"Harry Potter and the Brethren of Ares"
Chapter 19: Panic
A strong smell of petrol attacked his nostrils, sunlight hit the crease of his closed eyes, and his bladder began to dance in his stomach. Groaning loudly, the Boy-Who-Lived struggled to his feet and into the loo. After ending his bowel's rendition of The Lord of the Dance, Harry trotted back to his bed.
"Mornin', Gin." Ginny smiled and nodded at him, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. She looked down at the bed and picked at the coverlet, a dark red blush staining her cheeks and nose. It registered that she was embarrassed about something. "Ginny, what's the matter?"
She jumped slightly. "Nothing, nothing, nothing! Why would anything be wrong?" He raised an eyebrow. She sighed in frustration.
"Jesus, now you're in DA teacher mode! I'm sorry, alright?"
"Sorry for what, Gin?"
She huffed. "You know what."
Harry plopped down onto his bed. "I hate it when women do that. What do I know?"
She leaned back against her pillows. "I'm sorry for acting like I'm your mother!"
He blinked at her.
"You're slow today, Potter. This year, I've been condescending and a prick and I've literally slapped you around and you've been all nice to me!"
He swallowed. "Err...."
"Alright, Harry." She blew her hair out of her face before speaking again. "I'll spell it out for you, as it is rather early in the morning. I'm sorry for lording over you, and pretending to be some hero. Ok?"
Harry thought it would be wise to nod and say ok. Therefore, he nodded, and said, "Ok."
Ginny nodded back. "Good then. I'm going back to sleep." She pulled her blankets over her head and turned on her side, facing away from both him and the window.
"Women." He shook his head and settled into his bed.
He glanced over to see if Ginny had fallen asleep, and froze.
The Golden Apple was floating above Ginny. He watched in horror as it began to rotate slowly, before disappearing in a flash of silver dust.
Something prickled in the back of his mind. Something he should....remember?
"Harry?" Harry turned and blushed slightly, all thoughts of the apple flying from his mind. Padma was standing in the door of the Hospital Wing. Self-consciously flattening his hair, he beckoned to her. "Hey."
Padma grinned at him. "Hey." She perched on the side of his bed. He swung his legs around and sat next to her. She took a deep breath. "I'm glad you're alright.....you're alright, right?"
He laughed, and wrapped his arm around her back. "Never better. I'm glad you're alright."
She dropped her head onto his shoulder, smiling. "I could be worse, I suppose."
"You look alright from over here." She laughed, and playfully slapped his arm. He grinned.
Padma shook her head at him. "Are you on mature-oids, or something?"
Harry frowned, remembering that Ginny had said something similar the night before. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing, nothing."
"Oh, now I know something is wrong."
"Just you try and get it out of me."
He grinned devilishly. She gulped. "You asked for it, Patil!"
He grabbed her around the waist and began to tickle her sides. They fell back completely against the bed, laughing.
***
Harry slipped into the Library quietly. Madame Pince shushed him before he made any noise. Frowning, he traipsed the rest of the way across the floor and smiled when he saw Ron and Hermione in a secluded corner table, as far away as was possible from Madame Pomfrey's desk. He paused, unsure if he should intrude or not. His two best friends were sitting very close together, and were whispering fervently.
Just as Harry had decided to let them be, Hermione looked up and saw him. They waved him over. "Harry!" Ron hissed. "Something weird is going on!"
Harry nodded. "Duh."
Ron rolled his eyes. "No, more than ever. Hermione?"
Hermione nodded, and pushed a piece of paper towards Harry. It was a list that switched back and forth from Ron's untidy scrawl to Hermione's elegant script. He picked it up, and began to read.
List of Odd Occurrences
Golden Apple Harry sings Neville panicking today in class Spew Takes Effect- House Elves Strike Harry's Lack of Scar Pains Again, Harry SINGING The Odd Behavior of the Death Eaters The circle around You-Know-Who Lack of Death Eater Activity (excluding attack on Hogwarts) Broken Friendships (Parvati & Lavender most prominent example)
"Hmm..." murmured Harry. "Not many."
"Not many what, Harry?"
"Not many weird things. Just ten."
Ron and Hermione stared at him. "Well, I'm just saying!"
"Well, there's technically seven, because Ron put you're singing twice, which isn't weird at all, and quite frankly, there is nothing strange about the House Elves smmph!"
Ron had clapped a hand over her mouth. "Her-my-oh-nee! It's weird! Get over it!"
"Hermione, despite your House Elf obsession, there is something wrong here. An apple that's made of gold doesn't randomly appear out of no where."
"Well, it hasn't appeared recently."
Something clicked. "Yes, it has. Earlier today, in the Hospital Wing, it appeared again. Ginny was acting strange, and I noticed the Golden Apple. It slipped my mind because-" Harry's face colored and he stopped speaking.
Ron grinned. He elbowed Harry's side. "You got distracted by...someone?"
Harry let his hair fall over his face. "Yes. Padma came in."
Ron's face fell. "Oh.
Hermione rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'Boys.'
Harry frowned. "I feel like I should know something..."
"Know what?"
His frown deepened. "I don't know. Hence the not knowing."
Ron whacked the back of his head. "Does that help?" Harry scowled at him before he realized that Ron had done it in order to coyly slip his arm around the back of Hermione's chair. He rolled his eyes...then blinked.
"A book."
"Gee, could you vague that up a bit for me?"
"Shut it, Ron. I really need to figure this damned thing out!"
Hermione looked alarmed. "Harry..."
"Hermione..."
"Harry, the Golden Apple is floating above your head."
Harry looked up, just as the apple spun into a silver galaxy and disappeared. "Lovely."
Ron stood up, determined. "We must do something about this!"
"I've got it!" Hermione crowed triumphantly, before darting off into the stacks. Ron slumped, looking anti-climatic.
"Nice try, mate."
Hermione scurried back a few minutes later, and slammed a large tome onto the table, earnings groans from her best friends and an annoyed glare from the frazzled Librarian.
"Greek Myths!"
"That's it!" Harry was a bit dizzy. "That's the book I read!" His voice dropped to a very quiet whisper. "Voldemort- He's summoning the Greek god Ares!"
Ron and Hermione both nodded. Ron looked determined. "We have to tell someone about this."
"And...who would believe us."
"Bill."
***
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Reviewer Responses:
Wowsergirl: yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!
Kim13: Sorry about THIS slow update! H/G is always cute. But, angsty H/G is more fun.
HAZZAGRIFF: Funkeh Penname, btw.
Apinda: Indeed.
PhoenixPadfoot89: YOU SHALT NOT GET THINE NOTES! *hides them* lol.
Booka: R/Hr ROX!
EriEka127: You're not supposed to get the dream! lol
Slycat-Blaze1: I'm alright! Although, I'm having trouble with that updating part....
Silverleaf: Thank you for an honest review. A good swift kick in the rear is, more often than not, more helpful than a pat on the back. However, I'm going to have to defend myself. I'm not flaming you as a response! I don't think of my Harry as a crybaby. I think of him as slightly....deranged, I suppose, though that sounds derogatory. I meant for him to be experiencing a long-term nervous breakdown, but as the story progressed, that became less and less clear.
I think you've missed some things as well. I am perfectly aware that Ginny didn't know what she was doing. As of Chapter 18, and now in Chapter 19, Ginny states that Harry saved her, she didn't truly survive. She did survive a big ordeal, though. In the end, she knew what she had done, and tried to stop it. She lived through it, and found out that she had almost killed people, however unintentionally. This isn't Book 5. In this, Harry does have self-pity, as mostly everyone does. However, as I'm sure you picked up in this chapter, something happened in the battle that is making him act maturely. It's nothing bad, he just had such a shock in it that his brain realized how he was acting, I suppose. There's nothing more to read into.
Hey, I'm a Harry/Ginny fan! However, I do not where you are coming from. A lot of H/G fics are Harry abruptly falling in love with her for a very material reason. That's not the way I see it. The way us true shippers are (and I learned this as a lesson) is Harry should not even realize that he is falling for her, and not even know what he feels for her, really, until after a long while. Thank you for all the honesty! I hope you give your opinion again J
Szihuoko: Yes, being attacked by a knife-wielding homicidal under-a-spell friend of yours and desperate enough to do anything to wake her up....sounds like a fairy tale to me...
SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW UPDATES! SORRY!
~Merusa