Harry Potter and the Draught of Living Death

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling, copyright 2000. Some portions of this fan-fiction have been taken directly from the novel.

Chapter Five: Peculiar Circumstances

"So whatever happened to you and Audrey?" Harry asked as he slung his bag on the bed.

"The girl from the ice cream shop last summer?"

Harry nodded.

"I don't know. We're still going out but, I'm kind of looking for someone who knows that Quidditch is played on brooms," Ron delivered sarcastically.

"Hermione knows that Quidditch is played on brooms."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, but that's about all she knows about it. When did she enter the conversation anyways?"

Harry smiled to himself, and didn't answer.

"I'm starting to wonder," he said, "when Ginny is ever going to get over that silly crush on you."

Harry thought for a moment. "I don't know that anyone ever gets over childhood crushes," Harry finally said, thinking of Cho. "I think it's just, at some point, we out grow them." After Cedric's death, Harry had felt wrong about continuing to pursue Cho, in fact every time he saw her, he felt guilty. So not only did he stop pursuing her, he stopped seeing her at all for any reason. Even in Quidditch, he avoided her, which was hard since she was trying to knock him off his broom half the time.

Ron didn't even question Harry on that point. "Maybe if she got to know you," Ron said as he sat on his bed, "she might realize that you just aren't the dating type."

Harry frowned as he sat on the cot that had been placed on the other side of the room. "What do you mean by that?"

"You know, you just aren't the dating type. I mean, between saving the entire wizarding world, what is it? Four or five times now? You just don't really have time for girls. I mean, you barely have time for your friends."

"I've gone on dates," Harry said defensively.

"You've gone on a date, Harry. And me and Hermione had to fix you up on it. Harry, face it, it's not an insult, it's just the truth. You haven't really had time for girls over the past six years."

Harry fell back on his bed and thought about it. "What if I tried this year?"

"Tried what?"

"To make time for girls… oh, lord, Ron, this is stupid. How did we ever get into this conversation anyways? Half the world's gonna think I've gone nutty. I'm going to see if dinner's ready."

Harry went out the door and started down the steps. Ron, however, stayed where he was. He had to laugh. For once, Harry had made a total idiot out of himself.

* ~ *

"Really, Harry," Fred pleaded later. "We're serious."

Harry had found himself cornered after dinner by the three youngest Weasley boys. He had dared to enter Fred and George's room with Ron. He had been surprised to find it neat and tidy. George had waved it off, saying something about moving their base of operations for the purpose of secrecy.

"Why would you want me to spend time with Ginny. I thought you guys were protective over her."

Ron shook his head. "This isn't about going out on a date with her or anything like that. I was thinking about it more, and I realized what we were talking about earlier was probably right on target. If Ginny got to know you better, she might come to realize that being your friend is much better than mooning after you."

George agreed. "I mean, it won't be as much fun anymore, we won't be able to make jokes on her about you, but she's really got to get over this."

"If you were her friend, maybe she'd realize she likes you better that way anyways." Fred finished.

"So let me get this straight," Harry said running a hand through his already messy hair. "You guys want me to deliberately spend tons of time with Ginny, tell her all my secrets, confide in her like she's the only friend I've got right now, just to make sure she gets over a little crush?"

"You've got the right of it now," Ron said with a smile.

"But won't she ask why I'm not talking to you, Ron?"

"Yes, probably. And in that case, you'll just tell her that I've been really busy. You haven't been able to talk to me. Besides, with your genius mind, I'm sure you can find a way to convince her that you can't talk to me about some of these things."

Harry sighed. "I'm just not sure. I mean, I feel like she'd realize something was going on."

"Why don't you start with something you have in common?" Ron asked.

"Ron, that would be fatal. The only thing we have in common is Tom Riddle." Ron cringed visibly.

"Yes," George admitted. "That would probably be a bad way to start."

"Wait," Fred interrupted. "You both hate Colin Creevey."

"I don't hate Colin Creevey," Harry defended. "I think he's a little annoying, but I don't hate him."

"Well Ginny thinks he's annoying too." Ron said. "He's been asking her to go out with him since fourth year, and after two years of that, it gets kind of lame."

"I can't talk to Ginny about crushes," Harry said in a flustered tone. "It would make her uncomfortable to even think that I know about stuff like that."

"Harry," Ron pleaded, "I know you'll figure it out, but the main thing is, she need someone to talk to. Even if it's not you, she does need someone to talk to. You know she has dreams, right?"

"Dreams?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Ron said. "She has all kinds of dreams about what happened in her first year. She wakes up screaming and she refuses to talk to anyone about it. She claims they wouldn't understand. But you would. You would understand perfectly what's going on." Ron fidgeted and looked down. "Look, here's what we'll do. Tomorrow, we're supposed to meet Hermione and Cody," Ron growled the second name. "We'll invite Ginny to come along with us. Audrey's going to be there too."

Harry sighed. "All right, fine. I'll try to spend some time with Ginny. But if things start getting uncomfortable, I reserve the right to back off, got it?"

All three boys nodded.

"Who knows," Fred said with a devilish grin. "Maybe you'll realize you were made for each other or something else half as stupid." The second part of the comment was delivered sarcastically.

"If you only you knew," Harry muttered to himself on his way out the door, "That's exactly what I'm afraid of."

* ~ *

Diagon Alley the next morning found six very uncomfortable standing together at the front of Flourish and Blotts.

"I suppose you got Prefect again," Ron tried conversationally.

"Yes," Hermione said, her arm twined with Cody's. "I don't know who the other prefect is, since last years prefect was in seventh year.

Harry cleared his throat. "Um, I think I can answer that."

"You got it?" Hermione asked with a grin. "I had a feeling you would."

Ron's face looked hurt. "Why didn't you tell me, Harry?"

"I don't know," Harry said uncomfortably. "I guess I had other things on my mind at the time."

Audrey slipped her hand into Ron's. "I'm sure he would have told you if he'd thought about." She said.

Ginny just looked altogether flustered. She hadn't said a word since they'd separated from Mrs. Weasley. When Ron had offered to take Ginny along with them, Molly had been ecstatic. It would give her some time to do some much needed shopping without having to worry about making time to do it and Ginny's school shopping as well. She had asked Ron if he was sure, and then rushed off happily.

"Has everyone already been to Gringott's?" Hermione asked in lieu of a subject change.

"Yes," Ron said. "Mum took us this morning with Harry. I assume you went before you left?"

Hermione nodded. "Mum and Dad were pleased when Bill offered me a job for the rest of the summer. It meant I could pay for my own supplies." Bill had offered Hermione a job just before vacation ended. He said he needed a secretary for the rest of the summer, since school ending meant a lot more business for the bank. Everyone knew that the bank usually only excepted interns to work there, but Bill had been hoping to sway Hermione towards the banking business, knowing that she was intelligent enough to do it.

"It must be interesting to work in a bank," Audrey said as they started into the bookstore. She eyed Cody. "What do wizards do there? I mean, I know the goblins do most of the vault stuff, why do you need Wizards at a bank at all?"

"Mostly it's a supervisor thing," Cody replied. "We keep an eye on the Goblins and to the exchange of Muggle money to Wizarding money. The Goblins are very clever, but they don't have very much experience with Muggle money. They don't understand how it can all be so different. That and they have a tendency to be rude to anyone who dares to carry strange money. So, we handle all exchanges as well as inventory and new hires. As far as why we want Wizards and Witches as secretaries… well, we want pleasant secretaries. I think that should answer that half of it."

Audrey smiled and Hermione clasped Cody's arm a little tighter. Ron slipped his arm around Audrey's waist. Harry and Ginny stood at least two feet apart, with their hands settled securely into their own pockets.

"Ginny," Ron said. "I'll give you your money so you can go ahead and get your stuff." Mr. Weasley had gotten a small promotion a year ago, which meant that Ginny and Ron had a little extra money to get their school supplies this year. It also meant that they could both have newer robes this year instead of using "hand-me-downs".

"Are we going to Madame Malkin's after we finish here?" Ginny asked, the first words she had spoken since they had met up.

"I think that would probably be best," Harry replied. "I need some new robes too. I think I grew a foot or seven since last year." Harry tried to smile. "If we go there next, we can have some time to look around at other things before we pick them up." Harry cleared his throat and looked down at Ginny. "You're supposed to get an owl this year, aren't you?" Molly, seeing that Ginny had been jealous of Pigwidgeon, had promised that if they had some extra money, Ginny could get her own owl. Ginny had taken initiative and gotten a job on the weekends at the beginning of the summer. She worked with Olivander, running the shop for him while he went out to gather new supplies for the wands.

Ginny smiled. "Yes, it means that I won't have to borrow Pig from Ron anymore."

"I was sorry to hear about Errol," Harry told her.

"It happens with the older owls. We sent him off to live at the center."

Errol had been on a delivery a year before and had just dropped with a heart attack on his return trip. They had been able to revive him, but they had deemed him unfit to continue making deliveries. In the Wizarding world, once an owl was no longer fit to make deliveries, they sent him to the Owl Protection Center, where they would be cared for until they died. It was kind of like a retirement home for owls that had worked all their lives and now deserved to rest. Ginny had been heart broken, but she understood that Errol was in a safe place now.

"So, what kind of owl do you think you'll be getting?"

"Well," Ginny said. "I'm not sure. Mum said that whatever I could make, she would double it. Regular owls are supposed to be around 150 Galleons. But those are the owls that generally have no personality."

Ginny handed her book list to the clerk at the desk as did Harry. The clerk also went ahead and took Hermione, Audrey and Ron's list and bustled off to start collecting books. Cody hung bag looking a bit nostalgic as he had graduated a few years ago.

"I don't really want a generic owl," Ginny started again. "I'd rather have an owl with some personality, like Hedwig and Pig."

Audrey nodded. "I couldn't agree more. When I got my owl last year, the first ones they had me looking at were pretty typical, not how I wanted my owl to be at all. They were trained well, mind you, but that's all. They weren't friendly or attention seeking; they just delivered post and returned. Ron, didn't you tell me that Pig loves attention, he hates it when you ignore him?"

Ron nodded. "Hedwig is the same way. If Harry isn't giving him very much attention he has a tendency to bit on the peevish side. He also doesn't like it when he has to share his cage, especially with Pig."

Ginny smiled. "See, that's the type of owl I want. I know they require more attention and they're harder to take care of, but I want an owl that will know when I'm upset or sick. I guess I'm looking for a friend." Harry agreed.

"Hedwig's been there for me a number of times. I remember when she delivered my first broom, she was almost as excited as we were."

"You know a lot about owls, don't you Harry?" Ginny asked.

"A bit," Harry admitted. "I was curious after getting Hedwig, I wanted to know if all owls were like her, so attentive and kind, so I started reading. I found out it's actually one of the more peculiar qualities of the Snowy Owl. They're very loving, they attach on to people very easily, but there are other owls that have that trait. I finally found out that shopping for an owl is like picking a dog at the shelter. If he backs away from the door of the cage when you approach, or doesn't do anything at all, he's not your owl and probably never will be. If he comes right up to the door and tries to see you better, then he's already yours."

Ginny nodded. "I think I definitely want to take a little time there then. You guys don't have to stay with me if you don't want to."

"I'll stay with you," Harry said, "I'd like to look around and see if I can find some toys for Hedwig anyways."

"Well," Ron said. "Since Harry's going to keep you company, I know Audrey wanted to go up to see if they had anything new at the charm store."

"Yes, I wanted to come back here for a little while after we get our robes sized," Hermione said. "I wanted to look at some of the newer transfiguration crammers. They're supposed to help with studying for NEWTS." No one bothered to mention that NEWTS were still almost two years away, it would have been pointless.

Harry nodded. "All right then, here's what we'll do. After we get out books here, we'll go over to Madame Malkin's, get resized, then go our separate ways, then meet back up at Malkin's in an hour to pick up our robes. That should put us with enough time to restock potion supplies and get some ice cream before we have to meet up with Mrs. Weasley." Everyone nodded just as the clerk showed up, floating a whole load of books behind him.

"I hope you all have fun this year," he said with a smile. "I don't think I've ever carted a load of this size." He started passing out the groups of books after wrapping them and the group departed after paying, to head to Madame Malkin's.

* ~ *

"I didn't realize I'd grown that much," Harry muttered as he hopped down from the step Madame Malkin had him stand upon to be sized. He saw Ginny a few feet away looking dreamily at the new dress robes. Harry knew that, even with their father's raise, Ginny would not be able to afford anything terribly fancy. Ron had told him that Ginny had tried to bargain with her mother. She had volunteered to wear her old school robes if she could just get a new set of dress robes for that year, but Mrs. Weasley had already decided that Ginny needed the school robes more.

Harry made his way over to her as he saw her fingering the fabric. "That's a perfect color for you," he said.

Ginny dropped the blue fabric in surprise. "Oh, it's just you," she said with a sigh. "I was afraid it was Ron, coming over here to make me feel better."

Harry placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. "You know, I bet with practice, you could make your own robes."

"I've never really tried sewing before," she said with a sigh. "I think if I had any experience with it, I might be able to do it."

Harry considered the matter slowly. "I know very little about you, Ginny," he said. "But I belief that you could be good at just about anything you tried to do." Harry slipped away quietly as Ginny continued looking at the fabric. He cornered Hermione a few seconds later. After a few seconds of conversing, Hermione nodded with a smile and Harry handed over a small bag to her.

"What was that all about," Cody asked as Harry walked away.

"Nothing really," Hermione replied. "Except for the fact that he's crazy about her and doesn't know it yet."

After everyone had been resized, the group separated, Hermione and Cody heading back to Flourish and Blotts, Ron and Audrey towards Madame Zephryn's Charms and Amulets and Harry and Ginny towards Eyelop's Owl Emporium.