Birthday Surprises Chapter 62

Usual disclaimer:  Not mine, don't sue.  Please.  Wish it were mine though.  Ah, if only…  Lolly, xxx.

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The Christmas holidays passed much too quickly for anyone's liking, and the NEWT's were growing closer and closer.  All of the seventh years seemed to spend most of their time either doing homework or studying, and Harry was no exception.  Ginny would often go up to his room to find him at his desk, scribbling away at something, with Leah cradled in one arm.  She watched for a few minutes, smiling at how only Harry would be able to make such a scene look cute.  Then she crept away, not wanting to disturb him. 

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Harry himself was starting to feel the pressure of all the work, but he knew that it would be over soon, and that thought kept him going through everything that the teachers threw at them, including the mountains of homework.  Not only that, but as head boy, people came to him to help with their problems – not that he minded, but he did have rather a lot of problems himself.  Andy fell ill half way through January, and Harry spent a few sleepless nights down in the hospital wing, taking it in turns with Ginny to sit with him.  A few others visited too, including Remus, who seemed very happy to see Harry and Ginny's joined hands.  So between Andy getting ill, the homework that was mounting up, revision for the NEWT's and the growing demand for the bracelets, January passed in a flash. 

***

It was mid-way through February before Harry felt something that made his blood run cold – his scar prickled painfully.  Harry cursed softly under his breath, hating Voldemort with all his being.  He looked out of the window, emptying his mind of everything that Voldemort may use against him, leaving only a few harmless thoughts – mostly of the ghastly amount of work that they were doing.  He could feel Voldemort rifling through what was left, and quietly did what Voldemort would least expect – turn the spell around on him.  Voldemort wouldn't notice, being so intent on finding something useful.  Harry felt a surge of hatred in his scar, not sure whether it belonged to him or to Voldemort – either way, he didn't have much time.   He drew away five minutes later, clutching his scar, which was now so sore that he could hardly see past the pain.  

"Harry, are you ok?"  Ginny asked from behind him.  His vision cleared and he saw her pale, scared face. 

"Fine – well, Voldemort's just tried to flush out my brain, with little success."

"Oh."

"Don't worry about it – the only thing he found out was that the NEWT year is a killer.  But he'll probably have known that anyway."  Harry shrugged.

"Doesn't that mean that he'll know when to attack you?"

"Yeah.  Well, he'll know that I've been incredibly busy with work, so he'll assume that I haven't thought much about him.  He likes to assume things, Voldemort, and it's been his downfall once.  It will be his downfall again."

"Why?"

"It just will be – I know when he's going to attack.  I've known for a while now – but Voldemort still believes that I'm stupid enough not to plan."

"You have planned?"

"Of course I've planned."  Harry said with a smile.  "Now, let's get off of this horrible topic and onto something happier."

"What would you suggest, Mr Potter?"  Ginny asked, only too happy to get off of the subject of Voldemort.