Gemna sunk to the floor against the wall as tears dripped down her face. Harry walked over and knelt down next to her. "Oh, come on Gemna. There's nothing to cry about. I can talk to snakes, too, you know. Sure it's a little odd, but everyone already knows I can do it and they don't really care anymore. It's a unique talent and I've come to accept it as a gift. If you don't want me to, I won't tell anyone. Don't worry. Everything will be okay."
"N-no," she sobbed. "It w-wont. You don't understand Harry." Gemna took a deep breath as an attempt to end her crying, but it didn't help much. "I'm such a freak! I don't use a wand and I'm a parselmouth, among other things. For example, I can levitate myself. Bet you wouldn't have guessed that either. See? I'm not as perfect as everyone thinks I am!"
"Gemna! Levitating is cool! You shouldn't be ashamed of it. You have many gifts. Not curses. Gifts are meant to be used. The only reason you have them is to do great things." Harry smiled at her.
"Well," she said as her tears gradually decreased, "I know you've used your gifts well. Your great intuition, courage, and your snake-communicating ability has proved very helpful for everyone. I mean, you've defeated Lord Voldemort five times before you even left school! There are aurors who haven't done that. I guess you're right. Of course, you won't tell anyone anything I tell you, right? I mean, Hermione does know I can levitate and I even taught her a basic way to do so, but I don't want it spreading like my Indegica."
"Of course I won't tell anyone. You have my word." Harry hugged her for a moment before helping her up. As they walked to Potions, he said, "Hey, do you think you could teach me to levitate sometime?"
She giggled. "Sure."
Harry and Gemna sat down in desks next to Hermione and Ron just as Professor Snape came in. He was looking his usually angry self today, nothing unusual. Of course, he was eager to assign work right away without so much as a "Good morning." "Open your books to page three and pair up. Everyone is to make the potion listed and bring it up to my desk by the end of class. Get to work," Snape snarled and slammed himself down at his desk. "Oh, and Miss Rodemlovt, please come here for a moment."
Gemna winked at Harry who smiled back. Harry walked over to the cabinet and selected the proper ingredients for the potion, while Gemna returned to a strait face, approached Snape, and said, "You wanted to see me sir?"
"Yes. I was told you're Indegic. Will you still be able to work with the rest of the class?" he asked almost nicely.
"Yes Professor. And Hermione and I have already read through the book and I believe I can do everything in it without a wand."
"Well, if you have any difficulty, please see me. Some of the things you will be doing in this class are not in the book. Now please return to Mr. Potter. He seems rather anxious to begin the assignment with you."
She laughed a little and said, "Okay. Thank you." As she walked over to Harry she asked, "So what are we making today?"
"It's titled 'Liquid Roses'. It says 'after the potion is complete, simply pour the potion on the rose petal and you should have a beautiful bouquet of roses!' I already got all the ingredients. You want to start?"
"Sure. 'add three tablespoons of juice from grapes and four from strawberries.'" Gemna poured in the seven tablespoons and handed the book back to Harry.
"Let's see," he said as he picked up a jar. "'Put in three rose roots and a cherry blossom leaf.' Okay, one cherry blossom…and …one…two…three rose roots!" Harry laughed as he added the ingredients.
Seven minutes of adding and mixing later, the potion turned a brilliant blue and Harry poured it into a vial. "Come on, let's bring this to the Professor. It looks like we're the first finished." As Gemna said this, Harry was surprised to look over at Ron and Hermione and see they were only up to the middle of the page. "Professor Snape," Gemna said. "We're finished."
"Already?" he said, giving Harry a suspicious glare. "Well, let's just see how poorly you did. At least it's the right color." Snape pulled out a glass vase with a single rose petal at the bottom "Go ahead, poor the vial on it and say the incantation." He looked anxious to see them fail.
Gemna poured the vial with one hand while waving the other and saying, "Rozaho Boquera!" The vase immediately filled with the most gorgeous roses Harry had ever seen.
"Wow," he said. "I didn't expect it to work that well." Apparently Snape didn't either.
"Congratulations Mr. Potter. Maybe if you let Gemna tutor you, you could get a decent grade this year. I'm willing to give you both an A on this one. Here," He said as he handed Harry the roses. "I have no use for these. Except for this one rose petal." He pulled out one before letting go of the whole thing. "Now return to your seats and get started on the homework. Ten lines minimum on the uses of this potion."
Harry and Gemna returned to their seats. "Here Gemna." Harry offered her the flowers. "I want you to have them."
She took the bouquet from his hands and smiled. "Thank you Harry! That's so sweet of you." Gemna leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed and they began on their homework.
Through the rest of the class, they looked up every time someone tried to get their potion to work. Hermione and Ron pulled an A- because theirs were too small. Malfoy and Parvati got the same thing because though they were the right size, they were wilting. Seamus and Dean got a C when theirs came out as merely stems. Crabbe and Goyle's were only thorns, giving them F's. The four of them laughed as they saw all the other students make fools of themselves. For once, they weren't the ones to be embarrassed. As Neville's potion exploded on contact with the petal, the bell rang and it was time for lunch.
"I think I may actually enjoy that class this year," Ron said as they sat down for lunch. Ginny had just walked over.
"What class?" she asked.
"Potions," Harry answered for him. "All four of us got A's today. It was a potion to make roses."
Gemna and Hermione showed Ginny the roses they got to keep. "Wow, those are nice. We had to pick roses that shoot thorns today in Herbology. And in Transfiguration we turned bees into birds. Well, some of us did. Luna and I got it. But Michele and Zenna ended up getting stung. They're in the hospital wing right now. How was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Please tell me it's not another Professor-from-Hell."
"Don't worry," Hermione said. "She seems very nice. At least it's not that Umbridge woman." She fake-shivered and they all laughed. "We practiced a blocking spell against muggle fighting. Gemna got it perfect."
Gemna was staring down at her sandwich. She didn't really want to talk about what had happened.
Of course, Ron couldn't take a hint. "That was so cool the way you did it without a wand!" He exclaimed. Harry and Hermione gave him an evil glare.
"What?!" Ginny's jaw dropped. "What do you mean 'no wand'?"
"Just what I said!" he blurted out. "Gemna's Indentic!"
"That's Indegic," Gemna sighed. "It means I can do magic without a wand. It's no big deal."
"No big deal? Have you thought of how useful it is not to need a wand? You never have to worry about it being lost or broken or stolen!" Ginny was ecstatic even though it wasn't her who had such a gift.
She looked to Harry for the strength not to be bothered by it. "You're right Ginny. I guess I never thought of that. So where are we going after lunch?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all answered at the same time. "Care of Magical Creatures."
As the group of sixth year students herded over to Hagrid's hut, there was monotonous gossip over Gemna and Harry. Apparently, someone had seen him give her the roses and receive a kiss in exchange. Neither of them minded hearing the rumors, though Malfoy was rather devastated. "G'afternoon everyone," Hagrid said emerging from behind his home. "Nice ter see ya all again. You been findin' yer way all right 'round here, Gemna?" The entire class turned to her as she nodded. "Good. Well then, if ya all'll follow me this way…."
He led the group behind his house to where they could actually sit on benches. "A little donation from the Ministry," he said as everyone reluctantly took seats. "Now, today we're gonna learn how to make Orbees. Thaz right, yer all are gonna be making 'em. Orbees can of course reproduce on der own, but they can also be homemade. So take out yer books, the one titled Creature Creation: Creating Creatures and Creature Parts by that Jared Mace fella', and open ter page seventeen. Everythin' yull need ter know should be thur and all the ingredients are on the table thur." He pointed to a table against the fence. "I suggest working in groups of two ter four. You'll be needin many hands for this project. If yer creature is created successfully by the end of class, I'll give ya a cage fer 'em and the instructions in the book will give ya a nice new pet that Dumbledore says ya all can keep in yer dorms. Well, ya best get started now."
As expected, Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Gemna formed a group and by the end of class, they had successfully created an Orbee. It was about the size of a compact disk, had no legs and therefore bounced as its mode of transportation, used an antenna as a hand, and made cute noises in a squeaky little voice. It looked like it was tie-dyed purple and orange and it had these big adorable green eyes. Hagrid was pleased to give them each an A and a cage to keep them in. Gemna had no trouble convincing the others to let Hagrid keep it instead of having it locked up in their room. He accepted and gave Gryffindor ten points for being so considerate of the creature. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Parvati had made a black and green one that had red evil eyes and a creepy, deep voice. Hagrid did have to give them an A and a cage, no matter how freakish it looked. However, they were seeing what kind of spells they could do on it when it exploded and globs of Orbee went everywhere. Their A dropped to a C, Slytherin lost ten points, and they received detention to clean it up. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Gemna laughed all the way to Transfiguration.
"Welcome back to another year of Transfiguration," Professor McGonagall said as she stood before the class. "If you have Orbees from Hagrid or roses from Professor Snape, please set them aside. We will be needing lots of space today." There was some brief rustling as students stuffed away thorn filled roses and squeaking Orbees. "Now, you will be transforming sand into hourglasses today. I said you will need a lot of room because these hourglasses are for the Ministry and they would like them to be three feet tall; we'll need to move the desks as well as pair up."
Though the students were getting annoyed with working in groups today, they moved the desks aside and took out Shannon J. Graves' book Transfiguration, You, and Others. Hermione and Gemna were glad they read it the night before. However, they decided to return to the partners they had earlier so Harry and Ron wouldn't fail.
They opened to the page on the board and brought half a gallon of sand per pair to their spots on the floor. "So we just got to put the sand in a diamond shape and say the incantation?" Harry asked rhetorically. "Sounds simple. Can I try first?"
"Sure, go ahead." Gemna smiled and stepped aside.
Harry moved the sand into a flat diamond, took out his wand, waved it in the shape of an hourglass over the sand, and said, "Tomgleshai!" The same didn't form an hourglass; it simply spread to form a circle in the center. "Um, maybe you should do it," he said nervously as he stepped aside.
She giggled. "Not to be rude, Harry, but I think you said it wrong. If I'm reading this correctly I think it should go more like this…." Gemna arranged the sand back into a diamond and waved her hand diagonally up to the left, down, and up to the right. "Toumglecei!" she shouted. A perfect three-foot-tall hourglass stood where the sand once was.
"Excellent job Miss Rodemlovt!" Professor McGonagall said as she rushed over and picked up the assignment. "This is how your hourglasses should come out, class." she told everyone. "Exactly like this." She then knelt down on the floor to where they were and whispered, "Mr. Potter, you did make a nice attempt, but you must learn to pronounce things the correct way. And I'm glad, Miss Rodemlovt, that you had no difficulty with the incantation." The two of them knew what their teacher was talking about; once again, Indegica.
"Thank you, Professor," Gemna responded. "Actually, I probably would have been too nervous to do it, had it not been for Harry. He was very supportive in all the other classes today."
"That was very nice of you Mr. Potter. It sounds like you've been going through enough lately. Why don't both of you skip the homework tonight? I'll just list it as an excused in the grade book." Professor McGonagall smiled, stood up, and walked away with the hourglass.
Harry and Gemna got up, as well, and smiled at each other. "I guess this means we'll have a lot of free time. We got all the other assignments done during the other classes. You didn't have to mention me, though. You're the one who made the hourglass," Harry told her.
"Harry, don't be so modest. You know I'd probably still be in tears now if it wasn't for you." Gemna hugged Harry tightly for what seemed like forever to him. His face turned bright red and the rest of the class had definitely noticed. Gemna then went to her desk and returned it to its spot on the floor. Harry waited a moment before doing this. He didn't want to let the moment go.
After they had packed their stuff, Gemna sat down and began to reread the book while Harry walked over to Hermione and Ron who kept making only half an hourglass. "Ron! Will you just let me do it?" Hermione said agitatedly.
"No Hermione! I can do it myself! I just…I just need more sand!' Ron ran to the cauldron of sand and took another half gallon. He tried the incantation again and this time sand flew everywhere.
"Ah! Ron!" Hermione screamed at him. "You got sand all over me! Give me that!" She took the miniature cauldron and filled it with a half gallon of sand. Then she repeated the steps Gemna had done earlier, shouted "Toumglecei!" and glared at him when a perfect hourglass appeared.
"Very nice," Professor McGonagall said. "Miss Granger, you get an A. Mr. Weasley, B for your stubbornness." She turned and walked away with the hourglass.
Ron sighed and tried to forget about his grade in comparison to his three friends'. "So what was that all about?" he asked Harry.
"I think she just wants you not to be such a glory hog on assign…." Harry started to say.
"No," Hermione interrupted. "He means that hug ten minutes ago."
"Oh," Harry blushed. "She talked to me about something before and she just gave me a hug for it. It's nothing, really."
"What did she talk to you about?" Ron had completely forgotten about the grade he recieved.
"I don't think she'd want me to…."
"Harry, we're just as much friends with her as you are. Well, maybe not after that hug and the kiss in Potions," Hermione giggled. "Just tell us. You know we won't tell a soul."
He sighed. "This place isn't safe. After dinner tonight I'll talk to Gemna and we can find a safe place to discuss it."
"Well, if it's that serious, we can wait. Right Ron?" Hermione glared at him, knowing he was about to protest.
"Fine. I'll wait." He mumbled something and went to pack up.
Everyone was very quiet at dinner, except for Ginny and Gemna. They were anxious to find out what was going on with their new friend. "What's up with you guys? You're eating like you haven't had food for a week!" Gemna asked.
Harry leaned over and whispered to Gemna, "Gemna, they want to know about the thing we were talking about after first hour. Can we tell them after dinner?"
"Alright," she whispered back. "But no more than them! Okay?" Harry nodded and they continued eating.
"So how were your other classes?" Ginny asked.
"We made the most adorable creatures in Hagrid's class!" Gemna told her. "They're called Orbees. We could have kept them, but we felt that we shouldn't keep it locked up in our room. Hagrid said he'd take care of her for us so we could visit her. Ron named it Oregana. That's really a nice name Ron."
"Tchaks," he said with a mouth full of food. Gemna knew he meant "thanks."
"How about your Transfiguration class?" Ginny asked Gemna.
"We made hourglasses out of sand for the Ministry of Magic. Why do they want hourglasses?" Gemna asked openly.
"Who knows? That place is screwed up." Ginny giggled.
"Ginny!" Ron swallowed his food to yell at his sister. "You shouldn't use words like that!"
"Oh please Ron," she said as she rolled her eyes. "You say a lot worse when Mum and Dad aren't around. Like I remember this one time I was walking past your room and you said…."
Ron put his hand over Ginny's mouth to stop her from telling anymore. "Okay! I'll lay off!" Everyone laughed and they finished their dinners.
When they arrived in the common room, Harry said, "Okay, the safest place is our room. None of the other guys are back yet and the walls are sound proof I think." The others agreed and they headed to Ron and Harry's dorm room.
"What's this about?" Ginny asked Hermione.
"Gemna and Harry talked about something earlier and they will only tell us in private," she explained. They all sat down on beds. "Your room is very, erm…messy compared to ours," Hermione said semi-repulsed. Clothes weren't put away, drawers were open, and beds were unmade.
"What do you expect?" Ron said. "We're guys. We define messy. Don't worry. We clean it every few weeks." They all laughed.
"Anyway," Harry said, locking the door so no one would interrupt. "Gemna and I were talking today after we left Defense Against the Dark Arts. You know, about her being Indegic and Gemna said there's something else that even Dumbledore doesn't know."
"What?" all three asked together.
Gemna looked at Harry, then at the floor. "I'm a parselmouth."
"Oh my god! Indegic and a parselmouth? Wow, you're really gifted!" Ron's face lit up as if he'd just met the most perfect person on Earth.
"Well, that's what Harry said. I felt really bad about it. I mean, remember what everyone thought about you when the fact that you could talk to snakes got out? If I tell people, they'll think I'm a freak! Not that I think you are, Harry." Gemna blushed.
"It's okay," he said. "Look, you guys can't tell a soul. Indegic, parselmouth, levitation, all that's got to be a sec…."
"Levitation?" Ron interrupted. "You mean you can fly without a broom, too?"
"Oh, you can fly? I thought it was only that time you were floating in your room," Hermione blurted.
Gemna shoved her face in a pillow on whoever's bed she was sitting on. "Sorry Gemna. We didn't mean to!" Hermione walked over and sat next to her. "You're just so perfect, it's amazing. How could we not go on and on about it?"
She took the pillow off her face revealing it to be soaked in tears. "You guys think it's so amazing. Harry knows what I'm talking about; whether he says it or not, he knows. Just because you have certain abilities, people judge you right away. I hate it!" She began to sob on Hermione's shoulder.
"Aw, Gemna," Harry said as he walked over. "I do know what you mean. Don't worry, your secret's safe with us. And levitation isn't that big a deal. I mean it's cool and all, but like you said, anyone can learn it. Hell, if you ever need extra money, you could open classes."
Gemna immediately stopped crying and looked up. "Really?"
"Um, yeah sure. I think that could work," Ron said as he came over.
"Isn't there one of those Hogsmeade trips coming up?" Ginny added as she sat down on the bed across from her with Ron.
"Yeah, there is…Gemna, what if we told you there's a secret room in the school where you could charge anybody whatever you want to learn to levitate?" Harry asked.
"I'd say get me a map!" Gemna laughed.
"We actually have one," Harry told her as she stopped laughing. He pulled out a piece of parchment from under his bed and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He then handed Gemna the paper as she watched five dots appeared with their names by them. "It's called the Marauder's Map." Just then, Harry heard someone coming towards the room. "Ron, you get the door. We can discuss this again later. Mischief managed!" Harry said as he grabbed the map back and tapped it with his wand. He got it back under his mattress just in time for Seamus and Dean to come in. "Hey guys," Harry said calmly.
"Uh, hey," Dean said as the two of them looked at the girls. "Dude, what are you guys and three girls doing' in here with the door closed? Wait, don't answer that."
"Nothing happened," Ron said in an offended tone. "We were just talking about what happened in class today. We wanted to talk in a place with less people then the common room."
"Whatever. Gemna," Seamus said, "that was so cool! You got all the assignments perfect without a wand!"
"Yeah, that was awesome!" Dean added.
"Um, thanks. Well, we better be going to bed. We'll see you guys tomorrow." Gemna, Ginny, and Hermione gave the guys hugs goodnight and left to bed.
"Man, you guys are lucky!" Dean said after he knew the girls were out of earshot. "You two get to hang with them all day. Seamus and I would kill to have girls hanging with us as much as they do with you. Especially Gemna. She's hot!"
Harry bit his lip and Ron blushed. "They're just friends," he said.
"Yeah, and Ginny's my sister. If I don't be nice to her, I'll get another howler from Mum." They all laughed with Ron.
"But still," Seamus added, "You guys are lucky. And I think Gemna fancies you, Harry. She kissed you in Potions and hugged you in Transfiguration."
"No, she was just upset about something and I comforted her about it. It was just a way to say thank you." Harry did wish it were more though. Ron wished it were him.
"Well, it's late, isn't it?" Ron said, trying to get away from his thoughts of Gemna. "We should go to bed." The other three agreed. They got changed for bed, got into bed, but they stayed awake for hours more talking about girls.