Disclaimer:
The characters and situations of Harry Potter depicted in this story are the legal property of J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, and AOL Time Warner, and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.

No profit is being made off this story. It is for entertainment purposes only.

Warning: This story may contain content that is not suitable for children.

Chapter Thirteen

"After-Effects"

As his scar burst with pain, Harry was not sure of anything apart from the snake inside him. He briefly remembered thinking, 'So this is what it's like to have someone else in your head…' and then… nothing. The next thing he knew, he awoke and was lying on his bed with an anxious Ron, Hermione, and Ginny peering down over him.

"What happened?" he asked groggily, clapping a hand to his aching head. He groaned loudly.

"That's what we'd like to know, mate," Ron asked worriedly. "Ginny said that one moment you two were talking and the next you went deathly pale and collapsed. Was... was it You-Know-Who?"

"Yes," Harry answered without elaborating.

"D-did you see something?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"No," Harry said, curtly.

"Oh, for Heaven's sake, Harry! We're just trying to help. Please co-operate with us for a change," Ginny pleaded. "Just tell us what's going on."

"I—I can't Gin," he said tiredly. How could he tell her that Voldemort had been inside his head listening to everything they had talked about? Feeling everything that he had felt?

"You can't, or won't?" she asked crossly.

"I can't talk about it right now," he tried to explain. He felt contaminated, violated, weak. How could he put into words what had just happened? It was impossible! The monster he hated most in this world had been inside him and Harry had not even been aware of it until he lost control of his emotions. He could still hear echoes of that cold, harsh laugh ringing in his head. The same laugh that he heard when the Dementors got too near… the same one he had heard as a baby when Voldemort had killed his mother.

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Harry, have you been practising your Occlumency?"

"Huh?" Ginny asked, staring perplexedly at Hermione. "What's that?"

"Occlumency," Hermione said with slight exasperation. "Harry has been studying it since after last Christmas with Professor Snape. It's a form of magical defence of the mind against internal penetration," she explained. "It's to protect him from having these episodes, but apparently it's not working very well." She looked at him accusingly.

Harry averted his eyes. The truth was that he had not been practising Occlumency. He had not practised in a very long time. Harry had tried to convince himself that it was necessary, but his experience with Snape had tainted his opinion of the mind defence technique. He had effectively blocked himself from having mastered the skill.

"I knew it! Harry Potter—" she began, but Harry cut her off.

"Don't even start, Hermione," he said adamantly. "This is my business. It has nothing to do with you."

Hermione looked like she wanted to say something, but it was Ron that stepped in. "How could you say that to us?" He was beginning to get angry. "After everything we've—" but Ginny cut him off.

"Ron, let me speak to Harry alone, please," she said quietly. Ron looked like he wanted to argue. Turning to her friend she pleaded, "Please, Hermione?"

"Let's go check on the twins," Hermione told Ron, trying to master the hurt expression on her face.

"Yeah, we'll be downstairs if you decide to trust us and want to tell us what's going on," he said, taking Hermione's outstretched hand and pulling her roughly from the room.

Harry felt bad. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt his friends. Ron and Hermione had always been there for him and they did not deserve to be treated this way. But Harry just couldn't talk about this yet - not with anyone.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

"I told you, I don't want to talk about it," he said angrily.

"I know what you said, Harry, but this is me - the person who had Him in her head for almost a year. Remember?" she touched his cheek. "You can tell me anything and I won't judge you."

"I-I can't talk about it," he said hesitantly, that now-familiar lump threatening to rise again.

"That's fine… I understand," she said gently. "Just promise me that if you do ever want to talk, you'll come to me? Or Ron, or Hermione?"

Harry closed his eyes and nodded gratefully, taking her hand and pressing it to his cheek. He breathed a sigh of relief that he did not have to put into word what had just happened. How did she do that? How could she know him so well? He had never given Ginny Weasley much thought before tonight, but in a few short hours he felt grateful that maybe someone could understand some of what he was going through. That thought made him feel significantly better and less isolated from the rest of the world.

"How's your head feeling? Does it still hurt?" she asked anxiously.

"Like somebody hit me around the head with a Bludger," he said ruefully.

"Lie down, and let me get you a cold compress," she said sympathetically. "Mum always does that for me when I have a headache." He nodded and sunk back down on the bed, feeling a little better. A few minutes later and she came back with a wet cloth. As she pressed it to his head over his scar, Harry immediately felt some of the pain ease. "Is that better?" she asked worriedly.

"Umm-huh," he murmured groggily. He could feel her stroking his hair and that, more than anything, was helping ease the tension. His head was slowly returning to normal and it was no longer aching painfully. Instead, a warm feeling was beginning to replace the pain. This was a new feeling and it was not unpleasant.

In fact, Harry was beginning to feel very warm. His stomach was doing that little flip-flop thing and he felt chills run up and down his spine at her gentle caress. He had never known a feeling quite like this, and he didn't want it to stop. Opening his eyes, he looked up and her. She looked like an angel… so beautiful…

She stopped suddenly and looked at him earnestly, concern shining in her eyes. "Is everything all right?" Instead of answering her, he pulled her closer to him and, before he could even analyse what he was about to do, he pulled her down to him and kissed her.

At first, her surprise made her resist slightly. Then, when she realised what they were doing, he felt her surrender fully and allow herself to be kissed. Harry had never felt such a need before in his life. From the moment their lips touched, he was consumed. He needed her… he had to claim her. He was on top of her now, feeling every inch of her body and kissing her with a passion he did not know he possessed. Thoughts of Voldemort, the prophecy, everything were washed away, and the only thing that mattered was the two of them. His one brief experience with Cho Chang had been nothing like this. This was pleasure beyond description, and he couldn't get enough of her.

When Harry had begun kissing her, Ginny had been shocked. She had never expected that to happen. How it had happened, she wasn't quite sure. But it had and now that it had, she couldn't stop. She had wondered so many times what it would be like to kiss Harry, but she had never imagined anything that compared to this. Her whole body was alive and awake. She was aware of nothing but him and her need for him. Her hands were in his hair, trailing down his back, and she was kissing him back with an intensity that rivalled his when he was chasing after the snitch. His hand was behind her neck and the other was feeling her body up and down, sending shivers all over. She wasn't complaining…

Just as suddenly as it had begun it ended. They both broke apart and gasped for air, looking at each other with wide eyes. Ginny was the first to speak. "What was that?" she gasped.

"I—I'm sorry…" he stammered.

Ginny quickly put her hand over his mouth. "If you dare apologise for that, I'll never speak to you again, Harry Potter," she said seriously.

"Then you're not upset?" he asked.

"How could I be upset by that?" she gasped. "I'm just surprised, that's all… I—I didn't know you felt that way about me."

"Neither did I," he said truthfully. "Ginny?" he asked hesitantly.

"Hummm?" she asked lazily, staring at him with heavily lidded eyes.

"Can we do that again?"

Instead of answering, she pulled him close and effectively rendered him speechless.