A/n: thanx for the reviews! Here's another installment of double F!
C H A P T E R S E V E N
"Harry Potter, sir!"
A squeaky voice cried at the foot of Harry's bed the next morning. Dobby the House-Elf was standing there with a towel draped over his arm.
"Hi, Dobby," greeted Harry, sitting up. "What are you doing here?"
"Dobby has come to help Harry Potter during his stay at Hogwarts, sir. Harry Potter's breakfast is waiting downstairs."
"Thanks very much," Harry said, taking the towel Dobby handed him and heading for the lavatory.
---
After grooming himself to meet the day's challenges, Harry trudged into the common room. Ginny was already there, tucking into a plate of bacon and eggs. She greeted him with a small smile and motioned to the platter across from her. They ate in silence.
At five minutes 'til eleven, Dobby and Winky appeared to take their plates. Ginny seized her purse and followed Harry out of the portrait hole.
He was walking in a very determined sort of way. McGonagall was a very demanding professor, and Harry was going to give this Apparation training everything he had; Ginny could see it in the way his arms swayed, the way he held his head.
McGonagall was waiting at her doorway, examining her watch.
"Right on time, Potter,"
"Good morning, Professor," he replied, striding to the center of the classroom. All the desks had been cleared away, except for McGonagall's. Ginny took her seat behind the desk and folded her hands neatly upon it.
"Ah, yes, Ms. Weasley," said Professor McGonagall, turning around to face her. "I am asking that you organize these papers into their respective folders, alphabetically and by student year. They shall be filed into this cabinet," she concluded, pointing to a filing cabinet against the back wall. Ginny nodded her understanding, opened her purse, and retrieved a pair of black-framed reading glasses.
The professor turned back to Harry.
"Ready, are you?"
"Yes, Professor."
"Very well." Professor McGonagall drew out her wand and conjured two chairs from thin air.
"Have a seat, Potter."
Harry sat.
"The first thing you must understand about Apparition is that it is not to be taken lightly. Learn a lesson from Draco Malfoy; he was fined nearly sixty-five Galleons, and those two dim-witted cronies of his, Crabbe and Goyle, ran a serious splinching risk." McGonagall's nostrils flared as she took a deep breath. Harry saw Ginny smirking over her shoulder.
"Nevertheless…Now, we are going to begin with one of the basics of Apparition. It is most important that you are relaxed. Those too tense beforehand are more apt to end up in the wrong place…"
---
The first day of instruction had been easy enough, but Harry had a sinking feeling that it was bound to get harder once he mastered the basics. He mulled over this while walking down to the Quidditch pitch with Ginny, broomsticks and chest in hand.
He led her to the middle of the field, kicked open the chest, and pulled out the Quaffle.
"What exactly am I supposed to show you?" he asked.
"Well," replied Ginny slowly, "you've been on the team for five years now; there have got to be some tactics you can teach me."
"Right," said Harry, thinking back to Oliver Wood's many writhing diagrams. "I guess we can start with basic swerving."
They both kicked roughly off the ground and hovered about ten feet in the air.
"Now, there's a certain way you want the tail end of your broom to move when you swerve. If you do it right it'll give you a small burst of speed." He demonstrated the movement and had her copy it. She did so perfectly.
As the sun began to set and they flew around the pitch, Professor McGonagall looked out of her classroom window. She thought of what Albus Dumbledore would say if he were here:
"They are beginning to fly."
---
After the sun had really fallen, Harry and Ginny retreated to the common room, windswept and pink-cheeked. Harry sank down into an armchair as Ginny climbed upstairs. She returned with several records, a player, and a clump of blackish material tucked under her arm. Setting all these items on the nearest table, Ginny wheedled Harry out of his seat.
She was now dressed in a pair of tight denim shorts and a white tee-shirt, her hair still in a ponytail from Quidditch practice. Harry looked down at himself, lifted one foot onto the chair, and began to roll up the cuffs of his jeans.
"You don't need to do that," Ginny said, laughing gently.
"Why not? I'll trip on them otherwise," Harry replied rationally.
"I know, but the thing is, you can't see much movement in jeans," and she brandished the black clump at him.
"You're not going to change into that here?" he asked, eyeing the material as it unfolded itself and fell into the shape of a skirt.
"Of course not!" cried Ginny, scandalized.
"You are going upstairs to put this on."
a/n: omg Ginny. You evil woman! And yes, I know I am evil as well for ending this chappie on a cliffie, but it builds up suspense, you see, and encourages people to review!
Muchas Gracias!
HiPa loves you!