Disclaimer:  I DON'T OWN THEM!

*** Thanks to Claire who was the first to review!  I hope you like this chapter just as much as you liked the last one!  Hermione Weasley I'm excited that you think I put details into my story just like J.K.!  Thank you for the awesome compliment!  Jenny your enthusiasm is contagious and I absolutely love it!  I'm glad you appreciate the notes to each of you!  Sometimes they get tedious to write but I've got to because I do appreciate each of you!  Thank you so much for the review!  Marjojo thank you so much for the reviews you've given on both stories!  Thank you!  HogwartsHoe you get excited when I've updated?  Thanks for the awesome compliment!  Felicia thank you very much for the very thorough review!  That is so awesome!  Thank you!  "All hail Felicia!"  LOL!  Lily Michelle I'm so glad you're getting impatient in a good way!  That's great!  Thanks for continuing to review!  Shaunna I'm glad you like Mitch so much!  It's great that I've depicted his personality well!  Ronaldrose you're welcome for reviewing your story!  It's a wonderful story and you should definitely continue!  Vanilla Baby thanks for saying the last chapter was fantastic!  I was definitely trying to make it good!  Thanks for the review and you're welcome for your "chapter."  Soupcann314 yep!  That's right!  Mitch swore off love to be a great wizard like Dumbledore!  I hope you enjoy this chapter!  Mela I hope this chapter clarifies things a little better for you!  Thank you for your unwavering reviewing and loyalty!  Hermiones-Twin I'm sorry you had a slight problem with ff.net!  I have gotten that same message too and it's a pain in the neck!  Thanks for the review!  Americanangel this chapter is for you because you're an awesome reviewer and you've got a wonderful story started too!  Thanks!  Danidancer you should like this chapter then if you want Natalie to tell Lee soon!  Thanks for all your reviews!  Thank you to all my reviewers they all mean so much to me and I definitely take your ideas into heart!  Thank you!  Enjoy!

Chapter 39: Just Harry

Natalie had been in the Gryffindor Common Room for fifteen minutes.  For fifteen minutes she had been going over what she had said, or what she had not said, to Lee. 

"I hope you get better real soon, Lee.  It's a shame to go to the Quidditch games when you aren't the announcer."  What had she been thinking?  How stupid could she get?  That was not what she had gone down there to say.

She shook her head in exasperation with herself. 

Natalie knew she was an idiot but a chicken?  Chicken for her was a whole new development.

She stood up with more resolve than she had ever had and stormed her way back down to the Infirmary.  She ignored the greetings from her friends or the whistles from the Weasley twins.  She would not be deterred from saying what needed to be said to Lee Jordan this time.

The inside of the Infirmary was darkened.  Madame Pomfrey had closed the curtains over the windows to ward off the moon and starlight.

Natalie was focused on going into the Infirmary so she didn't allow the darkness of the room to scare her away.

The door creaked open as she walked in but no one stirred.  Lavender and Padma, who were both still recovering, were sleeping quietly in bed.  She could just make out the slow rise and fall of their chests as they breathed.  The others—the ones under the blessing-curse were still.  Their chests didn't rise and fall because they didn't breathe.  They were just there.

She made her way to Lee, who was near a window and she opened the curtains just a tad so that the moonlight would fall across his face.

Natalie looked down at him.  While his chest didn't rise and fall, his eyelashes fluttered as they did when one was sleeping.  The still chest gave the illusion of a dead person while the fluttering lashes gave the illusion of a sleeping person.

It was eerie.

Natalie was a little freaked out by the dichotomy but she was on a mission.  And the mission had already failed so she was even more determined to say what was on her mind.

"It's me again Lee Jordan."  Natalie leaned down so that her lips were just barely hovering next to his ear.  "Natalie," she told him quietly.

He didn't make a sound.

"I know I was already here Lee but I thought…well, what I said earlier I did mean.  Going to Quidditch games without you as the announcer is a shame," she said truthfully.  "I didn't lie about that but that wasn't the only thing I came down here to tell you."

She giggled nervously. 

"Fred and George Weasley seem to have it in their head that I'm going to fall in love with you," she told him with a true giggle.  "I laughed at them when they first told me that but you want to know something?  I do like you like that.  It's too early to say I love you but I do like you."  She smiled and her lips accidentally touched his ear.  "But let's keep this between you and me; Carmen would kill me if she found I have a thing for you because she likes you too."

***

Things had been weird between Parvati and Harry since Padma had come out of the coma, Parvati knew that.  She knew that and she felt terrible for it since it was her fault.  She would admit that it was her fault.

She had watched him from her place on the sofa as he walked in from Quidditch practice with Ron.  They were the first ones back from the Quidditch pitch.

Sweat had dampened Harry's hair and thick chunks of it seemed pasted to his forehead.  From where she sat one couldn't see the lightning scar but that was alright.  That wasn't the reason she liked him.

She liked him because he was so much more then The Boy Who Lived or the lightning scar.  He was Harry.  He wasn't Harry Potter; he was just Harry.

Parvati would wait for him to come back downstairs.  Either that or she would go into the boys' dormitories.  So what if Dean would catch her?  It didn't matter anymore because she was afraid she had lost him or that she had crossed an invisible line.

Ron came down but Harry didn't.

"Hey Ron!" Parvati called out from the other side of the Common Room.

Ron stopped in his tracks.  Parvati Patil had never really spoken to him before.  This was an interesting development.  They had spoken before but never one on one.  He curiously made his way over to Parvati.

"Yeah Parvati?" he asked.

She looked worried; he could see that much.  "Where's Harry?"

Ron shrugged.  "I don't know.  I assume he's still in the shower.  Why?"

"I'm pretty sure he's really upset with me.  I didn't mean to make him angry.  I just did," she explained quietly.

"Oh?"

She looked down at her hands, which were clasped tightly together.  "I said some things about…Dumbledore.  It wasn't that I said anything against Dumbledore but I'm afraid Harry took it the wrong way."  She looked back up at Ron and he saw that there were earnest tears stinging her eyes. 

"I was upset.  It was just after Padma woke up and I wasn't thinking clearly."

Ron smiled sympathetically.  "Don't worry about it Parvati.  I'm sure Harry realizes you were going through some things."

"I was hoping he did too but he hasn't really spoken with me since," she said.

He shrugged.  "Well then why don't you go up to our dorm?  I'm sure Harry's out of the shower now and Dean isn't there," he informed her.

"Where are you going?" she questioned.

His eyes sparkled with humor.  "I'm fairly sure Hermione is in the library, am I wrong?"

Parvati laughed sincerely.  "No, she's down there."

"Then that's where I'm going.  I'll talk to you later Parvati!" he called out while he made his way out of the Common Room.

Parvati nodded and her gaze flitted to the stairwell.  She was a little more nervous than she usually was.  She supposed she should go on up to talk to him.  A blush covered her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. 

She slowly made her way up to Harry's dormitory and knocked tentatively.

From inside the dorm room Parvati heard rustling.  "Hold on a minute!" a voice that was distinctly Harry's passed through the door.

Then the door opened to reveal a shirtless Harry.  "Um, I…Ron thought it would be OK if I came up here…"  Nearly mortified she turned around and started down the hallway but before she could get far, Harry grabbed her elbow and turned her around.

"Why'd you come up here?"  His green eyes bore into her own.

"It-it's nothing Harry," she mumbled as she tried to get away from her although he kept his grip on her firm.

"If you took the trouble of coming up here though, it must be something," he reasoned.

Her heart was hammering as she nodded.  Harry pulled her into his dorm and shut the door behind her.  Then he pulled her to what she knew was his bed and together they sat down.

Harry looked at her expectantly.  Well this was odd, she thought vaguely.

Parvati smiled although a tear trickled down her cheek and she brushed away a damp lock of dark hair.  "I really care for you Harry," she started slowly.  Harry looked away uncomfortably but not as if he was ashamed for her feelings.  She leaned forward then.  "I don't care for you because of this," she said while touching the famous scar, "or because you defeated The Dark Lord.  I don't even care about you because you're Harry Potter."  Harry smiled nervously as he was unsure of where she was taking all this.

She sensed his apprehension and kissed his cheek.  "I care about you Harry because you're just that: you're just Harry.  And I would never do or say anything to hurt you, Harry."

He smiled and returned her kiss on the cheek.

"I apologize for what I said about Dumbledore.  You know I love him too.  And you know that I respect him.  I was upset that Padma had to wake up without…well because Mitch had to tell her he didn't like her.  I'm sorry."

Harry kissed her quietly on the lips.  "It's alright, Parvati."

Her eyes crinkled as she smiled and she returned his kiss.

What did you think of this chapter?  I thought it was good and nice and slow and yeah!  Next chapter someone…or some people wake up!  I'm excited for you to read it!  Not until tomorrow night though!  LOL!  Thank you for reading this!  Please be kind and review!  (You know, we have a Mr. Movies and on the tapes they say 'Please be kind and rewind!)

*** As a side note, please pray/light a candle/meditate/whatever-it-is-you-do for the Allied forces in light of the war…and not only for the Allied soldiers but also the innocent Iraqi lives that will be lost. Remember, it is not Iraq we are against, but Saddam Hussein. I apologize if this request has offended you.

Romeo: Is love a tender thing? it is too rough,
Too rude, too boisterous; and it pricks like thorn.
~William Shakespeare