well, he wouldn't go alone. Of course he would tell Ron and Hermione about it, and then both of them could hide under the Invisibility Cloak. Harry eyed the note again. Then again, Hermione might try to talk him and Ron out of it. After all, it did look very suspicious. He wouldn't blame her really, but he felt that this could pay off big if it were legitimate. Ron would agree. So they could just fill her in after they met with this mysterious person. Of course, it wasn't very fair to tell Ron and not Hermione. After all, they were both his best friends. So he would just tell them both about it . . . after he met with this person. It was a lead and this person could have come up with a brilliant prank—which is more than he could say about his, Ron's and Hermione's best efforts. Still, there was no point in being stupid about the whole thing. So, just in case, he would take his wand. Just to be on the safe side. His mind made up, he went back to his homework.
***
After a rather uneventful evening, Harry retired to his bed and quietly got out his Invisibility Cloak and drew the curtains around his bed to wait for 1.15, when he figured he should leave to get to the Astronomy Tower at the appointed time. He had to admit to feeling very apprehensive at going into a possibly dangerous situation without telling anyone, but he had a feeling that things would work out ok, and he saw no reason to not trust his instincts.
As he mused upon certain topics—and completely avoided thinking about others—he listened to the sounds of the rest of his dorm mates getting ready for bed and then, eventually, falling asleep. At last, just after 1.00, he heard Ron begin his trademark snore—the one that made the rest of his dorm mates wish they were strong enough to put a decent silencing charm on him—and Harry realized the time had come. He quickly threw on his Invisibility Cloak and made his way out of his room and down the steps to the common room, which was thankfully empty at this time of night. Without pause, he reached the portrait and swung it open, allowing him to head for the Astronomy Tower.
He stealthily made his way through corridors, up winding staircases, and to the tower without incident. He quietly pushed open the wooden door and glanced around. Standing near the turrets, barely illuminated by the starlight, was a figure. He moved out further and closed the door behind him. The sound of the door shutting was loud enough to alert the figure to his presence, so he removed his Invisibility Cloak and moved closer. He stopped a few feet away from the other person just as they turned around.
"Larissa?!"
She nodded tersely at him. "Potter."
Her reaction just angered him. Why couldn't she have just pulled him aside in the common room or something? Why did she drag him out of the castle at this hour? In other words, why all the secrecy?
"What is it?" He had to admit, he was being short with her. They had never gotten along very well, so that added with his displeasure at the way she had handled their meeting, was enough to make him have very little patience.
"I've thought up a brilliant prank, and I know you're looking for a good one."
There was something about the way she said it that immediately put Harry on guard. He could tell she wanted something in return. "What's the catch?"
Her look was half incredulous and half assumed innocence. "What makes you think there's a catch?"
He shot her a Look. "I can tell. So, let's have it."
She sighed exasperatedly. "Fine. I tell you my idea and, in exchange, you answer one question truthfully."
Harry regarded her warily. "Is that all?"
"That's all. And I promise you, it will be worth your while."
"What sort of question?"
"One that only you know the answer to. And," she added, seeing him opening his mouth to say something, "I'm not going to tell you anything else about it. You either see this through, or you tell me to get lost."
He contemplated her offer. How bad could it be? He didn't even want to go there. Still . . . he really had nothing to lose. "Alright," he finally said, though a bit grudgingly. "Let's get this over with. But I want to hear this idea of yours first."
She grinned at him, and he wondered if maybe he should have told her to get lost. It was too late now. "Fair enough," she answered, and proceeded to tell him her idea.
***
He had to admit that she'd come up with a pretty decent and--more importantly--a workable idea. Their main problem would be logistics. The timing would have to be just right in order to pull it off. They discussed their options until--at last--they had formulated a plan that was ready to be implimented that night. All that was left, Harry realized, was the question Larissa was going to make him answer. He didn't really know why he dreaded it. He'd faced Voldemort, the Dursleys, and Snape multiple times and had come away unscathed. What did he have to fear from a simple question?
He cleared his throat. Maybe she would forget all about it. "Are you ready then?"
"Almost," she replied. "There's just the small matter of the question."
Harry really wanted to groan, but he merely sighed and looked at her, waiting for her to continue.
She looked back at him, and then decided on the approach she had originally intended to use. The blunt approach. "Now," she began, "whatever you say, I promise I won't tell anyone, just so you know."
Harry nodded, though inside he was rather worried about what she was going to ask.
"Do you fancy Ginny?"
Harry nearly choked. Of all the questions he had figured she might ask, that definitely wasn't very high on the list. "What?" He wanted to make sure he'd heard her correctly.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Do you fancy Ginny?" she asked again, speaking slowly as though to a child.
He glared at her, and tried to stall for time. It was a sensitive issue that he hadn't even wanted to think about, let alone tell her best friend all about it. "What kind of a question is that?"
"A yes or no question. So answer it already."
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "And you won't tell anyone about it--not her brother, or Hermione, or her."
"I already told you I wouldn't."
"Alright." He started fidgeting as he tried to find what he wanted to say. "I'm not really sure," he said at length. He eyed her and she watched him back, obviously expecting more out of him. "Ever since that prank that the Slytherins pulled, she's been on my mind a lot more." He really didn't want to say anymore, but it didn't look like Larissa was satisfyied yet. He started pacing. "I keep thinking about her, and I don't know what that means." He stopped and looked at Larissa. "Do you know what that means?"
She seemed taken aback that he would ask her this, but she recovered quickly. "No," she answered quietly, though a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "I would guess, though, that it means that you might like her in more than a friendly way."
He was clearly uncomfortable with the thought, but he nodded--more to himself than what she had said. "I just don't know. I really just don't know."
She smiled a friendly smile at him. "I'm sure you will eventually. Now let's go get those Slytherins."
The two of them headed down towards the dungeons.
***
The next morning seemed different somehow though, if asked, Ginny would have a hard time pointing out exactly what was different about it. Maybe it was the fact that Larissa seemed to be incredibly secretive this morning. Or maybe it was the fact that she kept looking over at Harry and smirking. Ginny frowned. Now that she got a better look at Harry, he seemed to have purple smudges under his surprisingly dull green eyes. And, to make matters worse, he seemed to be smirking back at Larissa every once in awhile. She glanced back at her friend as they walked to breakfast. There was definitely something going on and, if there was one thing Ginny Weasley hated, it was being left out of the loop.
They made it into breakfast at some obscenely early hour. Larissa had insisted that they get up early and try to beat everyone to breakfast though, when Ginny asked what on earth for, Larissa would just smile secretively and wouldn't answer. It was getting really annoying.
Ginny sat between Ron and Larissa. Across from Ron, Hermione kept glancing between Larissa and Harry, as though she too was trying to figure out what was going on. Ginny caught Hermione's eyes and shrugged, to which Hermione responded with a shrug of her own. Ginny tried to put out the odd behavior of her best friend and her crush, and began to eat her breakfast, while the conversation drifted towards the potions incident the other day.
Another odd thing: Harry and Larissa seemed to be awfully quiet when the conversation turned to the Cogitus potion incident. Ginny was just pondering why that was when Draco Malfoy, along with the rest of the Slytherins, entered the Great Hall. Ever since the war began, the Gryffindors--indeed, the entire school--paid special attention to when the Slytherins entered the Great Hall. On this occasion, though, it would have been difficult to not notice their entrance. For as soon as they crossed into the room, they stopped dead, looks of utter fright on their faces. The Gryffindors watched in amused fascination as some of the younger Slytherins dropped to the ground and spread eagled on it, almost as if they were clinging to the floor for dear life. In fact, that's exactly what it looked like. Their interest was piqued when nearly all of the Slytherins started looking up at the ceiling in shock and fright.
The Gryffindors weren't the only ones watching in barely contained amusement. The Hufflepuffs were also very intrigued by the behavior of the Slytherins, particularly when Draco Malfoy--obviously trying to get control of the situation--told the rest of the Slytherins not to look down.
Ginny and the rest of the Gryffindors watched with growing amusement when Draco started edging his way towards the doors to the Great Hall.
"Don't look down!" he reprimanded the others as he made his way towards the doors.
"But we're on the ceiling!" Pansy wailed, setting off rioutous laughter from the entire Great Hall.
The rest of the Slytherins appeared to be in an advanced state of panic. Some looked as though they were holding onto the floor for dear life, while others were careful not to move a muscle. Still others were trying to follow Malfoy's lead and were inching towards the doors. It was really rather comical, to see the almost exaggerated fright of the Slytherins, particularly Crabbe, who was near tears and muttering something that sounded like, "Mummy."
Draco had finally reached his objective--the doors to the Great Hall--and suddenly he seemed much more confident about his footing. From just outside the doors, he glared at Harry, who looked rather like the proverbial cat who ate the mouse. And, just the add the Slytherin's ire, he gave a smug little wave that set all the Gryffindors at the table into another fit of hysterics.
If looks could kill, the great, good, wonderful Harry Potter would have died a staggering assortment of gruesome deaths. Instead of saying anything, however, Draco encouraged the rest of the Slytherins to make their way back to the doors. One by one, the Slytherins managed to overcome their fears and make it back to the doors, but not before many tears, especially from the girls, and even a few accidents from some of the younger students.
Once the last Slytherin had crossed the threshold and the illusion had
disappeared, the Gryffindors were cheering Harry on for putting such a good
prank over the Slytherins and the Slytherins headed back to their common
room, but not before Draco gave Harry another hard stare. The only Gryffindor
to notice was Ginny Weasley and she could tell that though there had been
war before, it would be nothing like what was to come.