Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related names and places are the legal property of J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, and AOL Time Warner, and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Thanks for the reviews, you are all awesome!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You...wanted to see me...Professor?" Harry stammered nervously.
"Come in, Harry. Sit down." Professor Bombeck waved to an armchair in front of her desk.
Harry sat down. He gripped the arm rests to keep his hands from shaking. "They can't know about this morning. Surely Ginny would be here, too. But maybe they don't know Ginny had anything to do with it." Wild thoughts chased each other around Harry's mind. The one thing he knew for certain was that, no matter what, he wouldn't say anything about Ginny's involvement. That, of course, was assuming Dumbledore didn't know about her already.
"Harry, dear, don't look so worried. You aren't in any sort of trouble. The headmaster and I would like to discuss something with you." Professor Bombeck laughed and Harry felt a little better.
"Harry, Professor Bombeck and I have been discussing something. I think its best if Nicole, here, explains it all to you." Professor Dumbledore said.
Harry's stomach felt like lead. The last time he and Dumbledore had spoken face to face, Harry's entire world had come crashing down. Harry felt a little guilty now about destroying the Headmaster's office.
Professor Bombeck came around and sat on her desk, facing Harry. "During Voldemort's first rise to power, my partner and I were working to try and break down the theory and the power behind the Unforgivables."
Harry interrupted. "Do you mean you were in the Order?"
"Yes, I was." She smiled warmly.
Harry was about to ask whether she knew his parents, but Dumbledore held up a hand to silence him.
"Let me explain everything before you ask. I was a member of the Order, but very few people knew about me. My partner and I were a sort of...er...underground research team. We rarely ever went on any sort of mission. I'm getting sidetracked, I'm afraid. Alright, my partner and I were concentrating on trying to break down the Unforgivables. We knew that if we could learn to fight against those three spells, we could stand a chance against Voldemort and his Deatheaters. We worked day and night and at last we found out how to fight the Imperius Curse. It was a major breakthrough for us. However, that was the easiest part. Next we tried the Cruciatus, we managed to learn to fight through it, but we never learned to fully avoid its affects. We began work to on the Avada Kedavra curse, but before we could manage any success, Voldemort became stronger than ever before. We were forced to put our research aside and join the battle. I ended up having to flee the country, for reasons I'd rather not divulge to you." Professor Bombeck looked at Harry, as if stressing her last sentence. "Later, I found out that my partner had been killed. When Voldemort's powers were destroyed, it seemed all need for our research was gone. However, the situation has now changed. With Voldemort back, we need to learn to break through these curses more than ever."
Professor Bombeck stopped and looked at Dumbledore. Neither spoke for a few moments.
"I don't understand what this has to do with me." Harry sat, bewildered.
"Harry, when Voldemort attacked you, you were saved from his curse. Professor Dumbledore tells me that you know the reason."
"Yeah, my mum died to save me. When Voldemort cursed me, it rebounded on him."
"Exactly. If we can figure out exactly how and why your mother's sacrifice protected you, perhaps we could find a way to use that knowledge to break through the curse. Harry, Professor Dumbledore and I have been discussing this...and well..." She broke off, looking at Harry with sympathy. "I understand that you hear your parents' death when you come close to a dementor, correct?"
Harry sat bolt upright in the chair. "Yeah, but I'm not going anywhere near one of those things!"
"Harry, relax. We would never dream of asking you to do something like that." Professor Dumbledore said kindly.
"No, of course not. You see, Harry, the fact that you can vaguely remember that night is what could possibly be the very thing we need. As of right now, only three people know exactly what happened then. Since your mother isn't able to tell us, and Voldemort certainly won't, that only leaves you."
"But, I can only hear their voices. And then it's only my mum begging Voldemort not to kill me. I don't actually see what happened. How am I supposed to be able to tell you anything about it?"
Professor Bombeck's sympathetic look came back. "Well, consciously you couldn't tell us. You are familiar with Legilimency, are you not?"
Harry slowly nodded, dreading what was about to come.
"What I'm suggesting is that we go inside your memory of that night. Even though you were only a baby, your sub-conscious mind recorded every single detail. From everything your mother said down to the clothes she had on. You may not be able to remember it clearly, but it's all there."
Harry sat very still. It all made perfect sense, but something was nagging at him. Did he really want to be able to remember that night? Did he really want to see his mother sacrifice herself to save him?
Professor Dumbledore shook Harry from his thoughts. "I know this can't be any easy thing for you. If there were any other way, I wouldn't ask this of you. I'm afraid we are running out of time and options. Voldemort is gathering strength and followers every day. Now that his return has become public knowledge, there isn't much holding him back. If we can find a way to resist him, perhaps we can stand a greater chance than we did last time."
"So you're going to try to find the memory of that night in my mind? How hard will it be?"
"Well, it won't be easy. We'll have fifteen years worth of memories to sort through. There is another thing. When we try to see in side your mind, your first instinct will be to try and stop us. You've studied occlumency with Professor Snape, I'm told."
Harry felt his temper rise. "Yes and a fat load of help it was."
Professor Dumbledore averted his eyes from Harry.
"Actually, you might have learned just enough to keep us from entering your mind. Which is why, I believe it would be a good idea for you to be in an unconscious state when we do this. When your body is asleep, your mind is in a rested state. The thoughts and memories we would see would be like dreams to you. Harry, you don't have to do this, I want you to know that."
Harry thought about the situation. He certainly hadn't liked Snape poking around in his memory. However, if this did work and they were able to find a way to fight the Avada Kedavra, then perhaps no one else need die...
"Who would be doing it?" Harry asked, praying the answer wouldn't be Snape.
"Well, Nicole here is a very gifted Legilimens. She would be the one to go into your memories. I would be right there with you, if you wished."
"Alright, when do we get started?" Harry still wasn't sure if he liked this idea, but if it could help...
"We could start anytime you liked. I think it would be best to do it sometime when you will be able to get plenty of rest afterwards. Having someone poke about in your mind can be exhausting. I would say either Friday or Saturday nights would be ideal."
"We usually have Quidditch matches on Saturdays and we always practice on the Friday night before." Harry said.
Both professors smiled. "Ah yes, of course we can't have our captain falling asleep on his broom, can we? How about Friday nights, unless there is a game and then we move to Saturday night? We'll start this Friday; does that sound alright with you?"
Harry nodded.
"Well, then just come to my office around nine. And Harry, I must ask you not to speak about this to anyone. Not even Ron and Hermione. It's very important that no one knows what we are trying to do. Just tell them that I have asked you to be a sort of teacher's assistant. Perhaps they won't question you too much."
Once everything was agreed upon, Professor Dumbledore stood up.
"Well, then that's all settled. If the both of you will excuse me, I have to head down to the kitchens and talk to the house-elves about this mornings...er...disturbance."
Harry tried not to look guilty as Professor Dumbledore walked towards the door.
"You know, it's almost as if the Weasley twins are back at Hogwarts. It certainly seems that someone has decided to take over their reign as troublemakers-at-large."
Harry could have sworn Dumbledore's eyes had flickered towards him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry's first legilimency session did not go well. Professor Bombeck had given him a few drops of a sleeping draught, and he fell into a light sleep. He slept peacefully for a time. He saw flashes of his and Ron's holiday at the beach. Quickly, though, his dreams became overpowering. The night at the ministry was streaming through his mind. Harry watched helplessly as Sirius fell through the veil and Lupin was holding him back. Harry woke with a start. Professor Bombeck was standing over him. Her face had gone very pale and her eyes were shining with tears. Professor Dumbledore sat in a chair staring down at the carpet.
"I think that's enough for now. You should head back to Gryffindor Tower, now. Good night, Harry." Professor Bombeck's voice was shaky.
It was nearly ten thirty when Harry got back to the common room. He was half annoyed and half thankful that Ron and Hermione had waited up for him.
"What does she want you to do?" Ron had barely given him time to sit down.
Harry smiled and tried to forget what had just happened. "She just wants me to help her research some spells, things like that. It's nothing really; she says it will help when I apply to the Academy. You know, really show them that I'm dedicated to learning Defense."
The weeks passed and the sessions were getting a bit easier. It seemed as though they would never get to that night in July, 1981.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The quidditch season had begun and Harry was holding practice every night (except Friday) in the two weeks leading up to the first game. The Gryffindor team probably wasn't what it had been in Harry's earlier years, but they were good nevertheless. Harry was very impressed by Ginny's performance. She was determined to show that she could do anything as good, if not better, than her brothers. Noah Stevens turned out to be every bit as brilliant has he had seemed. After the first few practices, he came around and began to talk to people.
After a Wednesday night practice, Harry stayed behind to go over his notes. He was sitting in the captain's office, when a knock sounded on the door. "Yeah?" Harry said, not looking up.
Slowly the door opened and Harry looked around to see Cho sticking her head in. "Are you busy at the moment? I hope you don't mind; Natalie said you were still in here."
Harry's mind raced. "Oh no, I'm all alone with her again. Why does this keep happening?" He looked wildly around for some way of escape. Sadly there was none, only the door which Cho was guarding.
"I just wanted to ask you something." Cho stepped closer to him and Harry leapt from the chair. He wasn't going to let her get too close, not this time.
Cho stopped abruptly as Harry made his sudden leap. "Harry, I am so sorry for what happened by the lake. I don't know what came over me. I was a bit too forward, I'm afraid." She smiled and Harry relaxed a bit.
"What did you want to ask me, then?"
Cho smiled and took another step towards him. Harry took another step back. "Well, you know there is a Hogsmeade trip this Saturday and I was wondering if...well I mean our last trip there together didn't work out so well...I just wondered if maybe you'd like to give it another try?" She smiled and then said, "That is if you aren't going with anyone else."
Harry groaned inwardly. "I actually wasn't planning on going at all. I've got a lot of studying to do. I've kind of been putting it off, because of practice. Maybe some other time?" Harry could have kicked himself for that last sentence. He hadn't really thought about going into the village.
Cho looked crestfallen, but smiled again. "Okay then, maybe next time." She turned and left the office with a wave.
Harry fell back into the chair and let his forehead bang down on the desk. "Why me?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday night was not fun for Harry at all. First his session with Professor Bombeck had been an unqualified disaster. He had fallen asleep, but it seemed that his mind had decided to completely close itself off.
"I was afraid of this. Your subconscious is using Occlumency to keep me out. Maybe we should skip this week's session. We've been making fairly good progress, so I don't think it would hurt. After all, your game is next week. Maybe after the game you'll be so tired, your mind won't fight." Professor Bombeck wasn't pleased, no matter how calm she had tried to keep her voice.
Harry was back in the common room by nine thirty. He found Ron and Hermione by the fire. Sliding into a seat next to Hermione, he picked up her copy of "Advanced Potions" and tried to read a little.
"Why are you back so soon?" Ron asked, looking up from his Transfiguration essay.
"Oh, she said she really didn't need anything tonight." Harry lied. "So, are we on for Hogsmeade tomorrow?" He had decided to go to the village after all.
Almost immediately Ron's ears went red and Hermione buried her face behind her Arithmancy book.
"What's wrong with you two? Are we going to Hogsmeade or not?" Harry couldn't understand his friends' peculiar behavior.
Hermione cleared her throat, but didn't look up. Ron finally spoke, but it looked like every word was killing him slowly. "Well, um, I...er...guess I forgot to tell you something." Hermione's head snapped up and she narrowed her eyes at Ron.
Ron didn't look at her or Harry, but kept his eyes on his feet. "I'm...well...I kind of said I'd...well...I asked Padma to...well...come into the village with me." He stammered very fast.
Harry smiled at his best friend. "Well, congratulations mate. So, Hermione it looks like just you and me." Harry turned to look at Hermione. She was glaring at Ron, then her face turned red and she looked away.
"Well, er..." She broke off as Ron's eyes fixed on her. "I'm going with someone, too." Hermione hid behind her book as Ron's eyes narrowed.
"And just who are you going with?"
Without removing the book, she said, "Ermillon..."
Harry tried to choke back laughter at the look on Ron's face. "Sorry, Hermione, we didn't catch that."
Hermione huffed and spoke up. "I said Ernie Macmillian."
Ron's mouth flew open. "Why are you going with that idiot? I can't believe you didn't even tell us! What were you going to do, sneak off when we weren't looking?"
Hermione slammed the book down and stood up. "Well, you didn't tell us that you had asked Padma, did you? And what is it any of your business why I'm going with him?"
Ron jumped up and faced down Hermione. He was much taller than her, but Hermione didn't back down. "I don't care who you go anywhere with! You could have at least had the decency to tell your two supposed best friends that you were dumping them for some Hufflepuff idiot!"
Hermione was shaking with rage. "And what do you mean by that supposed remark?"
Harry looked between the two. He seen rows between Ron and Hermione before, but this surpassed anything he had seen before. He stood up with every intention of separating them before they did or said something they would regret.
"Well, it seems that you don't have enough time for the two people who you supposedly call your best friends. You've been too busy chasing around after Macmillian and Fletchley to notice Harry or me lately! You've completely ignored us since we got back to school!"
Harry tried to speak up. "I don't think she's been ignoring us Ron."
Hermione and Ron both turned on him. "Stay out of this Harry!", they shouted simultaneously.
Harry stumbled back in surprise. Ron's face was scarlet and his entire body was shaking. Hermione was breathing hard and fast and her hands were clenched.
"Well, if I've been ignoring you Ronald Weasley, it's your own fault!" And without another word, Hermione shoved Ron out of her way and stormed up the girls' staircase.
Harry heard a door slam upstairs and looked at Ron. Ron's mouth was hanging open. The entire common room had fallen silent. Half were staring up the stairs after Hermione, the other half were watching Ron.
"Well, that made absolutely no sense at all!" Ron reached down and grabbed his parchment and quill. "I'm going to bed!"
Harry fell back into his chair, wondering what on earth the matter with his two best friends was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron and Hermione flatly refused to even look at each other the next morning. Harry decided to stay in the common room after all. He didn't feel like going into the village by himself, and he certainly didn't want to end up seeing Ron and Hermione having it out again right in the middle of the High Street.
After breakfast, Harry went back to the common room alone. He was sitting by the fire, trying to find a passage about Lon plodder root in 1001 Magical Herbs and Fungi, when Ginny's voice called to him.
"So you didn't want to see the dynamic duo going at it down in the village, either?"
Harry looked up. Ginny was crossing the common room, twisting her long hair up on the back of her head. She sat down next to him and skewered the knot of hair with what looked to Harry to be the long sticks people ate Chinese food with.
"No, I figured I would just hang around here and get in a bit of studying. What about you?"
"I didn't feel like going by myself. Actually I didn't feel like hanging around my roommates and listening to them simper about their boyfriends." Ginny pretended to gag. Harry laughed.
All of a sudden Ginny gasped and said, "I've got an idea! Let's go down together!"
Harry raised an eyebrow at her.
"Oh don't be silly, not like that! You can help me with this ridiculous thing for Trelawney. Ron said you were pretty good at making stuff up for her class. I'll kill Ron for suggesting I take Divination."
Harry laughed. "I take it you're working on the dream diaries? I thought Firenze was teaching the class, too?"
"Oh, I won't have him until next term. They divided our class up; the first group has Firenze first and we've got Trelawney. Next term we switch. Come on, Harry. What do you say to having a butterbeer while helping me think up all sorts of weird dreams to annoy the old bat with? My treat..." Ginny nudged Harry, grinning.
"Oh, alright."
Harry and Ginny grabbed their bags and walked down to the front gates. Once inside the village they noticed how different it seemed. Aurors patrolled in pairs, looking suspiciously at everyone they passed. It was just as they were about to enter the Three Broomsticks, that a familiar voice called out to them.
"Harry! Ginny!" They both turned and saw Tonks waving and making her way towards them. Just as she made to cross the street, she tripped over nothing at all and nearly fell on her face. "Watch out there, it's a bit slippery!", she called to the people behind her.
Harry and Ginny tried not to laugh. "Hi, Tonks. So you're part of the patrol group, I take it?" Ginny tried hard to keep a straight face.
"Yeah, I volunteered for it. I figured it would be a good idea to keep close to...er...Dumbledore." Harry knew very well that she was about to say his name.
"Has the Ministry gotten any leads on the Deatheaters?" Harry asked.
"No, not a thing. Never mind that, don't worry, we'll catch them. Look, I'd better get back. See you later." Tonks waved, tried to cross the street and fell flat on her bottom. Harry and Ginny waited until they were inside the Three Broomsticks before bursting into laughter.
They found a table in the very back corner and settled into it.
"I'll go and get our drinks. Start thinking up really good dreams for me to have had last week." Ginny slid from her seat and walked towards the bar.
Just as Harry had pulled Ginny's parchment towards him, a small voice sounded in his ear. "Hi there."
It was Cho. Harry turned sharply to face her. She didn't look happy at all.
"I thought you were going to stay at school and study?"
Harry was shocked by how cold her voice sounded. "I was, but then Ginny asked me if I would come down and help her with some work."
"You couldn't have helped her back in Gryffindor Tower. Honestly, Harry, if you wanted to come into the village with Ginny Weasley instead of me you could have just told me so. You didn't have to lie."
"What are you talking about? We just decided to come about 5 minutes ago..." He broke off as she glared at him. "Oh, you think that Ginny and I...no, no...you've got it all wrong. Ginny's just my friend." This time it wasn't Cho that made Harry stop.
He had caught sight of Ginny at the bar. Michael Corner was talking to her and Ginny looked very harassed. It looked to Harry like they were arguing. Ginny turned to walk away, but Michael reached out and grabbed Ginny's arm, causing her to drop both glasses of butterbeer.
Without even truly realizing what he was doing, Harry leapt from his seat and ran to where Ginny was struggling to get out of Michael's grip.
"Michael, let me go! What's the matter with you?"
Harry reached out and grabbed the hand Michael had around Ginny's arm. "I think she asked you to let her go."
Michael let go of Ginny's arm and glared at Harry. "Stay out of it, Potter. This is between Ginny and me."
"I don't think she wants to talk to you. Why don't you leave her alone?" Harry gripped harder on Michael's wrist.
"Fine, I'll talk to you later Ginny." Michael walked away and out the door of the pub.
Harry turned to Ginny. Ginny was glaring at him. "What did you do that for? I was fine."
"What? Ginny, you didn't look fine." Harry was confused. Why was Ginny angry with him?
"Who asked you to interfere? I'm quite capable of taking care of myself!" She turned around and stormed out the door.
Harry stood staring after her. What had just happened? He walked back to their table, only to be accosted by Cho again.
"What's the matter Harry; trouble in paradise?"
Harry grabbed up Ginny's things and stuffed them back into her bag. He grabbed his own and slung both over his shoulder. Ignoring Cho, he walked outside. Rain had started to fall.
"Perfect, just what I needed." Harry thought. "What is it about girls, me and Hogsmeade? It never turns out good." This time, though, Harry wasn't going to just let it go. He ran up the road, and through the front gates. He was going to figure out what had happened. He was going to find Ginny.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He was soaked through by the time he made it back to the Fat Lady's portrait. He gave the password and entered. He was going to put on dry clothes and search the castle for Ginny. He was going to make some sense of her if it killed him. He didn't need to look far. In a chair, in front of the fire, was a mane of red.
"Ginny...?" Harry walked towards her, but she didn't turn around.
Walking around to stand in front of the chair, Harry saw her. She was every bit as wet as he was, and she was sniffling. She didn't look up at him.
"Ginny, what happened back there? I just..."
Ginny sat up in her chair and glared at him. "You just treated me like a helpless little girl! That's what you did!"
Harry stepped back then sank down on the floor in front of her chair. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I wasn't trying to treat you like a little girl."
Ginny's face relaxed and she sat back. "I'm sorry Harry. It's just..."
"What? There's something wrong; you aren't yourself anymore." Harry smiled for a second. "You haven't stuck your elbow in a butter dish for nearly two years. I'm beginning to wonder about you."
Ginny smiled a little. "It's hard to explain; especially to you."
"Why don't you try? Start by telling me why you were angry with me back there."
"Okay, it was because you had to save me...again."
"Again?"
"Yes. It was like my first year all over again. Poor little Ginny gets herself into trouble, and here comes Harry the Hero to her rescue again. I hated that feeling. I hate being treated like a child that needs to be protected. I know it wasn't your fault." She fell silent and stared into the fire. "Hermione told me that you asked why I actually started talking to you last year."
"Yeah, she said it was because you 'gave up on me'." Harry watched Ginny's face. She frowned slightly.
"That wasn't why. I mean not exactly."
"Then why?"
Ginny gave a sigh and leaned forward. She clasped her hands and continued staring into the fire. "I did give up after the Yule Ball fiasco. I realized that you would never see me as anything but Ron's little sister. So I decided to just give up this little school girl crush. And then you came back out of the maze and announced that Voldemort had come back."
Harry sat shocked. "You just said Voldemort's name. I didn't think..."
"Harry, I'm not scared of a name. That's just one of the things that happened. When you told us that he had come back, I made a decision that night. I decided that I wasn't going to be frightened. I decided that I wasn't going to be that scared little girl that Tom had tricked. I was determined to not become a victim again. I hated that feeling, Harry. I hated feeling stupid and scared after what happened down in the Chamber. So I decided, then and there, that I wasn't going to be that girl anymore. I wasn't going to be the girl who tripped over herself when you walked by, I wasn't going to be the girl who let her brothers tease her to tears; I wasn't going to be anyone's pawn again. Everyday I have to live with the memory of what happened that year, but when I remember what happened, it makes me angry. I will not be scared of him, anymore."
Harry sat frozen. He had never heard Ginny talk like this before. She sounded so strong and confident. "But why..."
"Why did that make me suddenly talk to you?" Harry nodded. "Well, I realized something. My life had suddenly been split into two parts. The first part was the scared little girl who cried to her mother when her brother teased her, the scared little girl who allowed herself to be used by a diary, the scared little girl who had a crush on a boy she didn't even know. The second part was the girl who retaliated her brothers' torture, who refused to be used by anyone ever again, and the girl who refused to simper around after a boy who barely recognized her. See Harry, you were the one who rescued me from Riddle and the basilisk. That meant that you were a part of that girl I didn't want to be anymore."
Harry nodded. "And so when I stopped Michael, it was me rescuing you all over again."
"Exactly. I felt like that scared little girl down in the chamber again. I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"It's alright." Suddenly a nagging thought crept into Harry's mind. "Ginny, can I ask you something else?"
"Sure." Ginny finally looked at him.
"Can you see the thestrals now?"
Ginny swallowed and looked back at the fire. "Why?"
"Well, I know you couldn't see them last year. Who...?"
Ginny opened her mouth several times, but no words came out. Finally she said, "Sirius."
Harry's mouth fell open. "But...how...?
"I don't really remember a lot. I remember being stunned and then Dumbledore was standing over me. He told me to try and help the others if I could. I don't know why, but I went to the door and started watching what was happening. I ended up watching Sirius and that Bellatrix woman dueling. Before I could look away, he fell through..." Ginny stopped.
Harry felt cold spreading throughout his body. Ginny could see the thestrals because of Sirius. It was as if the reality had finally hit him. Sirius was really dead.
"When I saw you coming after her, I didn't want you to know that I had seen. I pretended that I didn't know what was going on. I'm sorry, Harry. I shouldn't have..."
"It's okay. I'm sorry you had to be there, Ginny. I'm sorry I dragged you to the Ministry. I still think about what could have happened..."
Ginny put her hand over his mouth. "Don't. Don't apologize for that. I volunteered, remember. Even though you argued, I wanted to help. Harry, I'm your friend, and I will always help you, no matter how much you protest." She smiled and Harry couldn't help but smile back.
"I think we'd both better get into some dry clothes. Madame Pomfrey will be shoving Pepper-Up potion down our throats for days if we catch cold." Ginny laughed. Harry was just about to head to his dormitory when loud voices filtered through the portrait hole.
Harry and Ginny looked at each other. They didn't need to see who was clambering through the entrance to know who was screaming.
"So help me Ronald Weasley, I'll get you back for this if it's the last thing I do!" Hermione was yelling at Ron.
"Try your best, Granger!" Ron was bellowing right back at Hermione.
