Chapter 18: Insane

Disclaimer:- Everything belongs to J.K.R.

Harry hurried to the Great Hall the next morning with Ron and Hermione, trying not to seem too obvious – his curiosity about Ginny's behavior the previous night had reached higher levels and after telling Ron and Hermione about everything that had happened, they too, expressed their bewilderment.

The strange behavior of the Charmzirius was also very disturbing. Moreover, when Harry had got up in the morning and checked his trunk, the Charmzirius was okay, just as warm as it always was. Things were behaving very strange and Harry had a very bad feeling that something, somewhere was terribly wrong.

Ginny was sitting in her usual place at the Gryffindor table. Cautiously, Harry slipped into his own usual seat, opposite her and glanced at her. She was reading the Daily Prophet, oblivious to everything around her. Harry felt nervous, not knowing how to start a conversation.

'Anything new?' he asked, his throat working very had to produce sound. Ginny looked up and Harry thought he saw a sudden twinkle in her eyes – the cold stare of the previous night was no where to be found. She tossed him the newspaper.

'Nothing, same news – Fudge inaugurates this…Quidditch this, Warlocks that…'

she said, smiling at him, her cheeks tinged pink slightly. Harry's worries and tensions evaporated and he smiled back, relieved that whatever had been wrong, had blown over. He almost decided to ask her why she had been behaving strangely when he thought better of it and decided he'd let things remain just the way they were.

Tearing his gaze away from her, Harry glanced at the Daily Prophet. Ron peered at it over his shoulder.

'Ireland beat Bulgaria at the Minor League, history repeats its self…' he read the headlines and gave a small cheer. 'Krummie lost again?'

Hermione sniffed disdainfully. 'Oh honestly, Ron! Isn't it enough already?'

Harry ignored Ron and Hermione's bickering as a headline caught his eye.

Dumbledore, Fudge to meet – Purpose Undisclosed

26 January, London:

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Cornelius Fudge, current Minister of Magic are to meet in London later today for reasons undisclosed. The Daily Prophet was not informed of this private meeting and thus, it signifies the secrecy of the matter.

No minister except Fudge was informed of this meeting and they themselves have stated that they had no idea of any such meeting taking place between two of the most significant members of the magical community. A minority of the ministers believes that the running of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by Albus Dumbledore is once again under question as had been exactly three years ago.

The Minister of Magic himself has evaded the press and his secretary refuses to make any comments. The meeting is to be held in two consecutive days, beginning today, during which Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration teacher will temporarily govern Hogwarts.

Harry looked up and saw, indeed, that Dumbledore was not present at the teachers' table in the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall currently occupied his seat. Harry frowned. He had wanted to meet Dumbledore and tell him all that he had been going through for the past few days and try to get some reasonable explanation for that. But now, he would have to wait for two days.

~*~*~*~

Harry scribbled on his parchment, wanting to complete his homework somehow. It was very late and he had yet to complete six inches of his Potions essay. The only people in the Commonroom was himself, two first years working in a corner and a seventh year, reading a book by the fire.

His homework was not the only thing that worried him – his scar was throbbing yet again and it seemed to wipe out any thoughts in head. He had had two Quidditch practices that day – one before sunrise and the other before sunset and he was exhausted. The Quidditch match against Hufflepuff was in two days and it was weighing heavily on his mind.

Harry gave an exhausted sigh as he scribbled the last word of his essay and let his head fall forward onto the cool table. Every muscle in his body was aching and his scar throbbed alongside, giving him a severe headache.

'Harry?'

Harry's headed bolted up and he re-adjusted his glasses on his nose. He managed a weak smile through his state.

'Hello, Ginny…how come you're still up?'

Ginny sat down on an empty seat beside him on the table.

'Couldn't sleep…Potions?'

'Yeah, I just completed it…insanely long…' Harry said with a scowl. Ginny smiled, her eyes gleaming and Harry felt his own self going slightly red. He took off his glasses, closed his eyes and slowly rubbed them. He opened them to find Ginny gazing at him, concern clearly etched all across her face. She didn't have to ask. Harry opened his mouth to speak but Ginny took his hands in hers, squeezing slightly. They were as warm as the Charmzirius always was and it seemed the Charmzirius was in fact a part of herself.

'Are you okay?' she asked gently.

'Nothing, it's just Quidditch practice…and homework…things like that…' Harry hurried to explain, not wanting anyone to find out his scar had been and was troubling him. Ginny's expression did not change much – her eyes searched his face and he felt warm and comfortable under her gaze.

Slowly, she lifted one of her hands. Harry followed it with his eyes and winced slightly when her finger tentatively came into contact with his scar. She saw him wince and pulled her hand back quickly. Harry looked at her, eyes wide.

'You're not okay…it's your scar, isn't it?' It wasn't a question; it was a statement.

'I'm okay,' Harry said, in a low voice, tearing his gaze away from hers. He felt Ginny's hands let go of his, leaving a void there…an emptiness. He looked up at her. Their eyes locked for the tiniest fragment of a second and the next moment, Ginny's arms were around him, hugging him. Her head rested on her shoulder.

'Why does it always have to be you?' he heard her whisper. Harry felt the pain in his scar miraculously fade away in an instant. He closed eyes and as he relaxed in her embrace, he felt something warm on his shoulder. He turned to Ginny and saw crystal clear tears sliding down her face. He turned abruptly, causing her to look up.

 Harry stared at her, surprised and amazed beyond anything and his hand reached out of its own accord to touch her cheek and wipe away her tears. Ginny closed her eyes at his touch, forgetting how to breathe properly.

Harry lost all sane thoughts and working entirely on the orders of his deepest wishes, he placed a gentle hand under chin, tilting her face upwards. Ginny opened her eyes slowly and Harry leaned towards her, forgetting where he was or who was around him. All that mattered was the Ginny was there and she cared for him so much. She had somehow made his pain go away instantly, he knew and he couldn't be grateful enough for that.

He could smell the scent of her scarlet hair…the scent of lilies as he almost touched her lips when –

'Potter!'

Harry jumped back and tried to think and see clearly through his haze while his heart pounded furiously. He turned in the direction of the voice. A seventh year he knew only by name was standing near an armchair. He looked horrified and quite pale. Harry got up from his seat, not understanding what was happening. The seventh year held up…Harry's Firebolt. To Harry's horror, its tail, made of twigs was smoking.

'What the…' Harry exclaimed and hurried to take his broom. 'What happened?!'

The seventh year looked quite shocked himself.

'I don't know…it must have slipped and fallen too near the fire. When I saw it, its tail had caught some sparks and it was smoking.'

Harry examined his, until then, perfect broomstick, his heart dropping. Several twigs were charred or slightly burnt.

'Can't you do something about it?' the seventh year asked. Harry frowned.

'I don't know…but I didn't even leave it beside the fire, I kept it near the bookshelf!'

The seventh year shrugged. Harry turned his attention back to his broom and he didn't feel at all happy.

'Oh no…' Ginny came up, looking at the Firebolt, shocked. 'How…?'

Harry had no answer. He felt terrible…his Firebolt wasn't perfect anymore. Ginny ran a finger over it's polished handle.

'You can use the broom service kit on it…'

Harry nodded. 'Thanks for rescuing it,' he said to the seventh year. He seemed to be a bit startled, as if he had been thinking something but he quickly said 'Okay' and left for his dormitories.

Ginny's eyes were narrowed. 'Danielle Shaw…'

Harry raised an eyebrow. 'What?'

Ginny shook her head. 'Nothing, he's always seemed a bit strange to me. Isn't a very close friend of Fred and George's too…'

'Oh but he seemed ok,' said Harry, thoughtfully. He looked back at Ginny and got the feeling she had been avoiding his eyes. Was it because of what had been about to happen between…

'I guess I'll be going to bed, now, good luck with the Firebolt,' she mumbled, still not looking at him.

'Uh…yeah, thanks,' Harry said, feeling like a complete prat. It had seemed so easy then and so difficult now.

'Good night,' she said in a low voice and turned to go, looking up at him just once. Harry thought he saw a fire flare in her eyes but the eye contact was just enough to make him forget everything else. He grabbed her arm and she turned abruptly.

'I…' he stuttered, pulling her closer. Ginny's eyes were wide and she was looking up at him, quite surprised.

Trying to dismiss any negative thoughts that were straying across his mind, he leaned closer, determined and wanting desperately to finish what had been started…

And the world suddenly went black. Harry staggered back, letting go of Ginny's arm and holding one hand to his stinging cheek. He couldn't believe it…she had slapped him? Why?

Ginny was seething with fury; he could see it in her eyes.

'I…' Harry stuttered.

Ginny was no trembling with suppressed rage and her eyes seemed to be burning. Harry felt a strange ache ripple through himself.

'How dare you!' she stammered and then, without a word, whirled around and stormed up the staircase to her dormitory, leaving Harry, stunned and nonplussed for the second time in three days.

Author's Note:-

Okay, that was chapter eighteen. Things going fast well…they'll be moving even faster. Please keep a lookout for significant subtext…there's a lot of information hidden in these lines. The mystery will unfold soon, slowly…and I promise this time, Quidditch will be a BIG chapter.

Plus, I've got exams next week so I won't be able to update any time soon, or for 3-4 weeks (terrible) but after that, I get my summer vacations, which means updates every other day, really.

Thanks a billion, trillion, zillion for reviewing!!! Reviews mean everything to me!

See you later,

Pottergirl        ameerak86@hotmail.com