Chapter 10
It was about noon on Sunday, the day after the kiss, as Harry was thinking of it, that he realized just how screwed he was. He and Ron had slunk out of their dorm early and headed out to the quiddich pitch, silently agreeing that if any time called for a good fly, it was now. They'd spent a few hours out there, Harry borrowing a quaffle and a snitch from the supply closet, and the two of them tried scoring on the other, and chasing the little golden ball around. Not surprisingly, Harry couldn't get very many goals past Ron and Ron had yet to spot the snitch before Harry.
They were finally driven down to the ground, exhausted but quite a bit more cheerful, by Ron's stomach. "Right, lunch, then?" Ron asked as Harry re-locked the closet and shouldered his broom.
"Definitely," Harry agreed, his stomach giving an almighty rumble. Feeling amiable and content for the moment, the two of them strolled up toward the castle and the Great Hall.
It was when they walked into the Great Hall and headed for the Gryffindor table that Harry got his first clue. He was uncomfortably aware that nearly every eye in the room was on them.
"Bloody gossips, don't they have anything else to do…" Ron was muttering next to him, ears going red. Harry wasn't sure if it was temper or embarrassment, and wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"Let's just eat and get out," he muttered back, dropping down at the very end of the table, away from everyone.
It would have been a good plan, except that five minutes later, Ginny and Hermione came sashaying in. "Morning, boys," Hermione said with a smile. And a distinctly evil glint to her eyes that made Harry very, very nervous. Especially since Ginny was wearing an identical expression.
Ron immediately went beet red and mumbled back a greeting as he stared down at his plate. Hermione ignored this, and proceeded to seat herself next to Ron, after leaning down and dropping an oh-so-casual kiss on his cheek. Ron was chewing at that particular moment and happened to choke. Harry had to lean across the table and whack his friend on the back.
Meanwhile Ginny had used her time to her advantage and had seated herself next to Harry. Very close to him, in fact. He could feel her leg pressed against his, and could smell the clean smell of her soap. His entire body tensed as a result.
Hermione was helping herself to some shepherds pie. "Do you boys want to work on that Potions essay today?" she was asking, just as if it was an ordinary day. "I was planning on going to the library this afternoon to see if I could find anything else on ringworm skin." She shook her head and forked up a mouthful daintily. Harry couldn't help but notice that Ron was watching her out of the corner of his eye. Hermione swallowed and made a 'mmm' sound. "That's good," she said, and slowly slid the fork between her lips, as if she were trying to get every last bit off. Ron was shifting a bit uncomfortably on his side of the table, and Harry felt for him. He really did.
Right up until the moment when Ginny entered the fray once more. As if it wasn't enough that she was sitting practically in his lap, the unbelievably irritating and sexy redhead began to rub her foot up and down Harry's ankle. He jumped, caught off guard when she did, and jerked away, looking at her in disbelief.
Ginny just licked her spoon clean of jam and took a bite of her biscuit. "Problem, Harry?" she asked sweetly.
"Er," he mumbled, and tried to shovel his own breakfast down a little faster. He needed out of there.
And then she did it again, only this time, her foot slid halfway up his leg before he recovered his brains enough to move.
"Right, I'm off," he blurted, shoving back from the table and abandoning all pretense of eating.
"Aren't you hungry? You didn't even finish your lunch," Ginny asked with a smile. And that evil glint.
"You're leaving?" Ron was looking panicked.
"Sorry, got a meeting… thing… gotta go," Harry blurted and then bolted. He could feel sweat beading on his forehead. Yee gods, she was trying to kill him, he thought as he fled the scene. Not until he was safely in the Room of Requirement, practice dummy standing by and ready, did he let himself slump down and relax.
Harry groaned, leaning against the wall and slowly dropping down to the floor. He had a problem. A very big one. Out of the blue, Ginny had decided to force the issue by publicly trying to seduce him. Or something. And damn it all, no one was going to be able to miss the fact that she was doing a pretty good job. Harry cringed as he thought of all the talk that must be going on in the Great Hall that very minute. If there was one thing he truly hated, it was being the subject of gossip.
He thunked his head back against the stone wall a few times, ignoring the pain. He just wasn't good enough at hiding what he felt for Ginny. Which meant he either had to get a lot better, fast, or cut himself off from her entirely. He flashed to the sensation of her foot sliding slowly up his leg and shuddered.
Grimly he hauled himself to his feet. He needed a cold shower. Since that option was all the way back in the dorm, he'd settle for sheer physical exhaustion. Which given the morning's exercise, shouldn't take too long.
He shed outer layers, stripping down to pants and shirt. He flexed his fingers and stared at the dummy. "Animatus," he said, and dove to one side as red light sizzled by him.
$$$$$$$$$$
Sonora hummed tunelessly as she marked second year Ravenclaw essays. Lunch had been quite amusing, she thought, smirking. Apparently not only had Miss Weasley decided to take her advice, she'd passed it on to Miss Granger. Sonora chuckled. My, had the Head Boy squirmed for that meal. She didn't even want to speculate on what his partner had been doing for that time, but judging from the color of Mr. Weasley's face, it had been a touch on the provocative side.
Severus came gliding through her office door at the point, and she looked up at him and smiled. "Something wrong?" she asked, noting the frown on his face.
Her husband scowled and dropped down into her spare chair. "Did you have something to do with the performance that went on this morning?" he asked.
Sonora resisted the urge to roll her eyes. No beating around the bush for her man, no sirree. "I may have given Miss Weasley a word of advice or two on how to, ah, 'handle' a reluctant man," she said cheekily, grinning. That grin faded as his expression did not change, but instead became darker and more serious. "What, what is it?" she asked, setting down her quill.
"Blast it all," Severus muttered. "Harry Potter is the most wanted person in the world, Sonora," he said. "Voldemort and his minions will stop at nothing to destroy him. Nothing," he emphasized. "Potter, at least, recognizes the importance of keeping a safe distance," he said. "Idiot he may be, but he at least doesn't want to flaunt his weaknesses to his enemies."
Sonora stared at him, more than a little disturbed. "You're saying that Ginny Weasley is a target now," she said. Severus merely eyed her. She shook her head. "But she already was, Severus," she said. "Her family, the fact that she's friends with Harry anyway… why shouldn't she take that step? Love goes a long way toward making people stronger, you know."
There was a bare softening in his eyes, then, and he reached over to pick up her hand. "I know," he replied darkly. "But you do not truly understand how much the Dark Lord craves this. Any weakness, any, and Potter's chances lessen. Miss Weasley," he said softly, "no matter how much she wishes to help, no matter how much she may truly love him, is only going to make his life more difficult."
Sonora sat perfectly still, thinking, turning it over in her head, even as her fingers tightened around his and his thumb began to absently stroke the back of her hand. "I disagree," she finally said quietly. Severus sighed but she shook her head. "No, I hear what you are saying, my dear, and I fully understand your meaning. Mr. Potter is not a person to be envied. He has a war to fight, all on his own." Her mind flashed to what Severus had implied to her the other evening, after his meeting with Dumbledore.
"But wars can't be won by one person," she said quietly, looking at him. "They can't. And while it's noble of you, and he, to think that you can, it does the rest of us a great disservice." She leaned forward in her chair and brushed a kiss against the tip of his nose. "One way or another, love conquers all," she said quietly. "It truly does."
Severus' expression did not lighten, but became more brooding and dark. "I hope for all our sakes you are right," he said. "Because if you are wrong…" he did not finished.
Sonora squeezed his hand. "I am right," she said. And prayed that it was true.
$$$$$$$$$$
Ginny met up with Hermione to compare notes in the prefects bath that evening. The Head Girl was wearing a smirk that seemed to suit her very well. "Let's just say I've got your brother very nervous," she said with a satisfied smile.
Ginny grinned. "He's head over heals for you, Hermione, he just won't admit it."
Hermione blew out a breath, loosing the grin. "I have to admit, I'm more than a little nervous," she said, sitting down on the edge of the large, empty bathtub and dangling her feet over the side. "What if I completely ruin this, Ginny?"
Ginny sighed and joined her, staring down into the marble with a wistful look. "I know," she said morosely. "Although it was funny to see Harry bolt so fast from lunch." They looked at each other and smirked.
"What were you doing to him?" Hermione asked with a twinkle in her eyes. " I thought he was going to come out of his skin."
Ginny pursed her lips. "A little game of footsie," she said.
Hermione got a speculative look on her face. "I might have to try that myself," she said.
Ginny grinned, and then heaved herself back to her feet. "Well, I have to go track my man down now," she said, and held out a hand for Hermione. "He's very good at vanishing, you know. And this plan only works if I know where he is."
Hermione chuckled. "Not to worry. The Fat Lady told me this afternoon, in a very hushed voice, of course, that the portraits were completely on our side, and if we ever needed 'information'," she made little quotation motions in the air, "all we had to do was ask."
Ginny rubbed her hands. "Excellent," she said.
$$$$$$$$$$
Harry was nearly staggering with fatigue by the time he dragged himself through the portrait into the common room. He'd finally forced himself to quit only a half hour ago, as he was nearly light-headed with hunger and weariness. He'd made a detour to the kitchens and had consumed the packet of sandwiches, courtesy of Dobby, by the time he'd reached the tower.
"Hornswaggle," he said to the Fat Lady, holding himself upright through sheer will.
"My dear boy, you look dreadful," she exclaimed even as she swung open. "You should really see about…" The rest of what she was saying was cut off as Harry didn't even pause to listen. He didn't want advice from a portrait, he wanted a shower and sleep.
"Oi, Harry," came from the far corner, where he was fairly sure Ron was hiding behind Seamus and Dean, but Harry didn't stop. He just went straight for the stairs, concentrating on one foot in front of the other. Shower, bed, he repeated to himself.
And then there was a flurry of red hair and brown eyes in front of him. "Where have you been?" said their owner, brows drawn in a worried look. "No one could find you, and bloody hell, you look dreadful."
"Not now, Gin," he said tiredly, and brushed past her, not caring if the whole room was watching, which he was fairly sure they were. Good. Maybe they'd stop talking about him and Ginny being an item.
It was a sheer act of willpower to get up the stairs and pull his shirt over his head, but he finally padded into the bath wearing only his pants and carrying the bottoms to his pajamas. He dropped them all on the floor and stumbled under the warm spray, groaning out loud as the hot water began to beat against tired, sore muscles. A score mark on his upper thigh stung from where he hadn't ducked fast enough.
Harry leaned forward and braced his hands against the wall, letting the water pour down over him. He would still need to get up and run in the morning, he thought wearily. He had to be in the best physical shape he possibly could. He needed every advantage he could get.
Long minutes later, he dragged himself out of the shower and managed to towel off, pulling on his pajama pants and rubbing a towel over his hair. Fumbling his glasses back on, he stumbled back into the dorm room, intent on the bed.
Which, he noticed as he got within a few feet of it, wasn't empty. Harry stopped and blinked. "Ginny?" he said, sounding confused because his tired brain wasn't really working at the moment. "What are you d…?"
Ginny cut him off by getting up and walking over to him. She took the towel and his dirty clothes from his hands and pulled him toward the bed. "Just lie down, Harry," she said quietly. "You need to sleep."
She gave a gentle push and he was caught off balance, and toppled to lie face down on the bed. It was so comfortable that his body immediately began to relax and sink down into the soft mattress. He started to drift off, but some part of him still registered Ginny's presence next to him.
"Shh," she whispered, and there was a feather-light touch stroking over his bare back. "Shh. Sleep, Harry." The part of his brain that was a normal, hormonal seventeen year-old boy wanted to tell her not to stop, and that he'd turn over and she could do the other side if she wanted; but the other part, the one that had grimly spent all afternoon battling and preparing to do murder stopped him.
Instead he let himself slide into slumber, hazily promising himself to think about it all tomorrow. Tomorrow, he thought, and slept.
$$$$$$$$$$
AN: All right, so it's a little slow right, now, but never fear, things are going to get exciting soon. Ol' Voldy is going to have to start commenting on the doings at Hogwards, isn't he? Heh heh heh…
hermionegranger – Hah! You don't scare me! You haven't met my mother! (but here's your chapter, just to be safe…)
Ravenmom – Yes, we do like smut, don't we? (smirking) Don't worry, I made this story R for a reason. Soon, my pretty, soon…
Barbelibou – Breathe, dear, breathe! Glad everything's working again, btw.
Shahrezad1 – (blushing madly) I always sound so much more impressive when you quote me… I'm assuming Kenshin is an amime character? No, I haven't seen it, but I'll take your word for it.
MrsSakuraPotter – Sonora Snape is a Potions Mistress in her own right, and to summarize her story, she took the position after an accident to rest and recover, and work on a certain important piece of research. As for Harry and Ron… they're boys. Enough said.
Gallandro-83 – (rubbing hands gleefully) Not to worry, our boys are far too dense to just surrender without a fight.
Cherryblossom08 – Uh, you did know the house gets 10% of all bets, right?
Ferggirl99 – Maybe I'll explain when YOU post another chapter… bwahahahah… Actually, if you read carefully, you'll see that Harry's 'abilities' have been developing over the past year or two. He's still learning to control them, and he's not really sure what else he can do. So far, he's managed to hide them from most people, or so he thinks…
Child-of-scorpio – Cookies… mmm… Now about that huge review you promised…
Sugarbaby, Hgforever, hplovah, java, Crookshankx, jetmcn, MusicMonkey88, AngieGS, maria, Jlatmil1, Christophe, hawkeye, BloodlessAce, Moonglaze, obsessed87 – Thank you all so very, very much! As always, your comments and encouragement are what drive me to write the next chapter. Cupcakes for everyone!