Harry Potter and the Curse of the Gypsy

Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews! I hope you like the story, it hit a snag and slowed down for awhile but now it's right back on track! I hope you like it, and be sure to review, read my other works, and please e- mail me at megx87@yahoo.com with any questions, comments, requests to read your masterpiece, or whatever. I'd love to hear from you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I own only Cory Johnson and the plot. Bah.

Chapter Fourteen

Harry almost fell from his broom when he felt a large weight slam into his stomach. "Oomph..." he inhaled sharply as the wind was knocked from him. He turned up, his green eyes shining with malice.

"Oh...sorry, Harry." Ron snorted. "Didn't see you there." Ron had just fouled his own team member...and it wasn't the first time. Nor did it seem Harry and Ron were the only victims. The team was fighting quite violently...Ron had already had to dodge five bludgers, sent his way of course by his beloved brothers and their trainee beaters, Dean and Seamus.

Katie and Alicia seemed to be having unpleasant encounters with the three young girls chosen to be the reserve chasers. Only Ginny and Angelina seemed not to have joined in the insanity. With a resigned sigh Harry flew over to Angelina.

"Time out, everybody." He said loudly. "Get off your brooms." Everybody shot him looks of frustration and annoyance as they lowered their brooms to the ground. "Angelina?" Harry asked cautiously. She turned to him, giving him a faint smile.

"Yeah, Harry?"

"Listen..." he turned red and walked up close to her, talking low so that only she could hear. "I don't...I can't handle them, all on my own. Not the way things are going on lately. And I was hoping..."

Angelina looked at him, raising a brow. "Wondering if I could help you?"

He turned his eyes to the ground and gave a slight nod. "Just...just with the ones that won't listen to me. You know, the ones on..." he paused, unable to go any further.

"The ones on my side." She finished for him. He turned to meet his gaze and she smiled again, a little more broadly. "Listen, Harry...I don't like this fight. But I can understand what Ron is going through...so I won't help you win. I want you to understand about Ron...or at least try. But I will help you."

"Th-thanks." He stammered. "I really..."

"Don't mention it, Harry." She said as she mounted her broom and started back into the air. "Listen up everybody!" she shouted. "We're gonna beat the Slytherins this year. Whether they like it or not..."

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Harry looked into the mirror and awkwardly tried to smooth the hair out of his eyes. He was in his bedroom---thankfully. He didn't think he could have prepared for the Halloween Ball with Ron hanging over his shoulder, in the Gryffindor dormitory, or Malfoy in the prefect's bathroom. His robes were much the same as the ones he had worn for the Yule Ball the year before, just lengthened so that his ankles didn't show where he had grown a few inches.

He looked at himself once more, pushing his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose. 'Well,' he thought with a nervous sigh, 'this is it.' He shook his head as he turned away to exit the room. 'I'm doomed.'

The revolving door, though over the past weeks he had grown used to it, left him feeling quite green. He looked up as he stumbled back out into the great hall and, with a brief glance of the numerous Halloween decorations, made his way slowly back to the Gryffindor tower. He slipped in unnoticed and picked through the crowd of couples greeting one another. He walked to the door of the fifth year girl's dormitory and waited.

Hermione came first. He recognized her, though he hadn't the year before. Once again she had taken the bushiness out of her hair, this time opting to leave it loose and streaming down her back. As she passed he had to fight to keep from waving hello. She gave him a timid glance as she made her way to Ron and took his arm, mouthing hello.

He shrugged back at her and turned to glance up at the door. Parvati came next, in bright orange. She sneered at Harry as she passed. "Your date will be awhile." She said smugly. "She's having a difficult time getting ready."

He didn't even want to know what that meant. More and more girls slowly filtered out and joined their dates, making their way from the common room. Soon it was only he and Neville left.

"So...are you going with Ginny again?" Harry said politely. Neville jumped and turned back to Harry.

"Oh! Oh, yeah...yeah. She asked me." He turned back to the door. Harry heard a faint click and Neville paled considerably.

Ginny walked out slowly, looking timidly at the boys. Neville didn't seem to notice the blush that went over her cheeks when she saw Harry, but Harry did and blushed back. Ginny...well, Harry could only guess that if her brothers were here they would have immediately sent her back to the dormitories. Because she looked incredible.

Her long red hair was pulled back from her face and pleated through with thin gold strands of some thread that matched the cream and gold of her robes. "Hello...Ginny." Neville said, dumbstruck. She smiled back at him.

"Hi, Neville." She went to his side and took his arm. "Why don't we wait for Cory, so we can go down with Harry and her? She helped me with my hair."

Neville nodded coarsely. All three of them turned as the door slowly opened. Harry felt his jaw drop for the second time that night.

"Harry...you're here." Cory said simply, smiling at him from the stairs. She made her way down, holding onto the skirt of her robes. She stopped at Harry's side and smiled softly. "So...what do you think?"

'What do I think?' he contemplated dumbly. 'I think I can't think at all.' He looked at her again, blinking as if his eyes deceived him.

She stood before him timidly, shifting as awkwardly as Harry was sure the both of them felt. Her robes were bright silver, covered with some sort of filmy fabric that reminded Harry distinctly of his invisibility cloak. Her right arm was bare to the shoulder, while her left arm was covered in a billowing sleeve laced to the elbow with silver laces. Her hair was loose to the small of her back, and laced with twinkling lights...like stars.

"So?" she said again, nervously. "Are you going to answer me or not?"

"I think you look incredible." He said slowly. "You sure you want to go with me?"

She grinned. "Well, I asked you didn't I? Come on...let's go on down." She offered her arm and Harry took it. They slowly made their way down the hall back the way Harry had come, from the Great Hall. The students had already entered, and the doors stood wide open, inviting. "I guess I took longer than I thought." She murmured.

Harry and Cory followed Neville and Ginny into the hall, peering around. Hundreds of candles lined the walls, and Hagrid's yearly Jack-O-Lanterns, the biggest ever seen, lay at each corner of the room. The tables each held individual flower arrangements, with roses that, oddly enough, had been transfigured orange and black.

"Look...Fred and George have four seats left at their table." Cory said, pointing to the pair. Since they hadn't had the Gryffindor girls to count on, each had ended up escorting hufflepuffs to the ball, but as both girls looked like young and very attractive models, Harry had the feeling neither of the twins minded.

"Probably empty because everybody else was too afraid to sit with them." Harry mumbled. But, of course, as there were no other seats, he sat beside them. All turned as Dumbledore rose to greet them.

"Hello, my dear students. I welcome you to our first annual Halloween Ball...as you know recent circumstances have made planning this event quite difficult, but we feel it necessary that, even in the darkest times, our students make merry and enjoy their little celebrations. So, without further ado...welcome!" He rose his wand in the air and suddenly thousands of shining bats flew from the ceiling. A few shrieked as the come towards the floor, but Cory laughed and extended her hand.

"Look!" she laughed as she reached out to touch one that flew near. It was clear like glass, and when she stroked it the bat burst into thousands of tiny bubbles of all different colors.

"Awesome!" Fred snorted.

"Yeah...how can I get a Slytherin to do that?" George replied. Cory rolled her eyes.

"Easy...you just have to stab them. When all the hot air is released..." Even Neville laughed at the joke, though he looked nervously at the surrounding tables as he did so.

Harry was still smiling when he picked up the menu and glanced down at it. "What do you think looks good?" he asked.

"I don't know...perhaps the spaghetti?" Ginny said.

"I don't know...the roast ham looks good..."

"I think I'll have the liver." Everybody turned to stare at Cory. She smiled back. "Gotcha."

They all finally ordered. Harry ate through his dinner slowly, talking to Cory. Despite the absence of Ron and Hermione, he was thoroughly enjoying himself. Fred and George kept pulling small, and thankfully insubstantial jokes, on their dates, causing them to give each other exasperated looks and at one moment to reach over and, in unison, box their ears.

Ginny and Neville were quiet, as usual, and only talked in hushed tones to one another, occasionally.

After a long while, Dumbledore cleared the floor of the tables. "It is my great pleasure," he said when he had everybody's attention, "to introduce your musical guest for this evening. Lucas O'Cafferty!"

A tall boy of around eighteen mounted the stage. Harry felt his eyes go wide with shock. He had long black hair to his shoulders and wore black robes that were unmistakably leather. He smiled at the crowd, showing rows of perfect teeth.

"Lucas!" Cory cried, rushing forward.

"Cory?" he said, in shock. "Is that...is that you?" He leaned down as Cory went to the edge of the stage, smiling brightly.

"Of course it's me, love." She said brightly. "Who else would it be?"

"Well, it looks like your superstar had found a kindred spirit." Fred muttered. Harry turned, flushing scarlet.

"I...they...what happened just now?"

"Those two toured together, before Cory took the job at the Starlight Festival." George explained.

"Oh...oh..." he mumbled, turning back to look at them. After a long moment of chatting she came back to Harry's side.

"You have to meet him, Harry!" she said excitedly. "He is just incredible. He has a break in a half hour."

"Oh...okay." he replied. Cory didn't seem to notice the irritation in his voice. "Listen...would you like to dance?"

She looked back at him in surprise. "Dance? I...I guess so." She said. Harry took her by the arm and led her to the center of the dance floor, uncomfortably putting his hands around her waist.

"Harry." She said after a moment. "Are you a zombie?"

"No."

"Then don't dance like one." She sighed at Harry's confused expression. "Follow me." She said. She put her hands around his shoulders and led him in a circle, rocking slowly back and forth.

Harry blushed as he moved with her. Lucas' soft voice was like an enchantment over the entire room. All Harry could see were Cory's eyes...bright silver, like her robes, or the moon. And her smile...she was...

"Beautiful." He whispered. Cory smiled at him.

"What did you say?" He didn't answer. She was grinning softly as she leaned back down, placing her head on his shoulder. "I like this." She said after a moment.

"Yeah...me too." They continued the dance until the last chords of the music died away. Harry felt a large string inside him break as Cory started pulling away, and did the only thing he could think of.

He kissed her. His lips lingered on Cory's for a moment before he finally pulled away. "Why...what was that for?" she said softly.

"Because...I don't know." He turned red. "Why don't we...why don't we sit for awhile? I'm tired of dancing."

"Oh...okay." she followed him back to their table, and looked down at the cloth, fingering the pattern on the fabric. They didn't talk, though each noticed the other occasionally shooting each other shy glances. After a long moment, they heard footsteps.

Cory glanced up. "Lucas! You're here!"

"Yes, of course." He said, sitting between her and Harry. "I said I would come see you, didn't I?"

"And you never break promises." She said smugly, raising a brow. He chuckled.

"Ah, of course, you've caught me there." He turned and jumped as if seeing Harry for the first time. "Why you're...you're Harry Potter!"

"I've noticed." Harry replied bitingly. He felt like smacking his hand over his forehead to hide the lightning-bolt shaped scar but thought better of it.

"Is...is this you're friend?" He said. Cory opened her mouth to reply, but Harry answered first.

"Her date." Lucas let an expression of great surprise pass over his face before amusement took over his features.

"Really?" he said. "What an...interesting combination. Cory, I always thought we could help our career if we started dating...are you trying to get a little publicity?"

"Of course not!" she snorted in mock outrage. "How dare you say such a thing?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably as the two continued their exchange. After a moment Cory stood. "Harry? Do you mind if I dance with Lucas?"

He glanced up at the smiling boy and nodded sharply. "Okay. But don't get tired...the next dance is mine."

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Moaning, Harry leaned against a wall. "I'm tired." He murmured.

"Yeah, me too." Cory said, smiling. "Thanks for a great evening."

"Don't thank me." He said dryly. "Or not just me, anyway. What happened to your other date?"

Cory glanced at Harry in surprise. "What do you mean?" she said, lowering her lashes.

"Lucas O'Cafferty, that's what I mean. You acted like he was your other date...I don't see how you're standing, you danced every other dance with him, and the ones in between with me."

"Come of it, he didn't have that many breaks. I really only danced with him the couple of times he had a break."

"But...but it was different." He mumbled. "It is different."

"And how?" she said cautiously.

"I kissed you." He replied simply. Cory blinked.

"Yes...but what does that mean?"

"It means everything!" he said with frustration. "You're the...you're..."

Cory paled. "I'm the first girl you ever kissed? I didn't mean..."

Harry turned away. "I know. You didn't mean anything. You'd rather have that perfect, handsome singer boyfriend out there, wouldn't you?"

"I...Harry!" she put a hand on his shoulder and turned him around. "Are you...listen, Lucas is just a friend. That's it. But you..."

Feeling a tight sensation in his chest he raked a hand through his hair. "What about me?" he said when she paused.

"I...what do you want Harry? Does this all mean that you want something...other than friendship?"

Harry looked at her for a long moment before nodding. "Yeah. Maybe I do."

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'You almost let it happen. I am very angry.'

The other person shuddered. 'The girl was not allowed to tell Potter the secret. All is well...I have prevented it.'

'No...no, you didn't. You were lucky, was all. When it happened...just how much were you thinking of the girl?'

'I...I did it in...'

'No.' Voldemort rose from his chair and pointed his wand at the person on the ground. 'No, you did it for your own purposes. I do believe you are getting fond of him...I would not want that to happen.'

'Yes, yes...' the person screamed as the bright red light enveloped them.

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Hiya! Hee hee hee, Harry has a girlfriend...sorry, couldn't help writing that little scene up there. Just a note of thanks to all of you who have reviewed me, it really gives me an ego trip to know I have fans.

Special thanks to Jasmine Black, Demetre Ironhilt, The Sweet New Zealander, Lycr, and any others who have been nice enough to read this story. I love ya'!