Chapter 11

"Ginny?!"

I suddenly woke up from a deep, happy sleep to find Ron yelling in my face. At first, I didn't understand why but then I realized that I had fallen asleep on the couch. I quickly lifted my head from Harry's chest, causing him to wake up; and, realizing what was going on, he immediately removed his arm away from around my shoulders.

"H-hi Ron. Sleep well?" I asked stupidly. Harry just sat beside me, obviously feeling exceedingly awkward.

"What were you – Why were you – What's going – Ginny what the bloody hell is wrong with you?" Ron finally managed to get out. "And you too!" he added to Harry.

"Nothing is wrong with us!" I snapped at Ron.

"Well then why the bloody hell did I find you two... here."

"I'm sorry Ron, but it just so happens that people fall asleep! It's not like anything happened!" I felt my cheeks turn pink as I said this.

"Well may I ask why you both happened to 'fall asleep' there last night?"

"Ron, stop being so ridiculous; neither of us could sleep and so we gave each other company until... well... we fell asleep."

"You sure did," Ron mumbled.

"Shut up Ron, you're being ridicules." After Harry said this, he unexpectedly walked out of the common room.

"You know, you really are being unreasonable," I said, matter-of-factly as I sat back down on the couch.

"Well excuse me if you find it odd that when I come into a room and find my best friend and my sister sleeping on a couch together I get a little shocked; especially since I know you happen to be in love with him," he nodded his head towards the portrait that Harry had just walked out of.

My heart stopped beating for a moment and I became tense, although I didn't let Ron know it. "Please Ron, I'm not in first year any more," I responded coolly.

"Oh come on! You're madly in love with him!" Ron nearly yelled, although he did have a strange, joking smile set on his face.

"And since when are you such a love expert? You've had even less experience then I have." Ron seemed a bit hurt after what I had said, but quickly covered it up.

"I'm not a love expert.... I just am with you," Ron said as if he were a three-year-old who thought he knew everything.

"Well, you're wrong!" I said forcefully, and I ran out of the common room and made my way to breakfast.

I had nearly entered the great hall feeling very angry when I decided that I wasn't really hungry and would rather go out and take a walk around the lake. Quickly, I ran back to my dormitory to grab my coat, ignoring Ron who was still sitting stupidly on the couch.

When I was finally outside, I wondered why I had the sudden urge to take a walk in the first place. I never really liked taking walks. I had always found them boring; but then again, in the past I had often escaped outside for a while when I felt like I needed some time alone, some time to think.

Although all I wanted to do when I left the Gryffindor Common Room minutes ago was join Harry at breakfast, I suddenly found myself never wanting to go inside again, never wanting to see anyone ever again.

My mind replayed every detail of the night before. Everything, from when I got out of bed to get my book, till watching Harry until I finally fell asleep. I remembered his face so well. He looked so sad, so lonely.

I thought about how unfair it really was for him, how truly courageous he was, how easy it would have been for him to turn over to the dark side and leave all his pain behind. My heart suddenly felt heavy with guilt for things I couldn't control. Why was I blessed with a big family, whose members all loved me, while the only people Harry had were his friends? Why did Harry have to pay such a price for fame, the title of a hero, and a fate he couldn't even control? He was destined to defeat (or be defeated by) You-Know-Who, and I didn't understand how he could seem so calm lately. And it suddenly occurred to me that the fate of the Wizarding world lay in the hands of Harry Potter; but what if the boy who lived ended up becoming the boy who lived and then, well, died? Harry was obviously born to fight against evil. His courage, determination, and good morals among other things made that obvious. Still, he was born to fight, to at least make a difference, but what if that was it? What if that was all he could do and... well... what if he...got defeated before he could win?

I suddenly realized how cold it was and I began to shiver to a point where I could hardly walk. Thoughts of Harry and You-Know-Who kept on swimming in and out of my mind, each one scaring me even more until I felt hot tears brush against my ice-cold cheeks. A fear that I had never felt before was suddenly growing inside of me; a sudden realization of how fast the end of Harry's seventh year was approaching, how soon the prophecy would expire.

Yet there had not been a single sign of You-Know-Who. Could Harry's prophecy, perhaps, not be true? It was, after all, told by Professor Trelwanny.

I continued walking, trying to get my mind off the prophecy. After a while, I succeeded and my mind moved on to wondering how Ron could be so sure I was in love with Harry. I hadn't told anyone, so no one could have blabbed on me.

That led me to another thought. Why was it so important to me to hide my feelings for Harry? Why did it matter so much, especially to my own brother, who apparently knew anyway. What did it matter, if I was know for liking Harry in one way, or another?

I continued wondering for a while, not getting any closer to an answer when I heard my name being called. I turned around and saw Hermione running to catch up to me

"H-hi Hermione," I said, not certain of what to expect from her.

"God, Ginny. Don't sound so scared of me."

I forced a laugh. "Sorry, I just didn't expect you." Hermione, never one to depend on simple words, examined me for a moment.

"Did you like the notebook I sent you?" she finally said.

"Yeah, I love it," I sincerely stated, still suspicious of why she hadn't even said a single word about Krum yet.

There was silence between us for a moment while I wondered if I should bring up Krum and Hermione, who still thought I was acting strange, continued to try and figure me out.

"So... uh... did you miss Krum while you were away?" I asked slowly. Hermione let out a small, innocent laugh.

"Yeah, a whole lot," she said; although she had obviously mistaken my tone for sarcasm and replied to me very sarcastically herself. I decided that I might as well simply ask her.

"So, you don't, you know, like him... in that way anymore?" She let out another laugh. It was bigger this time, but just as unknowing.

"Ginny, are you mad? Since when am I the type to fancy someone so... so... stupid?"

"That's what I've been wondering for the past four months," I mumbled.

"Pardon?"

"Never mind" and I gave her a weak smile.

"Where are Harry and Ron?" She asked.

"I'm not sure. 20 minutes ago Ron was in the common room and Harry was at breakfast." Hermione then turned around and I followed her into the Great Hall where we found not Harry, but Ron eating. I sat down across from him, not saying a word.

"Hey, Ron," Hermione said cheerfully as she sat next to me.

"Hi...." Ron responded, suspiciously; or maybe it just sounded that way because he had a mouth full of food.

"What is it with both of you? You're acting as if I've poisoned your food."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't be surprised if you did after what I've seen from you this year," Ron told her.

"Okay, will someone please tell me what I've missed?"

"Well I thought you were going to say Krum," Ron shot at her.

Hermione looked from Ron, to me, then at Ron again.

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"Well you sure got over Krum fast," Ron said to Hermione, coldly.

"Got over him? I never fancied him!" She responded, disgusted.

Ron, on the other hand, was speechless. He simply stared at Hermione trying to find words to express his utter revulsion towards her. He looked quite funny, actually. Hermione, obviously noticing his strange expression, added: "Oh well all right, so I might have like him in fourth year, but that was ages ago! Big deal!"

"Well at least you didn't sleep with him," Ron half muttered.

"Ew!"

"Tell that to my sister. She slept with Harry last night."

"Ron! I did not sleep with Harry! The thought of it absolutely disgusts me!" Our conversation brought the smile back to Hermione's face.

"Oooo so I did miss something," she said, excitedly.

"Oh, see? You did miss Krum. You still do like him," Ron said sarcastically.

"Shut up and tell me what happened."

"She," Ron bobbed his head in my direction, "slept with Harry."

"I did not!" I stood up at this point, my cheeks felt as if they were on fire.

"Well I always knew you two would end up together, but don't you think you're taking things a little to fast? I mean, you have the rest of your lives," Hermione obviously realized Ron was exaggerating. "But seriously," she added, "Are you and Harry... you know, going out now?"

"No!" I said loudly, getting very irritated.

"Yeah, but she still slept with him," Ron seemed to be enjoying himself and for the first time, it occurred to me that Ron may just have been obsessed with mocking me about Harry and I because he knew it bugged me, not because he actually thought I really felt that way about him.

"Look, all that happened was that both Harry and I fell asleep on the couch. No big deal."

"Right."

"Where is Harry anyway?" I wasn't sure if Hermione asked this to change the subject or simply because she wanted to know. Maybe both.

Ron, unfortunately, ignored her. "You know, Ginny fancies Harry," he said matter-of-factly with a smirk on his face to Hermione, now I was sure he kept on doing this for his own sick enjoyment.

"Stop it Ron! I do not!" We went at it for quite some time, Hermione staying silent. Still, I couldn't help but notice that after a while, her smile changed from one of deep amusement to a smile of knowledge and satisfaction. I realized that, if Hermione believed that I did once again fancy Harry, there would be nothing anyone could do or say that would change her stubborn mind.

"Come on Hermione, lets go bring you bags up," I suddenly said and she and I got up.

"Honestly, Ron can be so... stuck in the past sometimes," but my lying skills weren't as sharp as they usually were because I knew that no matter how hard I tried, Hermione would see right through me.

"mmhm," she responded.

"What? He is!" For some reason, I didn't want to give up yet.

"Yeah, I know, your absolutely right," but I got the feeling she wanted me to know that she didn't believe me.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"Nope," she said simply after giving the password to the fat lady and dropping her bags onto the floor. We were now standing in the middle of the common room.

I looked into Hermione's warm, chestnut eyes for a moment and she looked directly back at me. After so many months, I finally felt that indescribable bond returning, the one I shared only with Hermione. I smiled at her. When she smiled back, I knew I wouldn't even have to bother asking her not to tell anyone.

"I'm going to go bring my stuff up and then we'll go and look for Harry and Ron so we can play two against two Wizards Chess," she said after a minute or two of silence.

"I call Ron as my partner!" I said, quickly.

"Oh, so now you're planning on getting along with Ron," Hermione said sarcastically as she picked up her bags.

I stood there and watched her walk up to her dormitory, realizing how much Hermione really meant to me, how much I had missed her for the past four months. I glanced out the window, and saw that snow had began falling gently upon the trees outside and suddenly, as I thought about how glad I was that Hermione was back to herself, everything I had been worrying about seemed to have disappeared. I felt a strong sense of relief and my heavy heart seemed to have lightened to the weight of a feather.

"Hermione?" I said, right before she entered her dormitory.

"Yes?" she turned around.

"Thanks," To tell the truth, I actually wasn't quite sure what I was thanking her for, but judging by her smile, she seemed to know.

Hermione went into the room and I went to sit on the couch thinking about nothing in particular when it occurred to me that Harry had probably left the common room so abruptly this morning because he expected me to quickly tag along so we could follow Krum around. When I didn't show up, he must have gone at it himself. My heart didn't feel quite as light anymore when I realized how stupid I was being. Hermione wasn't back to her old self! Well, she was, but it wouldn't last.

"Okay, lets go," Hermione interrupted my thought.

"Um, O-ok," I said to her, wondering if I should just tell her what Harry and I suspected. I decided I shouldn't yet.

Hermione and I were about to walk through the portrait of the fat lady, when someone else opened it first. It was Harry.

"Ginny! Where were you? We had to follow—Hermione! How was your vacation?" He noticed Hermione standing a few feet behind me just in time.

"Follow who?" She asked suspiciously.

"We were just going to look for you so we could play Chess. Have you seen Ron?" I said, in desperate need of a change in subject.

"No, but I call his team."

"Too late, Ginny already called him," said Hermione, obviously still wondering what Harry was talking about.

"No fair! You two can't stand each other at the moment!"

"I'm sure I'll manage. Besides, it's not as if he perfectly happy with you right now."

The portrait opened again and in came Ron. I noticed Harry cross his arms and turn slightly away from him.

"Hi Ron, we're going to play two on two Wizards Chess, and all of us want to be on your team, so you have to choose who you want," said Hermione very quickly.

"You," he automatically said to Hermione. He must have noticed the confusion upon all of our faces, we all knew Hermione wasn't that great a player, because he then added to Harry and I, "What? I'm mad at you two."

An hour later Ron and Hermione had won the game and Ron glared at Harry and me with a look of superiority upon his face. I decided I better say something before Ron had time to rub it in with words. "I'm hungry, I'm gonna go to lunch," which wasn't a lie, since I hadn't eaten breakfast.

I went out of the common room, leaving Harry, Ron and Hermione there. The portrait had nearly shut when I heard Harry say something.

"You're completely over reacting," he said, yet I heard a bit of embarrassment in his voice. He had the right to say this, though. Ron hadn't said a word to him through out the chess game.

"About what?" Hermione asked.

Unfortunately, the portrait had now closed. I quickly whispered the password and it opened again, mumbles of annoyance coming from the fat lady, but I didn't go in. I continued listening to the conversation between Harry, Ron, and Hermione, ignoring the fat lady's complaints.

"Ginny and I were talking on the couch last night and we ended accidentally falling asleep before we could make it back to our beds," Harry said, obviously not in the mood to get into it.

"Oh, that. Yes Ron, I agree. You really are over reacting," said Hermione.

"How would you know? You didn't see how they were... positioned this morning!" I had the urge to march in there and slap Ron, but I used all my will power to stay standing where I was.

"Ron! You're making it sound like... well... something a lot more than it was!" Said Harry, continuing to feel uncomfortable.

"How exactly were they 'positioned' as you put it, Ron?" asked Hermione dramatically, enjoying the conversation.

"She was lying on top of him-"

"Her head was leaning on me," Harry interrupted through what sounded to be gritted teeth. "Honestly Ron, What do you take me for? Do you really think I'd ever do anything like that especially with your sister?!" I ignored the feeling that an angry man had thrown a heavy stone through my heart, trying to focus more on the pain in Harry's voice and continued listening.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Ron, surprisingly, sounded very offended for me.

"It means- I- well I don't know! What do you want me to say? If I want to sleep with her, its not all right, if I don't want to sleep with her, that's not all right either! Make up your mind!"

Before Ron could say anything, Hermione jumped in. "You know Ron, you really have to stop being so over protective to Ginny,"

There was silence for a moment, and: "Do you really think that you have the right to tell me what I should do after the way you've been acting since September?" Ron sounded enraged.

"Ron, don't-"I heard Harry begin, but Hermione cut him off.

"What... what are you talking about?"

I figured now would be a good time to have finished my quick lunch. I walked in, not realizing that I was intruding on one of the last times the three of them would ever have a private conversation. When I got in, the fat lady purposely slammed herself behind me, making it clear to everyone that I had entered.

There was a sudden silence and the three of them stared at me as if they'd forgotten anyone else existed.

"Am I interrupting something?" I suddenly asked, innocently. Their zombie-like expressions disappeared and they all said no at the same time.

There was more silence, strangely awkward since we were all close friends. Siblings, in the case of me and Ron.

I glanced at all three of them. Hermione wore an expression of worry and wonder as she was probably wondering about Ron's last comment. Ron looked plain old angry with the world and Harry seemed... well... he just kept on looking from Ron to Hermione, seeming deep in thought, though I had no idea about what. I then started wondering if it was a mistake for me to interrupt their argument. I was in the middle of trying to think up a good excuse to get out again so that they could work things out when Harry spoke.

"Anyone up for a last snow ball fight of the season?" He asked, his cheery voice sounding very fake. We all agreed, although I don't think any of us really wanted to play in the snow at that moment.

I followed Harry outside; still wishing I would have let the three of them worked things out before I intruded.

We spent the rest of the afternoon having fun; or, at least, pretending to. As we threw snowballs and one another, forcing ourselves to laugh and using all of our energy to act happy, we all felt a bitter tension among us, although neither Harry, Hermione, Ron, nor I dared mention it, because we all knew – although perhaps subconsciously – that we wouldn't get many more chances for the four of us together, to have simple fun. This was also probably the reason that Harry, Ron and Hermione left the nasty comments they had for one another in the common room. We all knew that under normal circumstances, Ron and Hermione would bicker with each other under any situation.

At about eleven o'clock that night, both Ron and Hermione were ready to go to sleep, but Harry and I stayed seated on the couch were Ron had found us the morning before. When Harry saw the look on Ron's face, however, he too got up.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired too. 'Night," he said, faking a yawn.

"I'm not really tired. I'll stay here and read for a while," I said, looking directly at Harry.

Forcing cheery voices, we all bade each other goodnight and Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way upstairs.

I sat on the couch for twenty minutes, beginning to wonder if Harry understood that I was waiting for him. Finally, ten minutes later, he appeared.

"That took you long enough," I said, but not seriously, in something close to a whisper.

"I just wanted to be sure Ron was sleeping," he replied, throwing his invisibility cloak to me.

"Where exactly are we going?" I asked.

"Well, if Krum really is putting Hermione under some kind of spell, he can probably only do it at night when no one can catch him. I think we should just go look in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom."

"Okay, it's worth a try," I said, not feeling too hopeful.

We threw the cloak over us and quickly walked to the room, thankfully meeting no one along the way. When we got there, however, it was not Krum we saw, but someone else.

"Malfoy?!" Harry and both whispered, shocked.

As we walked closer we saw that it was true. There stood Draco Malfoy, searching frantically through a book and muttering curses under his breath.

"Why that little-" I began, remembering that time I had bumped into him and he had warned about Krum. Before I could finish, though, Harry nudged me in my rib.

"Whose there?" Malfoy turned around quickly, dropping the book he was looking through

Neither Harry nor I made a sound; still, after a minute, Malfoy picked up the book he was looking through and ran out of the room.

Harry threw the cloak away from us. "What was he doing here?"

"Do you think he's the one... doing this?" and I told Harry about what Malfoy had told me.

"And you believed him?" asked Harry, looking at me as if I were an idiot.

"Well, no... I mean, I never really gave it much thought," it was true. The incident had completely slipped my mind.

"Come here," whispered Harry, who had, by now, made his way to Krum's desk where Malfoy had been standing.

I walked over and stood next to Harry, following his gaze towards an open book, which was placed next to an old looking goblet filled with a purple liquid.

I picked up the book and read the page it was opened to. The page was titled "Obsessing Potion". I quickly turned the book around to see the title. It was called Love Potions A-Z

"Harry!" I said, excitedly. "I think Krum was looking for this book in the library last week!" I then told Harry about what had happened.

"But what about Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. Maybe they're in it together!" I said, an unexpected rush of excitement running through me.

"That would be a bit... weird," Harry responded not taking me very seriously.

I turned back to the page the book was open to and read.

Although this potion only lasts for forty-eight hours once it has been taken in, it has a very strong effect. This potion will cause the drinker's mind to fall madly in love and think of only of the person him or her first sees once finished drinking....

I skimmed through the rest, but the book didn't contain what I was looking for. I wanted to know if there was a potion to undo the obsession.

"There probably isn't," said Harry. "I mean, it only lasts for two days."

I wasn't ready to give up yet, though. I turned to the back of the book and read the index till I got to "counter potions...page 105".

I turned to the page right before the index, which was page 105.

For all counter potions and more information about the potions in this book, as well as other potions, look in Messing With Matters of the Heart by Olivia Farrings.

"We'll look for it during morning break tomorrow," said Harry, once I had finished reading him page 105.

"Yeah, then every time Krum – or Malfoy – gives her the potion, we'll just undo it," I said. "Now we just have to figure out why –"

"Shh!" Harry said, suddenly. I shut up and then realized why.

"Where did you here them, Mrs. Norris?" We heard Filch ask his cat.

Harry quickly grabbed the invisibility cloak and threw it over us. We stood, huddling in the corner, just in time.

"You damn cat! There's no one here! I'm going back to bed," said Filch.

The cat, however, wouldn't move. Her eyes remained fixated on the place where Harry and I stood.

Filch followed Mrs. Norris' gaze to where we were standing. Slowly, he walked towards us. As he came nearer, the smell of his nasty breath reached my nostrils and I gazed directly into his eyes, knowing that any second he would bump into Harry or me. Suddenly, Harry grabbed my arm and ran directly and Filch, knocking him over with me carelessly running behind him.

"Whose there? Peeves? Is that you?" we heard him say as we ran back to our common room. Once we entered and flopped down onto the couch, I asked Harry what he thought he was doing and accused him of being crazy.

"Well it worked, didn't it?" Harry asked, laughing a bit. I tried to keep a strait face, but after a minute I began laughing too.

We sat on the couch for another ten minutes, until Harry decided we should go to sleep.

"Besides, we don't want to..." he trailed of, "you know."

My hart did a strange little flip and silently begged for Harry to stay.

"Goodnight," I said, relieving Harry of the uncomfortable expression on his face.

"Bye," he said as he got up. I watched him make his way up the stairs and into his room, while I silently begged him to come back, if only to sit next to me in silence.

He didn't though. I was left to sit in the common room by myself for a few more minutes, until I too decided to go to bed.