Ch 5:- One for sorrow, two for Joy.

Peace reigned for a whole day before another major row erupted. A letter had arrived for Hermione - from Viktor Krum. She'd sat down to read it at breakfast and ignored everyone until she'd finished it, then she put it away and started on breakfast with a faraway look in her eye. Ron had looked set to explode but seeing Harry wink at him, had manfully kept quiet. Ginny had looked at them all and kept very quiet indeed.

Breakfast had been finished in an atmosphere of imminent Armageddon but they still all gathered in the study as usual. Hermione then went upstairs and got her writing stuff.

Back in the study she pushed Harry off the desk, and started writing. Harry sat down at one end of an old sofa and began trying to read the Daily Prophet whilst Ginny sat at the other end, trying to get the last few clues in the quiz in the last month's copy of the quibbler.

Ron moved round to stand behind Hermione.

Uh oh. though Harry.

Hermione moved slightly to hide what she was writing.

Phew. though Harry.

Ron moved again, as if trying to read what Hermione had written.

Oops. thought Harry

Hermione lost her temper.

'Do you want to write this letter, Ron?'

'No, No, its your letter. – How 's Viktor, then?'

'Viktor? You're calling him by his right name at last? Are you ill or something?'

'No! I'm just trying to be reasonable! He's just a friend of yours, after all'

Hermione put down her pen and sighed. 'What's wrong with you Ron?'

Ron threw his hands up in despair. 'Nothing's wrong with me. I'm just being nice. I don't know why I bother! Harry sai-'

'Harry??' Hermione glared at Harry. 'You've been discussing me with HARRY?'

'Well why not?...'

Harry didn't wait to hear any more. He threw down the paper and headed for higher ground.

- o -

Ginny looked preoccupied when she found Harry on the roof, some while later. The morning was already warm, though The Prophet had forecast rain that day plus a reminder of the more common rain repelling charms. There was a heaviness in the air which matched the feeling in Harry's chest, almost exactly.

'Good argument, was it?' he muttered.

Ginny remained silent. She sat down very close indeed beside him.

'Have they made peace?'

Ginny nodded.

Have they said sorry?'

Ginny nodded.

Harry waited.

'Is there a problem?'

Ginny nodded.

Harry sighed. 'I'm not a mind reader - well, not all the time!'

Ginny smiled and took a deep breath. 'After they said sorry, I – I told them to kiss and make up…I was sort of joking.'

'And did they??'

Ginny sighed. 'Yeah'

'Wow! About time too! So what's the problem?'

'They're still at it!'

'Merlin!'

'I was really wondering if they ever would.' Ginny said quietly. 'Now they have, I'm almost wishing they hadn't'

'Feeling left out?'

''Fraid so. You said you reckoned you might feel left out too.' she reminded him.

Harry searched his feelings. 'Yeah, I did, didn't I. It's a bit more than that, though - I think. I've never thought about Hermione the way Ron thinks about her, yet now she's sort of taken, I almost wish I had thought of her like that. It's sort of - I dunno - like there's an opportunity gone - or something - an option that isn't there anymore….'

Ginny sighed. 'Ron being my brother, there was never that sort of option for me but – well – I think I can see what you mean, - sort of...'

They were silent for a while, staring out over the city. Ginny looked round at Harry quizzically.

'Makes me feel kind of lonely, to tell the truth,' she murmured.

'Me too' Harry said, slowly. He was acutely aware of her, so very close beside him. She was leaning slightly against him now and he could feel her shoulder touching his. He'd never considered thinking of Ginny the way Ron thought of Hermione either, but at that moment he was certain he was beginning to, and wished he didn't. What was the point? He was about a year and a half too late. He finally spoke.

'Oh well - I'm no stranger to lonely - it's a bit hard on you though. Still, you'll have Dean to take your mind off it when term starts.'

Ginny slowly hauled herself to her feet and looked down at him. Her expression was completely unreadable.

'Yeah.' she said quietly 'I guess you're right, Dean should take my mind off it.' she gave him a tiny smile. 'I'll – ah - I'll see you later.' She slowly walked off to the roof door and went down the stairs.

Harry sat on, looking at the sky and the clouds building in the west, - waiting for the storm.

- o -

It was lunchtime before the rain drove Harry to seek the shelter of the house. He'd stayed on the roof at first, feeling the first fat drops fall on his head and begin to soak through his shirt, but as he got wetter, the thought of having to change completely before lunch overcame his wish to drown himself whilst standing up.

Inside the house, all was quiet as he descended the stairs to the kitchen. He was almost at the door before it opened and Professor Moody left the kitchen, nearly running into him. Moody's real eye registered surprise at seeing a rather damp Harry, whilst his magical eye was still looking through the now closed door.

'Been trying to drown yourself, then?'

'No! -ah - not at all, Professor. Err - why would I want to do that?'

Moody just looked at him, with both eyes this time.

'Prepare yourself for a shock when you go in there.' he said gruffly.

Harry managed to produce a small smile. 'I already heard.'

Moody moved aside to let him into the kitchen.

Ron and Hermione were sitting close together on one side of the table. Ginny was facing them and Mrs. Weasley was sitting at the further end of the table. Four pairs of eyes glanced at Harry as he stood in the doorway, but no one spoke.

He moved to the table and sat down beside Ginny. Still silence.

He looked at Ron and Hermione, noting that they were both slightly flushed. Hermione looked both embarrassed and triumphant and had a small smile on her face. Ron was trying to suppress a grin that was becoming more out of control by the second. They glanced at each other and back to him. Looking at their faces, Harry couldn't help but start to smile himself. How could he condemn them when they looked so happy?!

'About time too!' he said, forcing a hearty voice. 'I was wondering if you were ever going to make it!'

Two huge smiles greeted his words, three if he counted Mrs. Weasley's grin. She looked at the couple again and gently shook her head, as if in wonder.

'Thanks Harry,' giggled Hermione,

'Yeah, thanks Harry.' added Ron. 'You can blame Ginny actually.'

Harry glanced sideways at Ginny. She smiled the same tiny smile and then looked down at her plate. Harry suddenly wondered if she really thought he would blame her. He turned to her.

'I'm not blaming you, Ginny! Well done! I wish I'd thought to say it myself.'

Ginny didn't look up, but she did seem to be a bit happier.

- o

The next two days were the most frustrating of all. The weather was almost uniformly wet, so Harry couldn't even escape to the roof. Ron and Hermione disappeared for hours at a time, lost in their own little world, and Harry could hardly blame them since Hermione would have to leave at the end of the week. She had seriously considered cancelling her holiday with her parents, but Ron had agreed with her that it would be just too mean. Hogwarts was only just over three weeks away and they reckoned they could manage that - just. Harry ended up trapped in the study, parlour and kitchen during the day, afraid to roam the rest of the house for fear of walking in on them. The knowledge that Hermione would almost certainly have put a locking spell on the door didn't really help for some reason.

Ginny wasn't much better off. Her experiments with the various intricate machines came to an abrupt end after she managed to start one, though she didn't know how she'd done it. The machine was an artwork in itself, a series of polished metal strips that wove around and through each other in a bewildering pattern to form an elongated egg shape. Three loops of strip extended out of the bottom of the egg shape to form legs.

Harry had heard Ginny's startled cry from the kitchen and had a sudden mental picture of a flickering light before he hurled himself up the stairs to the study. Ginny was unharmed, sitting staring entranced at a soft light glowing in the heart of the machine. The strips were moving round the egg shape in both directions, almost seeming to flow through each other in an eye wateringly complex pattern. The light in the centre was slowly changing colour backwards and forwards through the visible spectrum. Closing the curtains showed a fascinating pattern of light and shadow on the walls that was almost mesmerising. Harry experienced a feeling of calm and happiness just sitting there as the light flickered gently round the room.

Ron and Hermione duly admired the effect when they next resurfaced; then Ginny tried to turn it off.

Quite what she did was never known, but the light inside the machine suddenly started growing rapidly brighter. It became a blue white actinic flare which had them turning away, covering their eyes, before it cut off with an audible snap. Whilst this was alarming enough, it was the droplets of molten metal falling out of the bottom of the egg and burning pits in the table which convinced them all that perhaps experimentation was not quite such a good idea.

That evening there was a spirited discussion about what the machine had done and whether some disaster had been precipitated in places, or dimensions, unknown. Since nothing untoward had happened by the time Harry went to bed, he was privately of the rather dismissive opinion that the machine had been the magical equivalent of a lava lamp, which had just burned out its bulb.

- o -

The loss of her one real interest left Ginny even more bored. Harry was sitting at the desk in the study, quietly trying unsuccessfully to a move pencil by thought alone, whenshe mooched into the room and sat down on the sofa.

She sighed. 'Still up there.'

'Hmm. They worry me a bit.' muttered Harry. 'A lot actually'

'Worry you?'

'Well – yeah. They could be – well –'

Ginny giggled. 'They could well be.'

'So – well – I don't want them getting – sort of - into trouble…'

'What? - What?? – Oh! – Oh good grief, Harry. Hermione knows what to do!'

'She does?'

Ginny looked thoroughly scornful. 'Of course she does!'

'Oh – well – good – err –'

'You don't think Hogwarts is going to neglect that facet of a girl's education, do you?'

'Well –'

'You don't know, do you?' Ginny said in a resigned voice, 'Why am I not surprised?'

'Know what??'

'About the After Dark Arts classes'

'The WHAT??'

Ginny laughed. 'It's just a nickname we girls call them.' She became more serious. 'Every two months the girls who are about to turn sixteen are given a couple of lectures on the – um – physical side of a relationship. It's more of a how to, than a why or a when.'

Harry's eyes were like saucers.

'Hermione had her lectures months ago. She told me about them – well, some of it anyway. She reckoned they should be called "How to get the best from your boy" - which says it all really.' Ginny was beginning to look embarrassed. 'Apparently they're really detailed. There's some spells as well, some of them for preventing – err – unnecessary complications, shall we say.' She fell silent, blushing.

Harry wondered whether she'd forgotten who she was talking to to begin with, in her haste to show off. Time to get her back for the "why am I not surprised" gibe.

'So, sounds like Dean is in for some fun, when you've had your lectures!'

Ginny was suddenly flustered.

'Dean? – what? – well - it's months and months till I'm sixteen, Harry, you know that! Who knows what'll have happened by then. Anyway, I mean, I like Dean -but not enough for that!'

'Perhaps he'll grow on you.'

'Well – perhaps -' She faltered.

'In more ways than one.' murmured Harry quietly.

'Harry!! Really!!

Not quietly enough! Harry cowered down in the chair laughing madly as Ginny marched past him with a look of thunder on her face.

She stopped at the door.

'Boys!!' she hissed, then she stormed out.

Harry stopped laughing and sat stunned for a few seconds, wondering if that had been the good idea it had seemed at the time. He relaxed slightly as the sound of muffled giggling filtered through the door. Ginny poked her mane of hair round the door, grinned evilly, snarled, 'Just you wait till I see Tonks again, Dream Boy!' and disappeared.

The sound of giggling faded away up the stairs.

No. On the whole, it probably hadn't been such a good idea. Harry was slightly relieved to find Ginny didn't presently seem to be too serious about Dean, but he could have to pay a high price for the information.

- o -

A brief respite from the boredom occurred in the afternoon, when Madeye Moody arrived to help Remus Lupin and Harry remove the painting from the hall wall. Together they staggered just outside the front door, still within the concealment charms, then Moody disapparated himself and the painting to a storage warehouse. Lupin followed immediately, hoping to reach Moody before he and the painting fell over.

Harry and Ginny started collecting some of the other more unpleasant paintings and stacked them to be taken away. Some of them complained loudly, but once they had been reassured that they weren't destined for destruction, they accepted their fate stoically.

Moody took the pile of paintings away when he left again.

'Don't forget, Harry,' he growled before he went, 'Professor Dumbledore will be here later this evening. He's got a surprise in store for you.'

- o -

The evening meal was eaten in an air of suppressed excitement. Arthur Weasley had been late back from the Ministry, so they didn't start eating until after sunset. One of the experiments had gone wrong the day before for some peculiar reason, and they were still trying to clear up the mess.

Ron and Hermione had come down out of the clouds and begun to relate to the rest of them at last. Ron was noticeably more confident now. He didn't seem to see the need to make the silly comments that had wound up Hermione. Hermione, for her part, was altogether more relaxed. Harry no longer had the feeling of living on the edge of a particularly unstable volcano. Ginny, on the other hand, was getting edgy again. Harry had hoped she would stay cheerful after the morning's laughter, but it seemed that seeing Ron and Hermione happy together had hit her harder than anyone else.

'Any idea when the Headmaster's going to be here?' asked Ron through a mouthful of vegetables.

Mrs. Weasley was unimpressed. 'Ron, please don't speak with your mouth full.'

Ron swallowed. 'Well, Harry?'

'No idea, mate. He'll have to wait for dark at any rate.'

Ginny disagreed. 'Why? He could just apparate onto the front steps, or the roof, even. Why wait for dark?'

Harry paused. Ginny had a point.

'Not sure. You're right, though, he could apparate close to the house. Might depend on where he's coming from.'

'Or when he can get away?' added Hermione.

'Is anyone else coming with him?' pondered Ron. 'He couldn't apparate with someone who didn't know the secret, he'd have to come in on foot. Any ideas Dad?'

Mr. Weasley looked slightly uncomfortable. 'No idea, Ron. If he's coming down from the school, he might bring one or two order members from up there.'

'Such as who, Dad?' asked Ginny.

'Professor McGonagall??' breathed Hermione.

'Professor Snape?!' added Ron in a horrified voice.

Harry's heart sank. McGonagall he could handle, it was Snape who got to him every time. Snape hated him, and he hated Snape.

'Perhaps' agreed Mr. Weasley, 'though I reckon Harry's right, he'll wait for dark'

'I still don't see why!' grumbled Ginny, at which point the kitchen lights flickered and went out, leaving the feeble light of dusk struggling through the basement window. Before they could even react, the kitchen door swung open and a dark figure stood outlined by the dim light in the passage.

A sudden deep voice rumbled, 'How about for dramatic effect?'

- o -

The lights blazed into life, illuminating Professor Dumbledore as he entered the kitchen, face shining with glee. Harry slumped in his chair, hoping his heart would keep beating long enough for him to throttle the Headmaster.

'Alas, I arrived early,' chuckled the Headmaster. 'but I see from your faces that my entrance still had the desired effect.'

Mrs. Weasley had been hissing like a kettle as she gasped for breath but she suddenly came to the boil.

'Albus Dumbledore! If you ever do that again, I will plait your beard, tie it round your neck and strangle you with it! That was the silliest thing you've done in years, what's got into you?'

'Ah, Molly, I see perhaps I was over enthusiastic. My apologies, you are still eating. My companion and I will retire to the study, with Harry's permission. I must also apologise for entering without knocking but Professor Moody informed me of the change in locking arrangements this afternoon and I did not feel it would be wise to wait about outside.'

Harry nodded briefly, not yet trusting his voice. It was Hermione who asked the obvious question, 'Your companion, Professor?'

A severely dressed woman stepped into the kitchen and looked round at them.

'Ah, Miss Granger, I hope you have been making full use of the holidays to further your studies.' Professor McGonagal smiled at them all, 'I apologise for our interrupting you, but you know how enthusiastic our dear Headmaster can be.' She swept out.

'Further your studies indeed!' murmured Harry, looking at Hermione, who blushed prettily.

- o -

Mrs. Weasley had immediately gone upstairs to ask the Headmaster if he and Professor McGonagall had eaten. Apparently they had. There was also a flurry of consternation when Hermione mentioned the possibility of The Headmaster and Professor McGonagall staying the night.

'No one mentioned it to me.' grumbled Harry. 'I'd better go and ask.' He stamped up the stairs, muttering.

The two Professors looked at one another in surprise at Harry's question.

'I must confess, Harry, that the idea had not entered our minds.' The Headmaster replied.

'We do, in fact, have rooms at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry.' added Professor McGonagall. 'We would not presume upon your hospitality. I would have thought it would be a little crowded, myself.'

Harry was stung by this slur on the house.

'There's plenty of room here, Professor. Ron and I have shared before, so have Hermione and Ginny. There are five large bedrooms and two small rooms, plenty of bathrooms, not a problem at all!'

'Why thank you Harry, shall we send Dobby and Winky to collect our luggage?' asked Professor McGonagall.

Harry's face fell as he realised how easily he'd been set up. Hermione would kill him - slowly.

Professor Dumbledore smiled expansively, 'Alas Harry, we must decline your invitation tonight. I would fear for your safety, if you had to ask all your friends to change their sleeping arrangements at such short notice.'

Harry's relief was tempered by a renewed desire to strangle the pair of them. Thoughts of revenge were halted by the Headmaster's next words.

'Harry, the chief reason we are here this evening is to talk to you about next year at school. There are a number of things to be decided. Could we speak privately later? I fear we must wait for Professor Moody to join us.' Professor Dumbledore hesitated, 'and Harry, I note it is a little quieter in the hallway now. Professor Moody informed me of the circumstances. I share his opinion of your abilities.'

Harry nodded and returned to the kitchen, mind in turmoil. What on earth did they want of him?

'Moody?' murmured Hermione, 'Why Moody?'

'Beats me,' said Harry.

'He's taking DADA again this year,' interjected Ron. 'Maybe it's about extra tuition. Perhaps they want you to try for an ENEWT.'

Hermione was immediately enthusiastic. 'Could well be, Harry. you're good enough, you know.'

Harry was more sceptical 'Thanks Hermione, but somehow I don't think so. The Headmaster mentioned extracurricular activities last time he was here. An ENEWT is still in the curriculum. I'm still beat. Whatever it is, it'd better not involve potions. I'm not good enough to be an auror, so that's one subject I'm definitely giving up.'

Hermione had the last word though, 'You could have passed potions with an E, Harry, if you'd had a teacher who wasn't warped by hatred.

Harry wasn't prepared to argue. He had an uncomfortable feeling that Hermione was right.