Chapter Twenty: Choices

The next morning, Harry awoke refreshed and full of energy, which was a shock. So far this year he had been drained of all enthusiasm before the Quidditch matches. Sitting up, he felt good but also had a sense of wariness, something had definitely disturbed him the night before but he couldn't remember what. Shaking off the sensation, he changed quickly and went down to the common room, and, sure enough, found Ron asleep in a chair.

A gentle shake brought him awake and he found Harry waving a bit of toast he'd brought up from the kitchens. Beside Harry stood Dobby the house elf. 'Harry Potter is telling me that you is needing your breakfast, Mr. Wheezy.'

'It's just Ron,' he groaned, shaking stiffness from his limbs. 'I've told you that before Dobby, and how did Harry manage to tell you that anyway?'

'I is always knowing what Harry Potter wants,' Dobby replied, staring at Ron as if this was true of everyone. 'He is telling me in his eyes,' Dobby continued as Harry slumped into another chair, still grinning, 'and you is telling me that.' for a second he stared deeply at Ron, 'that your toast is not burnt enough?'

'Well.yeah,' Ron said, slightly awkwardly as he didn't want to offend Dobby's cooking, but with a wave of his fingers the house elf sent a burst of heat into the toast. The edges singed in Ron's hand without burning it and the toast blackened as the wave of energy spread through it.

'Harry Potter is also good with a quill,' Dobby added after Ron's toast had finished cooking, then with a nod to the both of them he disappeared in familiar flash of light.

'I still don't know whether or not to be scared by him,' Ron said, his voice still scratchy from sleeping for so long. 'When do we have to be down at the pitch?' He looked up to see Harry holding up two fingers, a wry grin on his face. 'Two hours!' Ron exclaimed, 'Tell me this happened to you - otherwise I'm going to feel like a complete idiot.'

Harry just nodded in reply, biting into his own slice of toast he'd smuggled up from the kitchen, staring into the fire as it twisted and spun.

His Liefgema appeared in a burst of light, its colours raging in pain and agony, before calming, then slowly fading into the darkness.

'Harry!' Ron was standing over him, his toast dropped on the floor, Harry pulled his hand down from his head, having subconsciously grabbed his scar. 'What happened?' Shaking his head in bewilderment, Harry grabbed a piece of parchment, just as Ginny ran down the stairs, holding his Liefgema in her hand.

'What's wrong?' she asked, seeing Harry's pain as he scrabbled for a quill. 'His scar hurts,' Ron said, 'but how did you know?'

'This,' Ginny replied, 'it did a funny swirly thing and woke me up.'

'Why would it.oh.' Ron stopped, suddenly realising that he could be in trouble.

'I'm not going to kill you,' Ginny said, 'but this year make sure I get a brilliant birthday present.' She stopped him from replying as Harry frantically scribbled on the piece of parchment. Saw my Liefgema - the fire looked like it.

'I am safe to say that means nothing to anyone?' Ron asked, getting nods from both Harry and Ginny. 'It was probably just because you're tired, or something - you saw them both?' he continued, trying to dispel the fear in Ginny's eyes. 'Why did that gem thing go swirly anyway?' he asked, trying to start a conversation in the midst of the unsettling silence.

'Because Harry's went.swirly,' Ginny replied, frowning awkwardly, 'I thought you lot would have figured this out by now. The gem plays off your emotions. This one was Harry's, so when he gets worried - or swirly or whatever - it shows in this.' While Ron was examining Harry's gem as Ginny held it in front of him, Harry pulled out hers and looked at the colours within the gem. They too were dancing like flames, but in a blue shade.

Scribbling on another scrap of parchment, he handed it to her, You okay? She nodded in reply, then passed the note onto Ron who also nodded back to Harry. 'I need more food though, reckon breakfast will be on the tables yet?' Harry just grinned in response at Ron's look, and nodded.

'What about Hermione?' Ginny asked, seeing Ron's face flush slightly.

'Well, I can't go and get her.could you?' he asked weakly.

'Honestly,' Ginny said with mock severity, 'brothers are more trouble then they're worth.' But she went back up the stairs anyway. A few minutes later she returned with Hermione, who had already woken up anyway because she had also guessed Ron's nerves would wake him early.

'Morning,' she said pleasantly but also sounding tired, 'where's the food?' she asked immediately, delighting at the sour face Ron pulled. 'Of course it's nice to see you two as well.' Harry grinned, and led the way with Ginny following as Hermione dragged the still sour-faced Ron out of his chair.

Looking out of a window as they followed the winding passages down the stairs, Harry saw black clouds gathering overhead and nudged Ginny, pointing to them. 'It'll be heavy,' she said. 'Make sure Hermione fixes your glasses for it.' The mention of heavy rain stirred something in Harry and he suddenly felt a pain in his scar again, and grabbed hold of a suit of armour for support.

Stumbling over mud and grass he turned the person over to reveal a blurred face, pale and lifeless, blood streaming everywhere as the rain fell.

'Bloody hell, that's twice now,' Ron commented, then saw Harry was awake, or at least focused once more. Letting Ginny pull his hand away, he felt her fingers run over his forehead.

'I don't think he's ill or anything,' she said, stepping back so Ron could give him a hand up. Harry waved Ron's hand off after he stood, just shaking his head and gesturing to his mouth where he pretended to chew something.

'He's right,' Hermione said. 'Once we all get something to eat it'll help us wake up.' But as she walked past Ginny, following Harry and Ron she muttered out of the side of her mouth, 'Watch him.' Ginny nodded silently in response, walking a bit faster so she was level with Harry, but he didn't fall or stumble the rest of the way to the Great Hall.

Sure enough, the house elves had already put the breakfasts out. Sitting down, Harry and Ron began to attack bacon with a vengeance while the girls took a more civilised approach. Ginny watched Harry carefully, he seemed okay - even more energised then she'd seen him all term. There couldn't be anything wrong with him? But even as she thought that, Ginny felt a chill in her stomach, and the memory of overhearing Snape and Kilmorie crept back to her.

Harry was as puzzled by everyone else by the sudden visions, but his confusion only increased by the fact that otherwise he felt fine. By now even his scar had stopped aching. Eating his bacon hungrily, he managed not to look up, aware that Ginny wanted to watch him unobserved, also aware that Hermione had probably put her up to it.

Making certain that he kept eating, Harry felt the sudden chill that emanated from Ginny's Liefgema as it brushed against him. Flinching, he looked up to see she had focused elsewhere but wore a worried look. Harry was sure that Ginny was thinking about the meeting between Kilmorie and Snape they had witnessed, nothing else could have brought the same reaction in her gem. Potter and Weasley, was what Snape had said. No wonder that Ginny must be feeling the same fear, but for her brothers, her family.

Reaching out tenderly, he caught her hand on the table and enclosed it with his own, making her jump, but she smiled afterwards. Giving her a squeeze of reassurance, Harry then pointed to the butter with a grin, hiding the moment of security between the two of them from Ron and Hermione. Smiling back at him she slid the dish over, then resumed eating her toast, Harry was right, there was probably nothing to worry about.

A loud screeching interrupted everyone's thoughts as a white ball screamed down the table towards them. By the time Harry had drawn his wand, Hermione was already lifting the ball off course with a levitation spell, but it wasn't strong enough to catch the dark ball that came running along behind it. Harry was about to curse the ball when Ginny reached a hand over and lowered his wand, pulling her hand back she let the ball fly past.

Mrs. Norris slipped in the butter dish and continued skidding along the table before bouncing off a plate and falling onto the floor. 'Ha, bloody ha,' a sour voice muttered, and Harry followed Ginny's gaze to see Jenks floating above the table, his paws treading air. 'Down? Please?' he asked Hermione irately, his feline features somehow twisting into an even more discontented shape. 'Every bloody time,' he muttered as Hermione lowered him from mid-air. 'I can't get a decent rest.'

'Why does she keep going after you like that?' Ron asked as Jenks descended to the table, landing in a space amid the plates.

'Animal magnetism,' Jenks replied, his voice wry. 'I suppose it could have been because I told Filch that he looked like a scruffy tramp, but I've never known him to hold a grudge.' Around him, he was suddenly aware of several silenced laughs and that the four were looking at the ceiling, floor, and butter covered Mrs. Norris.

'Fine, fine, I know what you think,' he said, exasperated, and was proven right when Ron and Hermione burst out laughing at the same time. 'Students,' he hissed theatrically, then stalked off before the buttery Mrs. Norris could rearrange her legs to chase after him. As he padded out the door he heard Ginny dissolve into laughter as well, and his tail flicked in amusement, glad that he'd improved their moods before the match.

As he left, Angelina poked her head around the door and shot a glare at Harry and Ron, who both froze and tried to look innocent, but failed as the bacon they were eating fell out of their mouths. Leaving their places, they walked quickly out of the hall, followed by Angelina, and then a few minutes later by Hermione and Ginny, both of whom were bright red from laughing.

* * *

As they crossed the lawn to the Quidditch pitch, the first spots of rain began to fall. Running the rest of the way, they made it inside the shelter of the team room before it increased to a torrent, sheets of water falling from the sky. Leaning inside the entrance, Harry caught sight of Ginny's face, glistening where the rain had fallen down her face.

Ginny's face, pale and lifeless, blood streaming everywhere as the rain fell.

The image flashed before him quickly, but then Ginny's face came into focus again, she was still laughing with Hermione, the moisture only making her skin glow. Noticing Harry's glance, she smiled at him then quickly pinched his glasses off his nose, wiping the raindrops off of them. Tapping Hermione on the shoulder she gave them to her as Angelina led Harry and Ron into the room where they were going over the plan.

A few minutes after they had changed, Hermione and Ginny came into the room and joined Harry and Ron where they sat. Hermione handed Harry his glasses, then turned to where Ron sat wringing his hands nervously. Sitting down beside him, Hermione put her hand onto his, holding it calmly and smiling into his face as he looked up. 'You're going to be okay.'

'I know,' he replied, 'but that doesn't mean my stomach knows,' he added, rubbing his other hand over his robes.

'All that bacon,' Ginny said in a voice resembling her mother's. 'Silly boy.' Harry poked her with a grin on his face, gesturing to his own stomach. 'Poor thin boy like you needs feeding up,' she said, making his grin widen.

'Time to go,' Angelina said, her own voice wobbling slightly, this match would decide whether or not she had successfully filled Wood's shoes. Leading the team out, she didn't notice the four of them hanging back as everyone else piled into the corridor.

'Good luck,' Ginny said to Ron and Harry, then hugged her brother before leaving by the entrance to the stands, leaving Hermione with them. Hugging Harry, then Ron, she turned to leave but paused at the door. Shooting a nervous grin to Harry, he nodded a goodbye to her, then followed the rest of the team down the corridor, carefully not looking back.

Watching Harry's retreating back, Ron turned back in time to stare into Hermione's eyes, and before he knew what was happening they were kissing. Tensing at first, Ron felt himself relax as Hermione's hand came around his back into a hug that he found himself returning. As suddenly as it had begun, it was over and they both drew back, already Ron felt the colour in his cheeks. 'I've wanted to do that since you chose me,' Hermione whispered softly, closing her eyes and resting her forehead against his.

'I.I've wanted to do that since.forever,' Ron replied, surprised at his own honesty as he hugged her again.

'Go win,' she said, looking at him with bright eyes, 'make me and Gryffindor proud.' With that she kissed him quickly on the cheek, then she followed Ginny out of the door, leaving Ron alone in the corridor with his thoughts. They were interrupted by the sudden roar of the crowd as the Lee's voice rang out in the stadium.

With a few seconds to spare, Ron arrived and took his place beside Harry, glad he didn't have to look back at the curious stares from Fred and George. Sneaking a look at Harry, Ron saw his friend hold up four fingers, then flash him a grin. Ron knew what they meant, one for every year that he'd done nothing about his feelings for Hermione.

Ron opened his mouth to reply, but then the call came for the Gryffindor team, and they stepped out onto the field.