A/N: well, that was quite a quick update, wasn't it? :D
Just letting you know that I'm posting TGSiHH to www.checkmated.com . There's a short new scene in chapter 11 there that wasn't there in the original version. I wonder whether anyone would recognise the new scene ;)
Chapter 18
Love hurts
Albus Dumbledore was reading a new part of his ancestor's – Helga Hufflepuff's son's – diary that dealt with Godwin Potter's Imaginer self-tutoring. He and Daniel had already covered several pages of the diary and the boy had advanced to a level that allowed him to imagine small objects turning into other small objects whenever he wanted to, but he was still unable to manage harder tasks intentionally. It seemed that he was only able to imagine huge and dangerous things when he was shocked or angry or both.
Daniel seemed to be a very diligent student if Imagination was concerned, but as Albus had heard, Dan was by far not so diligent when it came to subjects like History of Magic, Potions or Herbology. And Dumbledore totally understood him. As a child he had slept through several History of Magic classes – a wonder that he had managed to learn something about goblins at all.
After the one-week-long holiday break, Albus had decided to make Daniel train harder than before, knowing that fledging Imaginers could be dangerous, so the more trained Dan was, the better. For this evening, Albus had planned to cover the 'imagining small animals turning into objects and vice versa' topic. He had just started to make notes for the evening's training session when the door of his study banged open and a very upset Severus Snape burst in.
"Albus! Enough of this!" he shouted. "I demand that you fire the caretaker at once!"
"Severus…" the headmaster frowned, "please, have a seat, then tell me what happened."
"Thank you, but I'm in no mood for sitting!" the Potions Master slapped Dumbledore's table irritably. "Fire Bert Bradley!"
"But why?" Albus made a surprised expression.
"Because… because I can't live with the knowledge that he's around! I'm fed up!"
"Severus!" the headmaster said in a scolding way, "You are demanding that I sack our new caretaker who not only proved to be a very hardworking person, but also managed to gain the students' sympathy – something that Mr. Filch couldn't say about himself. I for one also have grown to like Mr. Bradley, thus I must ask you to give your reasons why I should fire him… and they have to be good reasons, Severus. So, why?"
"Because… he's way too young for a caretaker. Too young and too… modern-minded. I mean… he's become friends with the students and that is something I find ridiculous. The students do not fear him at all like they did in Filch's case, they treat him as a buddy and do not care if they dirty the corridors because they know Mr. Bradley will not punish them. Such leniency does not do good to the children's morals."
"I for one think it's nice that our new caretaker can treat children so wonderfully," the headmaster replied. "I always found Argus' hate for our pupils rather disturbing."
"Okay, then…" Snape seemed to be looking for another reason. "Mr. Bradley is way too small and fragile to do the tasks of a caretaker. He should be removed from the school, in his own interest."
"In his own interest?" Albus gave him a quizzical look. "My, my, Severus, I never thought you'd feel worried about the health of a mere Muggle caretaker. It is so not like you."
"You are right, Albus! He is a mere Muggle! That is the other reason for getting rid of him. Hogwarts is no place for Muggles! Not to mention that he's been twisting my arm to teach him Potions ever since he arrived here…"
"…and I heard that you have got Muggle Chemistry lessons of him in return," Albus reminded the other man. "He didn't ask for free tutoring, he paid it back to you. And as far as I know, he's become pretty good at Potions."
"Good yes, that is why he's become complacent. He's always been complacent. Back in September, he just came into my class and informed the students that I made a mistake. He humbled me in front of my pupils! How dare a caretaker do such a thing? How dare he question my expertise?!?"
"He did not question your expertise," Albus said. "He was right – wasn't he? You indeed made a mistake, didn't you?"
"Oh, great, so he told you all about it," Snape growled. "Not only complacent, but a sneak, too. Wonderful."
"It wasn't him who told me about this, but he was right. Wasn't he?" the headmaster repeated his question.
"Yeah, he was, but…"
"No buts. If he was right, then he also had the right to correct you, Severus."
"But… my reputation! What about my reputation as a professor? And what about my reputation as a wizard and a man? That caretaker persuaded me to wear the old Mrs. Longbottom's outfit, making a ridicule of myself! The newspapers described me as a transvestite! I'm fed up with Bert Bradley! I'm fed up that he can talk me into anything! I'm fed up with everything! I simply cannot bear him around anymore!"
Dumbledore leant back into his armchair, giving the other wizard a penetrating stare. "These are no reasons for sacking Mr. Bradley. I know him for fair, hardworking and not at all complacent. You haven't convinced me, Severus. Give me a good reason. A really good one. Why do you want me to fire him?"
Snape's face contorted into a mask of despise and disgust, but they rather seemed to be directed at himself, as though he had despised himself for some reason… Dumbledore had seen him angry and annoyed several times, but never like this. The Potions Master seemed to be in a struggle with himself, contemplating whether to say or not to say something…
"Because… I think… I'm in love… with him," he said finally, very quietly. Albus had never heard Severus whisper anything – Severus had always been confident enough to talk aloud, but this little line must have been something that he didn't feel confident enough to say aloud.
"Excuse me, Severus?" Dumbledore blinked. "What… what did you say?"
"You heard it well enough, Albus!" Snape snapped irritably. "Do not force me to repeat it, because I won't… I can't…"
"Because you're afraid," the headmaster nodded.
Snape's black eyes met his blue ones, and Albus was startled to see submission in the other man's eyes. Surrender. A man like Severus Snape, who had never before surrendered to anyone – not even Voldemort – now got grounded by the recognition that he was in love. With a man.
Sighing, Snape slipped down into the chair facing the headmaster's and propped his forehead into his palms, not daring to look into Albus' eyes. "I have slept with him," he whispered.
"Have you, Severus?" Dumbledore looked appalled.
"Yeah… at least I guess I must have," Snape looked up with burning cheeks. No one before had seen him so red, as though his usual pallor had never existed.
"You must have? Aren't you sure you did?"
"No… but very likely it had happened. Yesterday evening I got a bit… drunk, and invited Bradley to the Shrieking Shag… er, Shack…" he hid his face again, shaking his head in disbelief. "Sorry, Albus, my mind is no longer my own, it seems… I must have gone mad, I… damn it, I have fucked a man!"
"Now, now, Severus…" Dumbledore tried to soothe him with a benign smile. "You said you were drunk, so maybe it didn't even happen… you don't remember what happened, right?"
"Correct," Snape grunted. "But I'm almost sure it had happened, because… I had picked up a bottle from my study table before we left for the Shrieking Sh… the tunnel, and there was another identical bottle next to it, and I must have been so drunk that I took the wrong one… I wanted to take champagne, and I took the Inclinatio Animi potion! You know what that means, don't you?"
"Attraction, as far as I remember from my Latin classes… so, you both drank it?"
"Yes. You know that if only one person drinks it, then he falls for the first person he sees, but… but if two people drink it at the same time and see each other as the first persons, then… they go mad with desire, and… and that must have happened to us, but all I remember is that we drank it, then… I don't know… the fact is that if the Inclinatio Animi potion gets mixed with alcohol – and in my stomach it definitely did -, then it causes the drinker to forget things… thus I don't remember what happened there, but… but when I woke up in the four-poster bed in the Shack, I saw that I was stark naked, Albus! There's no way that nothing has happened there! My clothes were lying discarded on the floor, as though I had ripped them off, and… I have never felt so ashamed before," he met Dumbledore's eyes and was shocked to see that the headmaster was smiling in a furtive way. "What – is – so – funny – Albus?" he hissed. "I have just told you the most terrible secret of my life and you're smiling?!? Don't you understand, Albus? Up till now I have only loved one single person – Lily Evans! And now I must admit that I'm gay!"
"Oh, that's not that terrible at all, I for one had a short relationship with a goat…" Albus's eyes twinkled with mischief. "Being gay is not such a big business nowadays… we are living in modern times, Severus… Anyway… the fact that you slept with Mr. Bradley due to that potion does not mean that you are homosexual."
"I know… but I still must be, because… I have been feeling so strange towards Bradley ever since he came to Hogwarts…" Snape nervously ran his hand through his locks, "I immediately felt attracted to him… at first I thought it was just respect because he was good at Chemistry and loved Potions, then… slowly I realised that it was more… when he burst into the infirmary after the spider attack, I… I felt engulfed in something warm… I was happy that he had come to me and worried about me… then one day before Christmas I just… washed my hair… and I've done it twice since then!"
"Yes, I noticed it," Dumbledore nodded with mischievously twinkling eyes. "And I was quite surprised… as was everyone else at Hogwarts, I suppose."
"Whatever," Snape growled. "I did it and I couldn't explain to myself why I did it, but now I understand: I wanted Bert to like me…damn him. I can't live with the thought of him being here, having to meet him every day and having to look into his eyes… either he goes or I go."
"Don't be silly, Severus," Albus said. "Hogwarts cannot do without either you or the caretaker. We need both of you. If you don't want to meet him, then avoid him, that's so simple."
"Simple for you, you mean," the Potions Master scowled. "You have never been gay."
"That's true, Severus, but I'm sure that you'll manage to work this out. I have faith in you."
"The problem is that I don't have faith in myself anymore," Snape sighed. "I don't understand, Albus… I simply don't understand how I could have fallen for a male when I used to love Lily so much… am I bisexual?"
"Well, how could I know?" Dumbledore gave him an innocent smile, though his eyes were glinting in a way that they – if Snape had paid better attention he would have seen – were radiating 'I know, I know better than you do, Severus'.
"All right, then… you're not firing him. Then I'll have to keep myself as far from him as possible."
"Okay, keep yourself far from him… but why, Severus?" Albus raised an eyebrow.
"Why? You really have to ask why?" Snape snapped. "Because I can't, I don't want to accept what I'm feeling for him… I'm not going to let last night happen again! I'm disgusted by the thought that we have… I don't even know who played the male and who the… I don't even want to think of it! I'm going to avoid him and from now on I'm going to keep my eyes open."
"Do so, Severus. You have no idea how much you need to keep your eyes open."
"What do you mean by that?" the Potions teacher frowned.
"Nothing, Severus, nothing," Dumbledore smiled – a smile that was rather a grin again. Severus had the feeling that the headmaster either knew something that he didn't, or was downright amused by his misery, but the latter just wasn't characteristic of Albus Dumbledore. However, Dumbledore didn't seem willing to tell Severus anything right now.
* * * * *
"What are you looking at?"
"Huh?" Lily shuddered and looked away from the window she had been standing by on the Charms corridor, to see Norbert Devilsmoor-Malfoy behind her. "Oh, it's you."
"Yes, it's me, and I've been wondering what you were looking at."
"Just Harry," she pointed out the window – a small black dot was pacing up and down in the snow in a way that suggested that the 'dot' had no idea where to go or what to do – it was just pacing, aimless.
"What is he doing outside on a day like this? It's freezing!" Norbert said.
"I guess he just wanted to be alone a bit… he has gone through too much lately to get over it as quickly as we'd like to. He's crushed. Mum tried to talk to him, but he is inconsolable…" she sniffed, a tear coursing down her cheek. "It's so terrible that I can't help him."
Norbert reached out to wipe away the tear and gently caressed her cheek. "Don't cry, Lils. Your red hair is gorgeous, but red eyes aren't."
"Why are you so kind to me?" she asked, not really understanding why a Malfoy would want to be nice to a Potter.
"Why shouldn't I be? You're my best friend's sister," he shrugged. "So I'd like to be your friend as well."
"My friend?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Or something like that," he smiled.
"What do you mean by 'something like that'?" she blew her nose, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Well…" his mouth tucked into a grin, "you could be my friend… or my girlfriend… the two words are quite similar…"
"But their meanings aren't," Lily said. "How could you expect me to be your… girlfriend, when you're just eleven? I'm two years older than you are, and… and…"
"…and you can't find any more excuses, but the age-difference," he perceived and edged closer to her.
"But I do, I can!" she took a step backwards. "You're a Malfoy and I'm a Potter! Our families are enemies, and…"
"…and my best friend is still a Potter," he reminded her and moved closer again. She wanted to back away, but there was no room for her to move – she was already leaning to the window-frame. "Do not try to escape from me, Lily…" he said, his grey eyes staring deeply into her green ones.
"I'm… I'm not trying to escape…" she gulped, feeling petrified by his glance. This boy was so strange, so inexplicable to her… somehow she had a feeling that Norbert, at the age of eleven, was much more mature than she was… as if he had been carrying a huge amount of knowledge and experience that a first-year wasn't supposed to possess… he scared her, still made her shiver with excitement whenever he was near. *Think of Christopher Wood, think of him!* She told herself, while staring into this boy's eyes. Christopher didn't have such mesmerizing eyes, nor did he manage to send chills down her spine – but what was she thinking? This boy was practically a baby! Boys of his age never were as daring towards girls as he was – or was that only the famous Malfoy impertinence? Somehow she doubted it. She had met Draco Malfoy several times since her family had moved to Hogsmeade, and she had the impression that Norbert, though twenty years younger than his brother, was much more resolute and grown-up than the blonde wizard. Norbert, for example, would very possibly never have started to prune his neighbour's bush that jutted into his garden just to annoy the neighbour. Such things were simply beneath his dignity. This boy was a mystery to her – a mystery that she wasn't likely to solve any time soon. He kept startling her again and again – this time, too, for suddenly he stepped back and nodded.
"All right. I see that you are afraid. Don't worry, I'm not the type to beseech anyone to do something… if you don't want to, then you don't need to. I just wanted to be your friend."
He turned on his heels, looking downright hurt, as if the 'grown-up' person had suddenly turned into a sulky little boy. He looked so endearing that way that Lily began to feel pangs of remorse.
"Wait!" she called after him.
"Why?" he doubled back, pouting.
"I… I didn't want to hurt you," she wrung her hands nervously. "I… I'm sorry. I'd like to be your friend. Not girlfriend, but friend. Is that… okay for you?"
A small smiled appeared on his face. "'Course it is, Lily," he bent down and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks."
She blushed. "Uh, where's Dan?"
"In detention… you know, the Liu Chang business."
"Aha," she nodded knowingly and the two of them exchanged an impish grin.
* * * * *
Bert Bradley hadn't exited his room the whole day, fearing that he might meet someone he didn't want to. He neglected his duties as a caretaker and let the Hogwarts corridors remain dirty with the sludge the students had carried into the building on their boots. He did not seem to care for anything but his guilty conscience.
At first he didn't even hear the knock on the door – he only noticed it when it was repeated.
"Who's there?" he asked in a hoarse voice.
"Me, Neville!" came the answer.
"Come in," Bert sighed.
Professor Longbottom entered with a small smile that disappeared immediately when he caught a glimpse of the caretaker's expression.
"What happened?" Neville hurried up to him and sat down on the sofa next to him.
"Nothing," Bert shrugged.
"Don't lie to me," the Flying Professor said. "Tell me what happened."
"Sorry, but it's none of your business."
Neville rolled his eyes. "As long as I'm your brother-in-law, it is my business. I care for you, silly. Mary-Sue loves you very much and I love everyone she loves. So tell me, what's bothering you?"
Bert looked at Longbottom and opened his mouth to say something but no voice came out. He shook his head and looked away.
"Does it have something to do with that jerk Philippe?"
"No," Bert sighed. "I haven't heard anything about him since July…"
"Then what is your problem?" Neville asked, his voice pleading. "You scared me, really, I thought he had been seen lurking around. But if it's not him that's bothering you, then what?"
"Oh, Nev…" the caretaker sniffed, "My love life is such a mess… why do I always have to love people who aren't the ones for me?"
"Do you mean… that you're in love again?" Neville frowned.
"Unfortunately," Bert sighed.
"Who is it?"
"You'd better not know."
"I'd better know… or I can't help you."
"You couldn't help either way… but okay. It's Snape."
"Snape?" Longbottom yelled. "Are you out of your mind? You can't love someone like that git! That guy is unable of feeling anything but hatred and despise, he…"
"Neville!" Bert waved to shut him up. "It's not like that. You don't know him. All you know about him is that he used to bully you in classes… but I got to know him over the last few months, and he does have feelings… he is more sensitive than you could imagine…"
"He must be, because I can't imagine Snape being sensitive at all," Neville grunted.
"He is. Believe me, he is. He just doesn't show it because he thinks that he'd look weak if he did… He is a good man, but… he must hate me now!" he hid his face into his hands.
"Hate you?" Longbottom knitted his eyebrows. "Why would he hate you… I mean, why would he hate you more than he hates everyone else?"
"Because… because I slept with him," Bert whispered.
"WHAT???" all the blood rushed out of Neville's face. "You don't mean it!"
"Oh, yes, I do."
"But… then he knows that you… doesn't he?"
"I don't think so," Bert shook his head.
"Now wait a minute…" Neville cut in. "You mean you two had sex and he didn't notice something as obvious as that? Not even Snape can be this daft!"
"He's not daft!" the caretaker snapped. "I don't think he noticed, he was too drunk… and I think we were under the effect of some stupid potion as well, so he might not have been conscious of things that happened there… oh, Nev, he must think now that he has done it with… with…"
"I know," Longbottom nodded and a wide smirk appeared on his face. "But he deserves it. The shock, I mean… He deserves the pangs of remorse and the shame he must be feeling now."
"Neville!" Bert shot him a scolding glare. "Don't rejoice at other people's misery… not even if it's Snape! Don't forget that I'm also affected by this… more than you could imagine."
"Sorry," the Flying Professor sighed. "I just imagined his expression when he realised… he has been so nasty to me all along, I just couldn't help being happy that he was feeling miserable… sorry. Tell me… do you really… really love him?"
"I fear so, Nev," the caretaker hung his head. "And it hurts. A lot."
* * * * *
It was four p.m., and it was already dark, given that it was winter. Harry didn't know how long he had been out, walking on the snowy fields - he didn't notice the progress of time, he didn't notice that it had grown dark, he didn't even notice that he had frozen to the bones. He just kept treading the snow, his head full of thoughts that he wanted to banish from there: the image of a crying Ginny standing in a puddle of blood, the image of his house in flames and his owl lying motionless in his arms… sounds of sobs, screams and the crackling of fire… he felt he was a step from going mad. Why did all these things happen? Just to delight Trelawney that she had been right? He doubted that.
A crow swooped above his head, cawing, interrupting his train of thought. He looked up and was surprised to see how far he had walked from the castle. Suddenly he heard voices calling out to him – voices he hadn't heard ever since he had been at Durmstrang.
He looked to the left and saw eight reindeers standing behind a bush, grazing on a patch of grass that protruded from under the thick layer of snow.
"Hi," Harry greeted them. "Long time, no see."
"Very long," replied Rudolph. "The last time we saw you, you were looking just as devastated as now. Why are you concerned again, Harry Potter?"
"It's so hard to talk about… you know, the whole world seems to be collapsing around me, and I don't know why."
"There's a reason for everything," a female reindeer commented wisely.
"But… I just don't see what reason there might be for my son getting into Slytherin and becoming enemies with his former best friends, or my wife loosing our baby, or the goblins mistaking Malfoy's house for mine, or my pet dying in the fire…" Harry shook his head. "It all does not make sense. I start to believe that these things aren't… can't be mere coincidences. Either I'm cursed with an ill-luck curse or… I don't know."
"You might know it, in time," Rudolph said. "We hope everything is going to turn okay for you."
"Thanks," Harry said.
"Talking to your mates, eh?"
Harry shuddered and saw Aberforth Dumbledore standing behind him with the little golden baby unicorn, Angel. "Oh, hello, Aberforth. What are you doing out here in such a cold?"
"I could be asking you the same, kid," the old wizard grinned. "I've just taken Angel out for a walk, but truth be told I've got frozen… I don't feel my fingertips anymore."
"Come to think of it… neither do I," said Harry.
"Then come, hop into my sled, I'll take you back to the castle," Aberforth waved his wand and attached the sleigh to the reindeers' reins. Harry obliged, because the thought of the heating-charmed blankets in the sled was rather alluring. Aberforth jumped into the sleigh next to him and put Angel between the two of them.
The little unicorn immediately snuggled its muzzle to Harry and the young wizard started stroking her.
"She likes you," Dumbledore perceived. "And that's a rare thing because she doesn't like too many people."
"She's cute," Harry smiled, scratching the golden ears of the small animal. Angel lifted its head to look into his eyes and Harry saw familiar warmth in those amber eyes – a familiar warmth and kindness… Hedwig used to look at him like that. His heart clenched and he had to blink back a tear.
"You all right?" asked Aberforth, casting a sideways glance at him.
"Yeah."
"You don't look it, kid. See, I know how you feel now… you have been through a lot lately, but terrible things have happened to you several times before and you always managed to overcome them…"
"I know… but this is different," Harry sighed. "I mean… first there was Voldemort who wanted to kill me – his intentions were clear, easy to understand. Then there was Tatyana… she was a psycho, but she also had rather clear aims, but now… I don't know whether all these things are just a trick of ill-fate or… somehow deliberate?"
"Oh, come on, kid, how could they be deliberate?" Aberforth frowned. "Okay, your house was burnt deliberately, but the goblins made a mistake, they intended to burn down Malfoy's. It wasn't directed at you."
"I know, still… there are lots of things that I don't understand. I mean… my son is a Slytherin. Okay, the Hat might have been right, because Dan turned out to be a bit vindictive and thirsting to prove himself more than I thought before, so that's settled. But… why Ginny and the baby? They were both totally healthy, according to Pomfrey. What curse has been cast on my family, Aberforth?"
"Curse? Oh, come off it, Harry. There are no ill-fate curses… and I don't think that anyone in your family has broken a mirror or had a black cat walking across the street in front of them… these are stupid superstitions, and I know you to be wiser than to believe in such things."
"I wish I could be wiser," Harry sighed, massaging his forehead – he was having a serious headache. "I guess I've caught the flu. Silly me, strolling outside in minus ten degrees for hours… no wonder that I got sick."
"You don't seem to be sick, kid," the old wizard knitted his eyebrows. "You don't look pale or anything…" he reached out to touch Harry's forehead.
Harry recoiled. "Ouch!"
"You don't have a fever, either. Are you in pain?"
"A headache… a bad headache, nothing else," Harry muttered, now keeping one hand on his forehead all the time. He was grateful when the sled touched down in front of the castle a minute later. "Thanks for the ride, Aberforth."
"I suggest you go and see Poppy, kid," the old wizard said as Angel licked Harry's hand as a good-bye.
"I will," young Potter nodded and entered the castle, but changed his mind about visiting the infirmary because in the warmth of the building his pains ceased at once.
The next few weeks rushed by, uneventful. Ginny and the Potter kids were living in Mrs. Figg's pension while their house was being restored to its original state by architect wizards. Ginny had befriended Arabella and Mary-Sue, Neville's wife. The Longbottoms still hadn't bought an own house in the village, so all of them were living in the pension. Lea Potter made friends with Eve Longbottom and the triplets made friends with the old lady's twenty-five cats (that still made Eve allergic).
Honeydukes was running pretty well, though Cho's McRice was a bit of a competition for both Honeydukes and the Three Broomsticks. Whenever Ginny and Cho met on the street, they diverted their eyes – Ginny for knowing that Cho loved Harry, Cho for knowing that Harry loved Ginny. Certainly Ginny had never heard Cho saying that she loved Harry, but seeing them in the Three Broomsticks just before the fire broke out was enough for her to draw the conclusion.
Harry's mood was also getting better, but it was a slow process. Ginny, who had been grieving over the loss of their child, and Harry, who had been grieving over the loss of Hedwig, realised that consoling each other was the quickest way of healing. This consoling, however, was solely platonic with some kisses and caresses here and there, but they hadn't slept together since before Christmas. Still, Harry wasn't complaining – his grief was too deep to think that a good shag would put him right again. For the first time in his life, he experienced that one could heal others and be healed by others by solely looking into their eyes and sending a silent message 'I love you, hold out'.
It was the same on Valentine's Day. Usually this day had been The Day of Mindless Lovemaking for him and Ginny, but not this year. This year they just held each other, relishing the feeling of the other being so close. They had reached a new level of their relationship – a level on which they managed to understand each other without saying words. To Harry it felt like perfection. Ginny was not only his lover, not only a warm body that snuggled into his embrace in bed, not only the mother of his children – she had become more of a soul-mate.
He remembered what it had been when Ginny had died – he had felt empty and missed her terribly, but their love had been very young and inexperienced at that time. Back then, they had been two bodies that had occasionally melted into one being, but their minds had been separate. Now, he sometimes felt that they were sharing the same thoughts, as though they were one single entity. It was exhilarating and scary at once. They still had much to learn about the other, but learning led to understanding and understanding led to healing.
Valentine's Day in the year 2012 was a Tuesday, and on Tuesdays, Harry did not have any classes to teach, so he could hurry to his family in Hogsmeade. He also wanted to leave the school to be as far from the female students as possible and as soon as possible, because he did not wish to get even more cards that day. Up till nine o'clock in the morning, he had received 41. He hoped that by leaving the castle he'd be safe from the Valentines.
On his way to Mrs. Figg's pension, he visited their house – it was nearly back to its original state and in one or two weeks they'd be able to move back. Ginny had feared that Harry wouldn't want to move back into that house after what had happened to Hedwig there, but Harry couldn't wait to live there again. The children had loved that house and he had loved arguing with neighbour Malfoy. Speaking of Malfoy… Draco had been seen with Gabrielle a lot. And not only on the street, but even in Fleur's florist's shop and Draco's bank. They seemed to have become friends… or more?
"You won't guess whom I saw exiting Gabrielle's house this morning," Harry told his wife after handing her a huge bouquet of red roses.
"Who?" she smiled.
"Malfoy."
"Really?" she grinned. "Well, I'm not surprised.
"No?" he raised an eyebrow.
"No," she shook her head, placing the roses into a vase. "You don't seem to be a too keen observer, dear."
"What do you mean?"
"Draco's ring."
"What about it?"
"Gabrielle is wearing it."
"You don't mean that he… they got engaged?"
"Dunno," she shrugged. "But I'd be happy for them. Gabie is such a nice girl and Draco… well, he needs someone to love…"
"…after he was hopelessly in love with you for years," Harry finished the sentence.
"Yeah," Ginny nodded. "Draco might look and behave arrogant, but deep down he isn't that bad. Even he deserves to be happy… to be loved."
"How did you notice that it was Malfoy's ring on Gabrielle's hand? I wouldn't have noticed it, that's for sure."
"Because it wasn't you whose hand he had held and caressed in Durmstrang," she grinned. "He has held my hands quite often for me to memorise that snake-shaped ring, you know…"
"Hey, do you know that you're making me feel jealous?" he joked.
"Jealous? Because he held my hand and not yours?" she sent him an impish look.
"I took it as an insult!" Harry looked away, pretending to be hurt. "Anyway, Malfoy's really not my type… if he had a bit more sense for gardening, then maybe…"
"Oh, Harry, you dork!" she playfully boxed him in the chest. "Why would I ever think that you prefer guys, eh?"
"Well, you'd better not even suppose things like that," he grinned back, "but you know what?"
"What?"
"I think Snape does prefer guys."
"What?" her eyes widened.
"You know the new caretaker, that Bradley? Well, last time I was talking to Dan he mentioned stuff about Bradley and Snape…"
"What stuff? Now you really made me curious!"
"Well… he has seen them several times in autumn – they seemed to be inseparable and according to Dan they were… brace yourself… telling jokes to each other!"
"No!" she breathed.
"Yes. And that's still nothing, on 23rd December – the last day of the term – Snape washed his hair and Dan swore that it was to impress the caretaker."
"Oh, Harry… Dan is just a twelve-year old boy with a wild imagination," she replied. "Really, speaking of imagination, how is he progressing?"
"Quite well, according to Albus. But it is getting a bit hard to make up reasons for sending him into 'detention', you know. Sooner or later his friends would start to suspect something, and I already have the impression that he's overworking… his classes, the Imaginer training and even Quidditch training is back… at least his new Nimbus 4000 is working fine, he praises it hours on end."
"Then it was a sensible Christmas present, huh?" Ginny smiled in a sad way.
"Speaking of Quidditch," Harry carried on, "Albus has announced that there will be a special Quidditch match right after the May wizard tournament, as a part of the whole 'Hogwarts is a thousand years old Festivity-series'."
"What special Quidditch match?"
"Well, the students have requested it, in fact, that their parents and teachers played."
Ginny's eyes widened. "What a weird idea."
"Yeah, weird, but I have been asked to play Seeker and Captain for team A, since I'm both a teacher and father of two Hogwarts students. I have to try and organise a decent team of parents and teachers. I thought I'd ask Fred and George to come back and play, and maybe even Ron, I don't know. I'll try and get Oliver and Angelina, too. Pity that Katie and Alicia don't have children who attend Hogwarts, it would be so easy to make a team… Really, dear, wouldn't you like to play?"
"Me?" she blinked.
"Why not? You have been a fair Chaser before you got pregnant with Lily. I heard that Natalie McDonald replaced you, but I don't think she could have been as good as you were."
"Thanks," she grinned. "It is nice to be recognised by my hubby as a fair sportswoman. I'll contemplate it, okay? By the way, who is going to be on team B?"
"Hm, Neville will be Seeker, that's for sure. He wanted to referee the match, but I thought that it wouldn't be fair if I played against someone who has never played professional Quidditch, and finally he agreed. So, we are going to play against each other again... you remember the last time when I played against him?"
"Yeah. The match lasted for two weeks and I was tearing my hair out, not knowing what was keeping you so long. Lucky that at least Ron stayed to watch the match till the end and sent me an owl not to worry about you. Poor Hermione, she was also beside herself, the twins had just been born and Ron was barely seen at home because he was sitting at the stadium, watching Puddlemere and the Whimbourne Wasps killing each other. You know, sometimes I think that you men are totally out of your minds with your crazy Quidditch-mania!"
"I promise you to end the next match earlier than two weeks," Harry grinned. "Back to team B… I guess Marcus Flint is coming to play – you know, his daughter is a first-year Slytherin, but as far as I know the other members of the old Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams do not have kids at Hogwarts - yet. Many of their children are still too young to come to Hogwarts."
"Oh, yes, because not all of them started conceiving kids at the age of seventeen, did they?" she mocked.
"Yeah… there are people who started to conceive children at the age of sixteen, honey," he returned the favour.
"Just because you corrupted me, Harry Potter!" she pointed out.
"Oh, did I?" he grinned.
"Yes, you did," she melted into his embrace and kissed the tip of his nose. "But I have never regretted it."
"Neither have I," he kissed her back – this time on the lips. "I love you. Happy Valentine's Day."
* * * * *
Gilderoy Lockhart looked grouchy. He was wearing a dull and very unlockhartish grey robe to match his mood.
"Why so broken-down, Gilderoy?" Hermione asked, opening a Valentine she had received from Ron. At least her husband didn't forget about this day this year. But, in fact, Ron hadn't forgotten about Valentine's Day ever since their daughters had been born – their first-born had been named Valentine, after all.
"Why so broken-down?" the P.E. teacher grunted. "Harry Potter has received 41 cards while I have only received 40. When I taught Defence Against the Dark Arts here, I received 46."
"Oh, yes, Gilderoy," Hermione smiled, "but you have grown a bit older since then."
"Older?" Lockhart gasped and dashed up into his room to count his wrinkles.
* * * * *
"How should I put it?" Daniel turned to his best friends in the Slytherin common room. "Dear Liu, or My Dear Liu, or just Liu?"
"Write simply My Beloved Exotic Demon," Gilda snorted.
"Not a bad idea, but… how many x-es are in the word 'exotic'?" Dan mused, chewing the tip of his quill. "Damn, I cannot compose a decent love letter!"
"Then don't write one. Buy her something extremely expensive or terribly cute, like a rat with a pink ribbon around its neck," Gilda shrugged, "but please leave me alone, I need to study."
"For the Potions test? That isn't for three days! You'll have plenty of time for it," Dan shook his head. "Come on, Gilda, don't be like Aunt Hermione, it's Valentine's Day, let your hair down!"
"I cannot, because Snape won't, either, and if I don't study, then I'll get a bad mark."
"I think your problem is not that you'll fail the test, but that you haven't received a single Valentine yet," Norbert interjected.
"Why, have you?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Actually I have. The Malfoy-Animal-Magnetism is working on girls, you know."
"I just hope that the girl on whom it worked wasn't my sister Lily," Dan looked up from his letter.
"No," Norbert shook his head and stood up. "I've just realised that I have a present to give to someone. Gotta go."
Gilda shrugged and continued swotting the ingredients of the mind-sharpening potion while Daniel irritably crumpled his parchment and chucked it into the fireplace.
"This is the fourth one that you dropped into the flames in the last thirty minutes. You could have memorised at least ten pages by now if you had been studying instead of gushing about Chang's sexy rear," she said.
"I wasn't writing about her rear!" Dan snapped. "I was writing about her legs… those are very finely shaped, and…"
"Oh, Daniel!" Gilda tutted. "You know absolutely nothing about girls."
"Why do you think so?"
"Because no girl would be happy if you wrote an ode to her finely shaped legs, because girls know what guys associate to legs…"
"What?" Dan blinked.
"…that they want to get between those legs. Really, Dan, you've got to learn a lot."
"Okay, then teach me," he pleaded. "But quick, because I have to send this letter in an hour to get an answer before sunset!"
"Well…" Gilda put her book down. "First of all: tell the girl that she has beautiful eyes. Eyes like infinite pools that you can drown in… then praise her pretty hands."
"What about her lips?"
"That comes later – it can also be interpreted as a nasty association."
"Why? Because of kissing?"
"You know, kissing is not all that a woman can do with her mouth…" she said.
"What else?" Dan asked.
"I guess I'd better not tell you right now. You'll get to know in time."
"Oh, come on, Gilda, I need ideas for the letter!"
"No. Go, ask your dad. I'm sure he could tell you things."
"Dad is visiting mum. Help me Gilda, you're my only hope…"
She looked at him and his puppy-stare almost melted her heart. Almost. Had Daniel not been asking her to help him get another girl, she might have helped.
"Sorry. I have to study," with that she rose from her seat and headed down into her dorm, blinking back a tear. What would she have given if Dan had wanted to write her and not Liu Chang!
* * * * *
"Hi, Lily."
"Hullo, Norbert."
"Happy Valentine's Day."
"The same to you."
"I have a present for you."
"Really?" she looked surprised. Up till now she had been sourly eyeing Chris Wood giving Yvette Weasley a little bottle of perfume with red ribbon – and Yvette had certainly flung herself on Christopher's neck. They had been snogging for minutes now, as though they had been glued together.
"I tell you that guy is a jerk," Norbert said, seeing who Lily was looking at. "You deserve someone better. If he cannot notice what a wonderful girl you are, then he doesn't deserve you."
"Do you think so?" she looked away from the couple.
"Yeah. Hey, don't make such a sad expression… here, your present," he handed her a dark blue velvet box. She didn't even see Chris Wood's appalled expression when seeing that she had got a jewellery box from Malfoy.
"Wow…" she breathed as she opened it and saw a necklace with four little orbs on it. "This is… beautiful. I cannot accept something as expensive…"
"Don't bother with its price, it's a friend's gift to a friend," Norbert smiled. "I heard from Dan that you had been born on 20th May, 1998, and I made a bit of Astronomy research. I got to know that Mercury, Mars, Venus and Saturn were in one line at time of your birth, almost all of them standing on the ecliptic. My gift symbolises the planets' situation at your birth – the necklace itself is the ecliptic and the four orbs are the planets. See, that little whitish one is Mercury, the red one is Mars, the yellow is Venus and the bigger one with the rings is Saturn. It will bring you luck if you wear it."
"Norbert… I don't know… I don't know how to thank you," she whispered as Norbert put it around her neck (Christopher Wood was now gaping like a fish). "You barely know me and you are giving me such a precious gift…"
"Well, it's Valentine's Day, so I guess I know a way to thank me," the boy grinned.
Lily cast a sideways glance at Chris and saw that the boy had stopped snogging with Yvette and happened to be looking in her and Norbert's direction. Without hesitation, Lily grabbed young Malfoy's head and kissed him firmly. After she released him, she cast a surreptitious glance at Wood, and felt satisfied with seeing the boy's stupid stare, while Yvette looked very furious.
"Well, that was some kiss… even if you only gave it to me to make Wood jealous," smiled Norbert.
Lily pursed her lips, feeling embarrassed. It was one of Titania's advices to her to make Chris Wood jealous. "Sorry, Norbert. That was rude of me. You have given me a present and I used you to make another guy jealous. Forgive me, please."
"Apology accepted. What about making him even more jealous?" the boy grinned and pulled her to himself, giving her an even longer kiss.
* * * * *
"Hey, Dave, what's the matter?" asked Viviane, seeing a figure sitting on the floor on a deserted corridor, staring at the floor. A bouquet of withering (and seemingly intentionally crushed) flowers was lying next to him.
David Dursley lifted his head and the twins were appalled to see how sad his expression was.
"What happened?" Viviane knelt down next to him.
"Lily," the boy breathed.
"What's up with her?"
"I wanted to give her… a Valentine's Day bouquet, and I saw her… I saw her… snogging with Norbert Malfoy!"
"You don't mean it!" Viv gasped. "What would make a girl like Lily fall for a guy like that? I mean, come on, he's a Malfoy! And years younger than her!"
"Tell her, not me," Dave grunted.
"Dave? Uh… do you… do you like Lily… that way?" asked Val.
The boy shrugged. "It doesn't matter whether I like her or not, does it? She likes someone else… or someone elses… Malfoy and Wood. And perhaps I shouldn't… shouldn't even like her that way… you know… however distantly, we are related, and…"
"She'd still better like you than a filthy Slytherin!" snapped Viviane. "Honestly. Incest is not that bad – it remains in the family…" she added with a wink, "but a Potter being in a relationship with a Malfoy… that's unheard of! I'm rooting for you, Dave."
"Thanks," the boy gave them a small smile. "But I don't think I could stand a chance. If Lily decides against Malfoy, then she'll decide in favour of Christopher Wood. Well, c'est la vie. I guess I'd better start looking for someone else…By the way, Val, what does it feel like that today is named after you? Er, that you are named after today?"
The girl shrugged. "Strange a bit, but it was mum's idea to give me this name – you know she got to know about her pregnancy on this day twelve years ago."
"Aha. I have always wondered why you got this peculiar name," Dave smiled, grabbing the crumpled bouquet, standing up. He pointed his wand at the flowers that revived at once as though they had been showered by some kind of magical rain. "I'd give you the bouquet, but there's only one of it and there's two of you…" he began, then caught a glimpse of Circe Diggory, Lily's best friend, rounding the corner. "Do you mind…?"
"Not at all," the twins grinned and motioned him to step forward.
"Hi, Circe," the boy greeted the Gryffindor Chaser.
"Oh, hello, David. Happy Valentine's Day."
"The same to you. Er…" he didn't know how to finish the sentence, so he just pushed the bouquet into the girl's hands.
"Oh… for me?" her eyes widened and a huge smile spread on her face. David had to admit that she was quite pretty – it must have run in the family, given that Cedric had been very good-looking, too.
"I guess we'd better leave," Valentine whispered to her twin and they left the new 'couple' to themselves.
* * * * *
"I've been looking for you all day!" Neville caught up with Bert Bradley who was walking down the Charms corridor. "I wanted to talk to you for days… how are you doing?"
"Fine, thanks," Bert shrugged. "How's my sister? And my cute little niece?"
"Mary-Sue and Eve are fine," Neville said. "It's you I want to talk about now."
"There's nothing interesting to discuss about me, Nev," the caretaker replied.
"But I think there is. Look, I know that you have gone through some kind of a shock with Snape and everything, but…"
"Forget it, okay?" Bert snapped. "I want to forget it! I don't even want to think about it!"
"Hey…" Longbottom reached out to make Bert face him. "This is not like that. You said you loved him. What if he loves you back?"
"Hah, love me back? Don't be ridiculous!" Bradley spat. "How could he love me when he thinks that I'm… he's not gay, Nev! And even if he were, he does not love me. He's going to love Lily Evans to the end of his life! He has told me how much he loved her… He'll never love me. Ever since that night he's been avoiding me. Whenever we met on the corridor he looked away, without even greeting me… as if I weren't there at all!"
"Oh, you poor thing, you're really in love with that idiot," Longbottom shook his head. "If only we could make him aware of things…"
"But we cannot, Nev!" the caretaker said hastily. "I've agreed with Dumbledore that I'll keep it a secret as long as I'm here or he'll have to fire me… and you know that I have to stay here until Philippe is caught by the Police and brought back into prison. I'm not safe as long as he's at large!"
"I know," Neville sighed. "Damn him. You shouldn't have fallen for him."
"I was only eighteen then, Neville. A mere child. I had no idea that he'd become a criminal."
"I wish I could help you somehow…" the Professor said. "But I think maybe I can… I can cheer you up… with this!" he pulled a little package wrapped in lilac paper out of his robe pocket. "It's your birthday today, isn't it? Mary-Sue and I didn't forget about it."
A small smile appeared on Bert's face and he hugged his brother-in-law. "Thanks. I'm touched."
"I'm glad to see you smiling at last," Longbottom said as they parted, then his smile turned into a frown, seeing that Bert wasn't smiling anymore – on the contrary: Bert wore an expression of shock.
Neville turned to the left to see Professor Snape eyeing them with a dark glance.
"I have to go," the caretaker whispered and hurried away.
"Well, well, well, giving the caretaker Valentine's Day's presents?" the Potions master raised an eyebrow at Neville. "Perhaps I should tell your wife to keep an eye on you… apparently you have become interested in your own sex, Longbottom. Not that it surprises me a lot… you seemed to be like that as a student already."
The Flying Professor drew himself up and cast a belittling glance at his former teacher. "You know, Snape… if I didn't know you, I'd say you were jealous," with that he turned on his heels and left, leaving a dumbstruck Snape behind.
* * * * *
Daniel was inconsolable. He had received Liu's reply to his letter and after having opened it with trembling hands, hoping for the best, he got a cold shower.
Now he was staring into the flames dancing in the fireplace in the Slytherin common room, feeling as miserable as never before.
"Hey, what's the matter, mate?" Norbert sank into the armchair facing his.
Dan handed his friend a crumpled sheet of parchment and looked away to hide his embarrassed blush.
The parchment said:
Daniel,
Haven't I told you that I just couldn't imagine you and me going out? I think I have told you at least three times, but you still don't seem to be aware of it. What should I do to make you understand it? We can be friends, but nothing more, I'm sorry. Don't fume and write me back that 'it was you who wanted to kiss me at the ball, not the other way around', because it won't change anything. I was only curious what it was like to kiss someone and you came in handy, that's all. I don't want you to keep deceiving yourself that we might once get together, because I'm not interested in you that way.
I would perhaps have given you a chance if you had written me a 'normal love letter', but after what you wrote it became obvious to me that you were terribly immature and we could have nothing to do with each other. Reconcile yourself to it.
sincerely,
Liu
P.S. enclosed you will find the letter you sent me – I didn't feel like keeping it.
"Hm… what did you write her in that letter?" asked Norbert.
"Well… just praised her. Her beauty and grace and… I don't know what her problem was with it, Norb! I spent my whole afternoon writing her a piece of poetry, even asked for Gilda's help but she refused, saying that she had to study, so I just had to make up something on my own and Liu apparently didn't like it…"
"Give it to me, perhaps I can point out your mistakes."
"All right," Dan shrugged and pulled an even more crumpled sheet of paper out of his robe pocket. It said:
Ode to You
Liu, you're so sweet and pretty,
But you don't like me – that's pity.
Why can't you like me, oh my queen?
You're the cutest girl I have seen…
I've been given some clever tips:
Not to praise your legs or lips,
(those could give you weird ideas,
so I avoid those areas).
What is left on you I can praise?
Everything, say your heart-shaped face…
You are thin and still well-endowed,
It can't be told in a mere ode,
You're my star and you're my comet,
You're the only one I covet,
You're my destiny, my sweet fate,
What about, let's say, a date?
from Dan Potter
Norbert looked up from the letter and started to laugh. "Where on Earth did you hear not to praise a girl's legs and lips?"
"Well, Gilda said before she left… she said that if I wrote about Liu's legs she'd think that I wanted to… er, get between them…" Dan blushed. "And she also said that describing lips could give Liu the idea that I wanted her to… er, I don't know. She said that girls did other things with their lips than just kissing, but all I could think of was eating, and I couldn't include a rhyme about how cute Liu was when eating, right?"
"Oh, Daniel… you really have to learn a lot, my friend," young Malfoy grinned at him. "Haven't you read Bitch Weekly by any chance?"
"Er, no. What is that?"
"Whew, that will be difficult. All right, then… you once said that your parents owned a copy of Kama Sutra."
"Yeah, but it was in their bedroom and I suppose it got destroyed in the fire," Daniel shrugged.
"Pity, you could have learned a lot from there."
"No way! Once I opened it, but shut it immediately – you have no idea what kind of pictures were in there!"
"Of course I know what kind of pics are in there," Norbert replied. "You know what? We could sneak into the Restricted Section and look for something, I'm sure that we could find stuff like that, too, in there, not only books on dark arts."
"How could we go into the Restricted Section without getting noticed?" Daniel raised an eyebrow.
"With your Marauder's Map, and with this," his friend pulled something silvery out of his trunk.
"That's an invisibility cloak!" Dan gasped.
"Yeah, got it from father for Christmas. Good that I left it here at school, otherwise it would have been destroyed in the fire. I wanted to tell you about the cloak, but first I was so excited about spending the holidays at your parents' house that I forgot to mention it, later I didn't want to tell you because you were too sad about your mum's miscarriage…"
"This is brilliant!" young Potter said admiringly, ogling the watery-looking, silver material. "Dad told me about his escapades in his own cloak… you know what? We could actually sneak into Hogsmeade in this! Mum wouldn't notice us in Honeydukes!"
"Not a bad idea…" Norbert seemed contemplative. "But first the Restricted Section."
"Okay… but we'll have to watch out for screaming books, they're dangerous."
* * * * *
"Let's see…" whispered Norbert, holding a lamp to see the titles of the books in the Restricted Section. "'The Mim Chronicles', 'Biography of Morgana' written by her son Mordred… 'Dark Druid Demons and Devil's Deals'… uh, I can't find anything about sex, sorry."
Dan shrugged and kept perusing the titles of the books on the shelf running parallel to the one Norbert was looking at. "Why do I have the feeling that someone's watching us?" he breathed. "As though these books were … whispering to each other or something… creepy!"
Norbert lifted a thick volume off a shelf – it was called 'Dark Secrets of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade (you'd better not even read into it)'.
"What have you found?" asked Daniel, stifling a yawn. It must have been at least three in the morning.
"Dunno yet… I just liked the title and thought we could find something interesting in it…" young Malfoy opened the book (it didn't scream, to Dan's great relief) and placed it on a nearby table. "Hey, did you know that the second headmaster of Hogwarts had a perverse liking for iguanas?"
"Ew," Daniel grimaced.
"What about this? The first witch who ever owned a pub in Hogsmeade spilled sleeping draught into the drinks she served to her male guests, then she put the bodies of the sleeping wizards into sacks and took them into the Forbidden Forest to sacrifice them to some evil demon… she killed forty-seven wizards this way. I think we should keep our eyes open next time we go to Madame Rosmerta's," Norbert said with a smirk. "Hah! Look at this!"
"What?" Dan yawned, feeling totally stupid about wasting their time here, instead of sleeping in their warm, fluffy beds.
"A wishing well!" his friend pointed at a picture on the 13th page of the book.
"A what?"
"Honestly, Dan, don't you know what a wishing well is?" Norbert gave him a scolding stare. "It's a well that you look into and wish for something, and your wish comes true. The book says that there's a cave on the hillside next to Hogsmeade. From outside, the cave looks like a totally normal cave, and even if you enter it, you are not likely to notice that another cave opens from the first one, because it is separated from it – the entrance is made invisible by magic. See, there's a map showing where it is."
Young Potter leaned over the book. It showed a little path winding up the hillside from the end of Hogsmeade to a cave. *This must be the cave where Sirius hid when he was still wanted,* he thought. Sirius had told him and his siblings a lot about the years spent in Azkaban and the years of hiding before his innocence got proved. "Do you reckon we should check out that wishing well?"
"Definitely, mate!" Norbert nodded. "You could wish for Liu's love and you'll get it."
A huge smile spread on the other boy's face. "If you say so… I'm game."
"Okay, then… we'll go there on next Saturday."
"Why wait until then?" Dan knitted his eyebrows.
"If you have waited for Liu so long, why not wait for her for another four days?" Norbert grinned. "Anyway, we can only go there in broad daylight, because we might not find the cave at night… and if we don't want to wake suspicion by skipping classes, then we have to go on weekend. Next Saturday will be a Hogsmeade weekend, and so many students will be away from the school that no one will notice that we're missing."
"No one but Gilda," Dan replied.
"We'll feed her some story, don't worry," young Malfoy waved and put the book back on the shelf. "We'll continue looking for a book on sex later, I'm sleepy now. C'mon, bed's awaiting."
* * * * *
As always, Harry visited his family in Hogsmeade over the weekend – so did he on the 25th of February as well. Lily, given that she was already in third-year, was allowed to spend Saturday and Sunday with her parents and siblings at Mrs. Figg's. The Potter house was almost totally renovated, so they would be able to move back the next weekend.
Daniel and Norbert told Gilda that they needed to look up something in the library for their History of Magic assignment – the one that Gilda had long finished. Using the Map, they crept into the tunnel and made their way to the cellar of Honeydukes in ten minutes. They threw the invisibility cloak over themselves, pushed open the trapdoor and walked upstairs. The shop was full of Hogwarts students – Ginny had her hands full, trying to serve them all at once, so no wonder that she didn't notice the door between the cellar and the shop open.
The two boys were just about to exit the store when they bumped into something solid – Harry Potter.
"Who's there?" Harry, who had just entered the shop to help his wife on a busy weekend like this, asked.
Dan pressed his hands on his mouth and slid past his father, scurrying out of the shop with Norbert.
"Strange…" Harry scratched his head.
"What's strange, dear?" Ginny called to him while handing a fifth year Ravenclaw boy a whole crate of ice mice.
"I would have sworn that someone in an invisibility cloak ran into me," he replied, picking up an apron and joining her behind the counter. "Or was I imagining it?"
Ginny shrugged. "Pass me that bowl of Bertie Bott's, will you?"
* * * * *
"Whew, that was close!" Norbert wiped his forehead as they hurried as far away from Honeydukes as possible. "What was your dad doing in the shop? Isn't your mum running it alone?"
"Well, yes, she is, but I suppose dad thought she needed a hand when hundreds of students flooded into the shop… hey, isn't that your brother over there… talking so intimately with that blonde chick?"
"Yeah, that's him…" Norbert whispered as they passed by Draco and Gabrielle. "I don't believe it!"
"What?"
"Draco must have either engaged her or married her."
"What gives you that idea?"
"She was wearing his ring. The old family ring."
"Was she?" Dan asked nonchalantly, not being too interested in Draco Malfoy's girlfriends, fiancées or wives. "Is the cave up there somewhere?" he nudged his friend as they reached the end of the village and walked past Dervish & Bangs and the chapel.
"Yeah, we'll just have to find it," Norbert nodded and they started climbing the hillside.
After half an hour of sweating and panting they reached their destination. The cave itself wasn't too big, but it was definitely a good hiding place for someone the Magical Law Enforcement was after. There were several bones scattered on the floor – presumably the remainders of Buckbeak's meals. After having proved his innocence, Sirius had parted with the hippogriff that was happily living in Greece now.
The boys dropped the cloak, Norbert folded it, stuffed it into his bag and headed for the farthest end of the cave, where a hidden entrance to a second cave was supposed to be. He touched the cold rock, trying to feel every little cleft until he found something out-of-place. As though there had been a door that had melted into the rocks, making itself invisible.
"I think I've found it," he said and pushed a protruding stone as if it had been a mere handle – and to their surprise the rocky wall slid aside to reveal another cave.
"Wow," Dan whispered. This second cave was nothing like the first – it was darker, bigger and its walls were glittering as a very thin ray of light came through a fissure in the rock above. In the middle, just below the source of the light, was a round well built of big slabs of granite. "Beautiful…" he stepped to the well and looked into it. It must have been very deep because he couldn't see its bottom. "So… am I supposed to lean over it and tell it my wish?"
"Yeah," Norbert nodded.
"Don't you want to make your wish first?" asked Dan, stepping back from the rim.
"I don't really have a wish," his friend shrugged.
"But you said back in September that you wished for a happy family… you know, when we saw ourselves in the Mirror of Erised. You could wish for that happy family now."
"Er… well, why not?" young Malfoy stepped to the well, looked into it and said: "Make the Malfoys become a real, happy family," a strange whispering and yet echoing sound came from the well, as though it was answering something that could have meant 'request accepted, fulfilment in process'. Norbert withdrew to make room for Dan. "Your turn."
Dan nodded and stepped to the well, leaning over it. "How should I formulate it?" he asked his friend, propping himself on the rim, glaring into the depths.
"Dunno, it's your wish."
Dan heaved a sigh, leant a bit more forward and said: "I love Liu Chang. I want her to be around me as long as I live. Please, fulfil my wish!" the well emitted some sound that could have been a mere echo of his wish, but Dan wanted to make sure he heard it well, so he leant even more over the rim, waiting for a clear reply that didn't come.
"Dan, watch out…!" Norbert shouted as a slab gave way under Dan's hand, followed by another. Dan tried to grasp another brick to sustain his weight, but the one that he managed to catch was slippery with moss.
"AAAAARRRGGGGHHH!" he screamed as gravity took possession of his body and pulled him downwards, into the depths of the well.
"Danieeeeel!" shouted Norbert desperately, jumping to the rim and looking down into the abyss.
No reply came.
A/N: I have an Astronomy programme in which you can view the constellations and daily phenomenon by typing in the date. When I started to write this fic, I typed Lily's birth-date into the programme just for fun, and was surprised to see that it gave me this highly interesting constellation with four planets in one line, standing on the ecliptic. So I just thought I'd include it into the fic. That Astronomy programme rulez, I love it! :))
The Devil's Deal in the title of a Restricted Section book comes from the wonderful fanfic of webba. I hope she doesn't mind me borrowing her title.
The description of the second cave originates from one of my favourite books, The Count of Monte Cristo. Hopefully Alexander Dumas wouldn't mind me using his description… I just adore that book and I must have read the cave-part at least twenty times if not more! I can only recommend it to everyone, besides the HP books that's my favourite.
Prongs: glad you liked my Draco ;) Yeah, poooooor Snapie!
Nefertiri: well, what happened between Snape and Bradley did happen because of the potion, but as Snape confessed… there's more to their relationship.
Fairy Tale: who knows? But I don't think you'll be dancing at the end…
Kit Clouckicker: no, no slash warning needed at all. You have my word.
rebkos: yes, pooor Sev! Yep, it seems so that Norb and Lily will have some kind of a fling…
Alexander Phoenix: nope, Harry isn't insane, just paranoid.
FireBolt9000: I've read it.
JustChrys: yep, that teaser was very evil, wasn't it? ;) About Draco: I always thought that he had a human side, but most HP fanfic authors keep showing him terribly evil. I cannot understand them.
Tap Dancing Widow: don't worry, Ginny will survive this fic. Nope, Dan wouldn't do such a thing… would he?
Red Ridding Hood: I was contemplating whether to make Gabie become pregnant in this fic, but decided against it. Oh yeah, the Malfoys have never been normal ;)
Houou: excuse me? Sorry, I didn't understand your review. What does 'crash helmets everyone' mean? *Agi's ashamed*
Altec: Sirius spelled with a C? Since when? Well, I don't know about the English spelling, I used the Latin spelling, and in Latin it's spelled with an S, that's for sure. Why would Snape have a bottle of attraction potion next to a bottle of champagne? Well… he was drunk. Drunk people usually don't recognise what kind of bottles they put next to each other. I was rotfl when I read your assessment of elves, hilarious! Yes, I heard about the Russians being upset, and I've also seen a pic of Putin put next to Dobby. And well… one must admit that there was a little bit of resemblance. About Secrets: I started to read it because in the summary it said that Herm got pregnant with Ron's kid at Hogwarts, and it strongly reminded me of my own fic with Ginny getting pregnant. I was curious, that's why I started to read it. And I'm reading it for the same reason you do: not because I'm captivated (never been), but because I want to know what happens. Thanks for the correction. There are a total of 31 chapters in this story.
eclectus: you wrote: "ew, you killed Hedwig, ah…" - interesting assessment… LOL.
figgiesblazin: glad you liked my description of Harry's anger and sadness. Hope you liked it in this chapter as well :) Sorry, can't tell yet who's causing all this. Wait till chapter 27.
Inigma: you wrote: "well, aren't you evil?" My answer: "of course I am". No, Harry doesn't care more for Hedwig than for his daughter, but remember: his daughter was intact and Hedwig was dead, so of course his grief took over his joy of seeing his daughter alive.
PheonixFire: congrats and 100 points to your house. You're very clever :) Well, there wasn't much H/G fluff in here, but I think their scene was still cute – wasn't it? Nope, Voldie had no children.
sabby: I cannot really promise you anything… but I think you won't be too disappointed in the outcome of things ;)
weirdo_without_a_clue: nooooooo, Voldie in a shower cap has nothing to do with this fic, it won't even come up again. You wrote: "tell me, is everybody so far clueless?" Who did you refer to by 'everybody'? The characters in the story, or my other readers?
Black Ice: glad you liked the Oh Sev, Oh, Bertie part ;)
Katrina: I'm happy that you trust me with Snape and Bradley! Nope, none of the founders will reincarnate.
Autumn Dreams: glad you thought it was funny what happened to Snape. My mum's fave part of the whole story was the Snape/Albus talk at the beginning of this chapter. I hope you found that funny, too. Yes, everything happens to pooooor Harry… sniff, sniff.
Last Summer: nope, Voldie had no children. The mere mental image of him having sex wtih a woman is… yuck.
Lioness-07863: glad you like them :) About Harry apparating into the blazing building: I think it'd be way too dangerous to do so. Even experienced wizards can apparate to wrong places, and in case he apprated just one foot to the right or left to the place he intended to apprate, he might have got burnt. He might have apparated out of the building, but apparating with another person might be dangerous – at least that's what I think. In my first fic Gilderoy apparated to the Sahara with Harry and made a wrong jump. They might as well have splinched themselves, given Gilderoy's knack for screwing up everything. Perhaps Harry learnt from this case and decided not to apparate with another person again. Or maybe he just wasn't thinking at that state of mind, he was so scared and confused.
The Millenium One: no… they aren't gay.
Darkhorse: no, the baby elf's name will be something different. No, no litter, just one baby :) Yes, my relations are doing fine, even my grandpa is okay now, thanks for asking.
apple-pie: yes, I know that I'm evil, LOL. I read about troth (the Scottish wedding) in a book and thought I could use it in my fic. Teehee… your fave line was the last one? I can imagine that ;)
Any last requests: glad you liked my Ron/Herm fic :) Hehe… yeah, the Snape/Bradley thing does need some explanation, doesn't it? Don't worry, it'll be explained.
Romina: glad that you aren't accusing me.
No longer a Lone Wolf: soon there'll be a lot about Dan's powers. And this chapter had some Norb/Lily ;)
Indigo Ziona: glad you liked Draco and Gabie :)
Toby Haine: there, you got some Lily/Norb ;) Yep, something will happen between Draco and Gabie… just not yet. Yes, Dan/Gilda is obvious. When will you see Cho again? Hm… in chapter 23, I think. No, the Potters aren't moving back to Black Manor, since their house got renovated.
Stellarsiren: suspense killing you? Oh, sorry… but there's more to come, the story will get more and more suspenseful as it goes on.
Lady Schezar: oh yes, I DID mean the last bit of the last chapter. But trust me, it won't be that terrible… actually it'll be quite funny ;) Yay for Snape-torturing!
Katie Bell: if you draw a pic of Gabie and have a scanner, would you send it to me?
AmandaPanda: I'm glad I could distract you from homework… just don't do that too often, or it'll show in your grades ;)
seashell: you wrote: "I don't read stories for the relationship between characters at all". Well, I admit I've done that on several occasions, usually if I read in a summary: "Harry/Ginny romance". But in most cases I was disappointed, so now I rather go for the plot, not for the ship. Glad you like evilness, 'cause there'll be a lot of it!
TaMaraR: right there you are about Bert… he's not what he seems to be. The bad guy/girl is a surprise. I only watched the Little House series, not the Laura Ingalls Wilder movies. What happened in those? Did they tell us about the adult years of Laura?
Princess Ginny: yes, Malfoy and Gabie will definitely get closer :D
Makayla P.: glad you do :)
ruffled owl: what? Someone could write a fanfic of my fanfic universe? Hm… that's very flattering. I think it's only Imogen I know whose fanfics have numerous outtakes and asides written by other people. Once someone told me she wanted to write a songfic based on TGSaWCS but I think she never wrote it. I think I wouldn't mind if someone wrote asides to my fics – with my permission, of course :) I was very happy when a friend of mine (if he reads this – and he does read all my answers – then he knows that I'm talking about him) wrote a funny play in which he parodied Harry Potter, Lion King and other stuff, and also included my Green Flame Torch :D
2Coolio: sorry? I think you didn't finish your sentence, perhaps clicked submit a bit earlier than you wanted to?
Whit2005: sorry… can't tell. But soon you'll have someone else to accuse, trust me ;)
Bucky: nope, my Cho pic isn't on GT yet, but I sent it to Carissa yesterday, so it might be uploaded in a couple of days and then you'll be able to curse me for drawing her ;) You need sequels? Oh, sorry… but this fic will not have one. This is a trilogy, not a quattrology (or what is that called?) But you could still read the outtakes, one of which was uploaded a month ago… the next one comes at the beginning of April – at least I hope so.
Inken: Dinky was a free elf already – Harry, being Hermione's brother-in-law, couldn't have afforded to have a slave-elf if he wanted to keep her friendship ;) So, Harry has already given some clothes to Dinky, and after that she was a paid elf. This way he didn't give her clothes again when firing her. What? Women being inferior because of their period? I have never heard this before! Weird! I don't think it's a punishment of God. Well, of course it's not a pleasant thing, but it has its biological advantages: as long as women have it, they are protected from many serious illnesses that men aren't protected from (circulatory disorders, calcification, etc). It's not a blessing, but not a curse either, and those men who think it is, are totally out of their minds – and women laugh their heads off when such men get heart attacks at the age of 40, while women cannot, because their period protects them. *insert evil grin*
Muggle: oh, a slash-fan, are you? You were waiting for me to get those two in bed? LOL :)
Wood's secret lover: yep, she'll be rehired ;) No, I haven't seen Chicago, so cannot translate the song, sorry.
chrissi: is 'And there were none' an Agatha Christi novel? I haven't read that one. In fact I have only read one of her books (don't know its English title) and I've seen a film version of her 'Death on the Nile' (or something like that must have been the original title).
Waldomier: I'm happy to see you again, I've been missing you :)
Aimee: no, Draco had nothing to do with the fire :) Maia is really a pretty name.
zzxm: glad you thought so :)
starheart20: yep, that sneak preview was a bit cliffie-like, but in fact it won't be a cliffhanger, it will be at the middle of a chapter. Have you seen my latest arts on GTnet? It's an Albus and a new Founder pic (I asked Carissa to take off the first Founder one because I wasn't satisfied with it).
goldenstar555: I'm happy that this is one of your fave fics! :D
Lana Riddle: yeah, that excerpt was evil, wasn't it? ;)
Bamboo Anime: then I'm sorry that I haven't seen that TV show :(
Sky: glad you liked the Snape/Bert thing ;)
SiriDragon: yes, heart wrenching, wasn't it? *evil grin*
C-chan: weird dream, really. No, Peter cannot be, he's stuck in that pyramid :) I can't tell you whether it's a canon character or an invention of mine… you'll find out later. Or what do you say to this answer: both. *hahahaha, that was evil and I didn't tell you anything just confused you! Bad Agi, very bad Agi!* Voldie's mum died when he was born (remember Tom Riddle telling this in the CoS book or in GoF? Not sure which one). Yes, Harry being heir of Gryffindor will be important for the plot.
kryptKnight: really?
VegaKeep: yup, 'hard to get' is coming for Draco and Gabie ;)
Myr Halcyon: you are one of those two reviewers who have managed to solve Bert's riddle. 100 point to your house, you're clever :) Glad you liked my handling of Christianity.
tyleet: why doesn't Gabie let Draco touch her? Because she wants him to suffer just as she had suffered (see the end of the second Draco/Gabie scene in the previous chapter).
Cassandra Anthemyst: I agree, I don't like totally slashy stories, they are very irritating.
Mage: yes, it will be Gabrielle/Draco. Any objections? ;)
Hermione We@s!ey: you've got a funny name, I like it! And I'm glad you think it's gonna be a good fic :)
Punky Poet: are you sure? Don't be sure ;)
Rab: *grins* glad you liked the twist and don't hold me for a slash writer!
candycaneOgram: Ginny won't die (she already died once, she won't die again in this fic, only when she turns 150 years old ;) About a Potter kid dying… can't tell. No, it wasn't Dan who caused the fire. And no, he isn't a trained-enough Imaginer to restore the house to its original state. Was it nice in Florida?
jasper: well, perhaps the evil person has already appeared in one of my three fics *enigmatic smile*
DJRowley: Remus? Whew, what an idea! No, it isn't him. Yes, the Jean-Luc comes from Picard ;) Star Trek rulez! (though Star Wars rulez even more!:)
Wizzabee: I know that the Snape thingie was a bit sick, but it won't be that sick soon, I promise :) No, that's not what I meant about Tatyana, since Tatyana is dead. Wait it out, everything will be explained.
heavnely182angel: Harry won't be suicidal and Dan won't be that much of a hero. Well, he'll be heroic, but the one who saves the day will be someone else… it will be quite a surprise, I think :) I'm glad you have no objection against Bert/Snape ;)