Chapter Nine: Teaching and Learning
He was in a dungeon under the ground. There were torches, just two, on the wall, which were the only light available as there were no windows. He walked slowly along the corridor between the empty cells, heading for a cell at the back of the room. His long fingers held a wand of yew and phoenix feather. He twirled the wand expectantly, anticipating the torture he was about to administer. As he approached the cell in question, a skinny, red haired man, head bowed in exhaustion, twitched with the residual pain of the last torture session. Harry smiled at the sight, filled with glee over the power he'd gain from controlling this once pompous man. The cell door clicked open with a wave of the yew wand, and a tall, blond haired man arose from beside the cell door.
"My Lord, how may I serve you," came the sleepy drawl of his loyal but slippery Death Eater.
"You can remain awake when you are guarding this prisoner," Harry hissed, "Crucio" he added, pointing his wand at the blonde man for a moment.
The Death Eater writhed and sputtered on the ground until the curse was lifted and Harry turned his attention to the prisoner.
"Well, my fine young friend. You seem to think your lot is hard. But do not fret. You shall have your wish. I will make you the next Minister of Magic, and you will do all that I command you to do with that post."
"Never," came the prisoner's reply. "I will not allow the governance of Magical Peoples be turned over to you and your pathetic followers. I was a fool to follow Fudge and Umbridge, but I am no longer their fool. Whatever you do to me, I will not help you."
"Have it your way," Harry spat, uncaringly. Long, white, pointing fingers raised the yew wand and aimed it at the prisoner's chest. "Crucio," he almost whispered and a smile spread across the thin lips of his ashen face. He watched the man twist and writhe under the power of the curse. The curse seemed to go on forever and the screams of the prisoner were suddenly mingled with someone else's scream. Harry fell from his bed and retched on the floor, clutching his scar and screaming with the pain coming from it. Ron was by his side, shaking him by the shoulders, white faced and trembling.
"Harry, Harry, what is it, what's happened?" Ron was calling from so very far away.
Harry tried to answer him. "It's…it's…I think it was Percy…Voldemort…cursed him…."
Ron pulled back, anxious to find someone to help him. A moment later, Ron and Seamus had Harry between them, his arms draped around each of their shoulders. They dragged him to the hospital wing and explained quietly to a clucking Madame Pomfrey what had happened. They left him there with her, following her direction to go and fetch the Headmaster immediately. By the time the three of them returned, Harry was feeling considerably better, but the contents of the vision concerned him.
"Thank you, boys," Dumbledore said as they entered the room. "You can return to your dormitory now." Seamus turned right around and left, but Ron stayed a moment longer.
"Run along, now, Mr. Weasley. Harry will be quite all right, I assure you." Dumbledore commanded.
Ron's footsteps faded and the door creaked and clicked shut.
"Harry," Dumbledore addressed him, "Another vision?"
"It was Voldemort," Harry explained. "He had Percy; he was torturing him. He said something about wanting to make him the next Minister of Magic. Someone else was there, but I can't remember who it was. It was someone I've seen before."
"I see," Dumbledore replied. "Do you remember where they were, anything about the room or area they were in?"
"It was dark, underground I think," Harry tried to remember more, but the pain in his scar made it hard to think.
"Very well, Harry," said Dumbledore, "I think you had better get some rest. You have some classes to teach in a few more hours." The twinkle seemed to return to Dumbledore's eyes when he mentioned Harry's teaching assignment.
"Yes, sir," Harry muttered sleepily.
The sun arose to find Harry still sitting up in the hospital bed. Harry mused that he was almost as familiar with this room as he was his own dorm. He slid off the bed and began to dress, slipping on his pants and replacing his glasses. Madame Pomfrey came in and checked him over, saying he could do with a bit more rest, but declaring him otherwise fit. She wished him luck with his classes, and he headed for his dormitory to collect his school robes.
When he had washed up and dressed properly, he grabbed up his school bag and pulled out his notes, reading over his lesson plan again as he walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He found Ron, Hermione and Ginny at the Gryffindor table, finishing up with eating and looking over their time tables. Ron passed Harry's to him and Harry sighed as he glanced over it. There it was, NEWT level potions, first class of the term, first thing this morning.
"Well, Mondays are going to be fun, aren't they?" Harry said, peering over at Ron's timetable to compare. "Potions first, just to start the day off right, and then I go teach while you all have a break."
"Not me," Ginny said, "I have Transfiguration first, then Potions right after you guys. And then I go straight to Charms right after Lunch. I have a break then, though, until Divination. Looks like Trelawny's back to teaching because I have to go all the way to the North Tower for that."
"Well, at least our afternoon break coincides," Harry said, "We'll be able to help you study for your OWLs then."
"Oh, no," Ginny said, "Not today, at least. I need some practice for quidditch tryouts on Saturday. We'll start studying next week."
Hermione huffed a bit at that, but Harry cut her off. "That'll be great. I have to teach my first class after potions. It'll help me blow off the nerves from that to get out on my broom. You mind if I join you on the pitch this afternoon, Ginny?"
"I wouldn't mind at all," she grinned.
"By the way," Harry asked, trying to sound nonchalant. "Who's the captain that set tryouts for the very first weekend back?"
"That would be me," Ron squeaked nervously, but the pride he was hiding seemed to ooze out his ears just the same.
"Ron? Are you serious?" Harry gawked at him.
"Is there something wrong with me being the quidditch captain?" Ron asked, suddenly offended.
"NO! Not at all! I think it's wonderful. You'll be terrific," Harry stated excitedly. "It's just, you were only on the team for one year. Katie Bell's been on it for five. I just thought that McGonagall would pick her."
"Oh," sighed Ron, relief turning to joy, "Katie turned it down, and McGonagall said you had enough to be getting on with, what with teaching and the D.A. and all, so she asked me." Ron seemed slightly deflated at the memory of having been third choice rather than first, but his face brightened again so quickly, Harry wondered if he had only imagined that.
"So, you are going to try out as seeker again, aren't you?" Ron asked, a sly grin playing on his face.
"You mean…I can come back to the team?" Harry didn't think anything could brighten his day more.
"Sure! McGonagall said your ban was lifted as soon as all of Umbridge's decrees were null. She said that since Umbridge no longer held the authority to ban you, that the ban was meaningless. But you do have to try out again because you were off the team for more than half the year. That's just Hogwarts policy."
"Well, I won't quibble about that," Harry said, still elated. "Trying out is the easy part. I'm just glad to have the chance again!"
"Ginny," Harry turned his attention to his girlfriend and grinned, "Looks like we both have to get ready for tryouts."
"Yeah, well, I'll see you at lunch, Harry," she smiled sweetly and kissed his cheek lightly before heading toward Transfiguration. Harry's smile stayed in place all through the rest of his breakfast and down the steps to the dungeons, only faltering as he entered the dingy old classroom where Snape sat, waiting impatiently behind his desk.
Searching for something happy to help him ignore the slimy git, Harry turned his attention to Ron. "So, did you and Hermione stop fighting yet?" Harry whispered as they sat at their usual back-of-the-room tables.
"Yeah, you know how it is, Harry. Fighting is just too much fun for us." Ron grinned wickedly and Harry smiled, wondering how those two went about making up after a fight. He stopped his train of thought there, though, thinking maybe he didn't want to know.
When the last of the students had filtered into the room, Snape stood to address them. His silky light tones belied the loathing that filled his dark aura. His eyes flashed dangerously as he surveyed his two least favorite students.
"It seems that some of you have managed to mystify your test givers into allowing you entry into my class," Snape began. "How you managed it is beyond me, but you should know that it only gets harder from here. I will not allow slackers and imbeciles to remain in my class. If your grade at any point slips below Acceptable, you will be removed from the roster. Is that clear?"
Harry watched as Snape's eyes took in the rest of the classroom. He saw him rest upon Malfoy for a moment, an odd flashing resurfacing behind his eyes. He wondered briefly what that was about, but Snape spoke again.
"Those of you who follow instructions explicitly and pay rapt attention to lecture and homework assignments should be able to obtain all that is needed to do well on the NEWTs that are coming up at the end of your seventh year. Do not think for a moment that just because it is two years' time away you should not have to begin to prepare for them immediately. They do not call them 'Nastily Exhausting' for nothing."
Snape's eyes took in the classroom again, surveying each student's reaction to his statements. Then he turned around, placed his wand's tip on the blackboard, and waited as the instructions for Polyjuice Potion wrote themselves on the board. "This is the potion we will be working on for the next month. You will need to choose a partner and work together. One mistake, and the entire brew may be wasted and you will both receive no points for the entire unit. The supplies you do not already have are in the cupboard. You may begin."
Harry looked up at the board and smiled. He turned his attention to Ron and Hermione and the three of them exchanged a silent laugh of triumph. He took in Neville's nervous expression and said, "Nothing to worry about, Neville. This'll be a piece of cake. You and I can be partners for this unit." Neville smiled gratefully, but didn't relax as much as Harry had hoped he would. He decided he'd have to tell Neville later about visiting the Slytherin common room with Ron second year. They got started on the potion and soon found to both Harry's and Neville's relief that everything was coming along fine. Their cauldron looked exactly like Ron and Hermione's, and they were all four sitting back in their seats, having completed the first phase of the potion early. Snape eyed them all suspiciously, and then came over to investigate. He peered at both cauldrons, an expression of wonder mixed with discovery on his face.
"So, three formerly idiotic Gryffindors suddenly know how to make Polyjuice Potion as though they were old pros" He looked over to Hermione and Ron, then looked Harry in the eye. Harry stared back, and Snape's expression turned sour. He looked as though he were searching for anything to say to criticize the four. "Well, we'll see how you do on the remainder of the unit. Any idiot can have a lucky day, after all." Snape glided along the floor, circling the cauldrons and peering into a select few of them. He stopped suddenly in front of Malfoy's and looked as though he would be sick.
"What on earth is this mess?" he asked, sounding shocked and dismayed. "You are my best student, Mr. Malfoy. Tell me what you did wrong and I shall consider giving you extra time to complete today's work this evening."
"I stirred it the wrong way sir," Malfoy muttered.
"That is correct Mr. Malfoy. You and Mr. Zabini will meet me here at 7pm. Do not be late, or I shall have to repeal my decision to let you try again."
"He'd never let us try again," Ron whispered to Harry, and Harry quite agreed. But they had all long since stopped caring about Snape's favoritism of Malfoy. Harry was just happy that the Slytherin's work had actually come into question for once.
Potions class ended all too soon (for once), and Harry found himself standing in front of a group of second year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. They all stared up at him expectantly, waiting for him to begin. He looked to the back of the room where Tonks was sitting, smiling at him, her hair in an unusually conservative bun today, eyes as green as Harry's. When every student had settled in his or her seat and the bell rang signaling for class to begin, Harry cleared his throat quietly, and addressed the class.
"Good morning, everyone," he said, and the class chanted the same back to him. Having been forcibly reminded of Umbridge at that point, he decided on a slight change in his lesson plan.
"Will you all please stow your books away and take out your wands. We will begin with a bit of fun." Harry sneaked a glance at Tonks, and she nodded. Having gained her approval, he proceeded more confidently. "We will practice the stunning spell and the disarming spell today. I would like each of you to choose a partner. If anyone is left without one, I'm sure Professor Tonks will gladly lend us a hand."
He grinned as Tonks grimaced slightly, then replied, "Of course, Mr. Potter."
It turned out there was one skinny blond haired girl by the name of Brittany Maddox who had no partner, and Tonks got up to stand by her side. Harry levitated all the desks to one side of the room and conjured some floor mats to keep people from getting hurt. Tonks looked impressed with this, but she said nothing. Harry began his lesson.
"The disarming spell is done with a very slight flick of the wrist and the word 'Expelliarmus.'" Before you try it with your wands, please repeat the word with me.
"Expelliarmus," they all repeated.
"Very good," Harry said, "Now, each of you face your partner and cast the spell to disarm only. I don't want any dueling here."
He walked around the classroom, as he had done with the D.A. the previous year, and watched each pair as they cast the charm. About half of them were able to disarm their partners on the first try, and most of the rest accomplished the task on the second or third try. Only tiny Brittany seemed to be having a hard time. It looked like she was afraid to cast the spell at Professor Tonks, as though she thought she might get into trouble.
"Can I help somehow, Brittany?" Harry asked her.
"I…I don't know if I can do this," the small girl sighed heavily.
"Nonsense, go on. Disarming the Professor is no different than disarming any one else. I used this spell on Voldemort himself. If it works on him, it'll work on anyone."
The girl's eyes became large bulging circles at the mention of the Dark Lord. She trembled slightly, but took aim. "Expelliarmus," she squeaked, almost inaudibly. Harry was reminded of Dobby and Winky.
Harry whispered something in Tonks' ear and Tonks' bun suddenly stood on end, bright pink, and her eyes turned hazel. Brittany took a step back, and then laughed. "You're a Metamorphmagus?" she asked.
"Sure am," Tonks replied in her usual friendly voice. "Now, take aim and cast your spell. Just imagine I'm a fluffy pink bunny."
Brittany laughed, aimed her wand, and cried, "Expelliarmus," and Tonks' wand flew up and landed directly in Brittany's outstretched hand.
"Excellent, Brittany, that's ten points to Hufflepuff," Harry said, and the girl puffed up with pride.
The class returned their attention to Harry as he taught them the Stunning spell, and soon there were shouts of "Stupefy," all around the room. When Harry was satisfied with their performances, he awarded points to students he thought had done particularly well that day, and dismissed the class when time was up. Harry looked to Tonks, seeking approval.
"You did extremely well, Harry," Tonks said appraisingly. "I believe if you were only a graduate, I would not have this job at all. Although, I understand you have other aspirations in mind?"
"I'm hoping I can be an Auror, like you and Kingsley. It just seems like the way I'm meant to go," Harry replied.
Tonks nodded quietly, then added, "Still, if you ever change your mind about that, or find you've done all you were meant to do there, I'm sure Dumbledore will always be able to find room for you around here."
"Perhaps," said Harry, "But then, I do cause a lot of trouble around here. He might not want me back by the time I graduate."
"Well, he took Moony, didn't he?" Tonks reminded him. "Couldn't be much more trouble than the Marauders were, could ya?"
Harry laughed, and they said their goodbyes before he headed off to the Great Hall for lunch. He found Ginny there, pushing peas around on her plate but not eating them.
"What's the matter, Gin?" he asked her, startling her from her concentration on the peas.
"Oh, Harry, it's just been a hard first day back," she replied.
"Was Potions that bad?"
"Well, you know Snape. But really, it's just all the dire warnings about the OWLs. I'm scared to death I'll do as badly as the twins."
"Nonsense," Harry stated matter-of-factly. "The twins threw their grades on purpose. Those two are brilliant, just like your whole family, really. You're sure to do fine."
"But that's just what I'm afraid of," Ginny cried, "What if I only get three OWLs, even if I try really hard. What if I can't live up to their expectations?"
"You're far too smart for that. Your grades have been excellent so far. Why would that change now?"
"I suppose you're right, Harry. I just can't help worrying about it." She looked up into his eyes and smiled when she saw the concern on his face. "I'm sorry, I'm being silly. With you and Hermione helping me study, I can't go wrong, can I?"
"Absolutely, there's nothing to worry about."
They finished their lunch and headed toward the broom shed and the quidditch pitch. Harry suddenly realized they hadn't seen Ron or Hermione at lunch.
"Do you know what happened to Ron and Hermione? Only, they weren't at lunch just now. Did they come down during their break or something?"
"I saw them briefly after Potions. They waved but didn't stop to talk. They were headed outside. I dunno. Maybe they went for a walk and just haven't come back yet."
"Maybe, but it's not like Ron to miss a meal if he can help it."
"True enough. You don't think Malfoy hexed them or something?"
"Ron's faster than Malfoy, and Hermione could skunk him with her eyes closed. I doubt he'd be able to do anything that they couldn't undo faster."
"Well," she sighed, handing Harry his broom from the shed, "Let's get on with this. I don't know, really, if I'm going to be any good as a chaser."
"Don't think like that, Gin. You're going to be great. You're always great!" Harry was starting to feel foolish. Was love always this good at tying a young man's tongue? Ginny giggled and grabbed her own broom, leaving Harry to stare stupidly after her as she rose into the air. He shook his head and frowned at himself, then mounted his broom and took off after her.
Harry enjoyed the feel of the wind in his hair, the breeze playing happily with the ends of his robes. He watched Ginny soar, dip, hover, and dive, like a hawk seeking its prey. She grabbed up the quaffle and tossed it lightly through the left hoop, then frowned, thinking. She turned toward Harry and he got the message. He flew to the hoops and attempted to keep while she shot goal after goal at him. He suddenly felt a deep sympathy for Ron. This job was harder than he had anticipated. When their hour of break time was over, they flew sullenly back to the broom shed, packed their brooms and the quaffle away and began the short walk back to the castle.
"That wasn't bad, Gin," Harry said.
"It could've been better," she replied.
"You want to practice again tomorrow?" he offered.
"Oh, could we? Except, when do you have a break tomorrow?"
"I'll have to look at my timetable again, but if we don't have a break together, we could use lunch hour," he suggested.
"OK, let's do lunch hour for sure, then if we have break at the same time, maybe we can come out again."
"That's fine, but when are we going to do our homework?"
"Now you sound like Hermione!"
Harry laughed at himself. She was right, he did sound like Hermione. But he also remembered Hermione's warning in the carriages. He didn't want to get behind so much that homework would conflict with the D.A. or his lesson plans. He didn't want to start showing up unprepared in classes he was supposed to teach. He turned to Ginny and winked, then grinned. "Hermione's right, we need to study at some point too."
"Yeah, I know. We'll just have to do it at night, after dinner or something."
"Fine with me, as long as we do it."
They mounted the steps into the castle and Harry walked with Ginny to the steps that led up to the North Tower and Divination.
"Good luck up there," Harry said, tilting his head toward the staircase.
"Yeah, thanks," Ginny looked as though she would rather be anywhere but in Divination. "Can I just skive off today? Sit me in the back of your classroom under your invisibility cloak. Please?!" she begged, jokingly.
"Don't worry about that old cricket up there. She'll probably just predict someone's death, tell someone their cat's gonna die, and then shift between the tables looking at everyone's fake predictions."
Ginny giggled and leaned in to kiss Harry. Electricity passed from their lips to the tips of Harry's toes and fireworks erupted in his head. He stepped back slightly, his eyes wide again and whispered, "Maybe we better save those for when we're alone!"
"Yeah," she breathed, "Wow!"
Harry watched her walk up the stairs until she had passed beyond his line of sight. Then he moved toward Transfiguration where he found Ron and Hermione saving him a seat. As he sat down he heard Ron's stomach growl loudly.
"Didn't you two eat?" Harry asked, a grin playing at his lips.
Ron blushed a deeper scarlet than Harry had ever seen on him. Hermione was blushing too, but she answered matter-of-factly, "We were having a good conversation and the time just got away from us. We'll just have to have a big dinner."
Harry laughed quietly and wondered what kind of conversation they had that would keep Ron from eating and cause him to blush so badly, but he let it go at that. His mind wandered to Ginny and her Divination class, and a phrase suddenly erupted into his thoughts.
So, what exactly do you think they were doing?
'I dunno, but it must have been interesting.' Images played in his mind and he tried to push them away, but not quickly enough.
Ew, maybe having a connection to a boy's mind isn't such a great thing after all!
'Sorry, Gin. That's just the way boys are. Anyway, how's class so far?'
It's ok, I guess. She hasn't given out any death predictions yet, but we'll see how long that lasts…wait…oh, no, there she goes. Apparently Luna's gonna kick the bucket in May. Or maybe it's her cat.
Harry chuckled aloud, and Ron looked at him like he thought he was going nuts. Harry noticed then that class had begun and that everyone was staring at him. He looked up at Professor McGonagall's angry face and realized he must have missed something important. "I'm so sorry, Professor, I didn't mean…I mean…" he had no idea how to continue.
Professor McGonagall sighed and said, "Now that you, Mr. Potter, are done with your daydreaming, perhaps we can continue? I would like you to demonstrate the proper conjuring of a floor mat, please."
"Oh, of course, Professor," Harry replied, and he quickly produced the mat. As he stowed his wand he looked up at McGonagall to see if she was satisfied. She looked stunned, but quickly straightened herself.
"Very good, Mr. Potter, I would award points, but seeing as how I should remove a few for your lack of attention, we'll call it a draw, shall we?" Harry smiled politely and nodded, grateful she had at least not taken any points away. She returned to the blackboard and placed notes on the board with her wand. Harry opened his roll of parchment and scribbled down the notes, once again tuning out of the lesson.
'You got me in trouble.' He shot toward the North Tower.
Not nearly as much trouble as you got me in. She shot back. Trelawney took twenty points from Gryffindor. She said I was insulting her. I think she thought I was trying to mimic her with a 'far off look' or something.
Harry chuckled again, more quietly this time, but Ron still caught it.
"What the devil is so funny?" he whispered.
"Nothing, sorry," Harry whispered back. "It was just something Ginny said…at lunch I mean." Phew, that was close, he thought.
Sure was
'Sorry'
S'ok
"Merlin, Harry, where do you go when your eyes tune out like that?" Ron asked. He wasn't whispering anymore and Harry realized then that everyone was practicing the mat-conjuring that Harry had demonstrated.
"Oh, I was just thinking," Harry replied. This wasn't a lie. It just wasn't the whole truth. Ron looked at Harry skeptically, then gave it up in favor of the assignment.
"Can you help me with this? Hermione is busy helping Neville," Ron asked.
"Sure," said Harry, and he showed Ron how to do the spell. They worked on it together for a little while before Harry's curiosity resurfaced and he took advantage of Hermione's absence. "So what kind of conversation was it?" Harry asked.
"Huh?" Ron was caught off guard.
"You know, the one that kept a hungry Weasley from the lunch table?" Harry eyed him suspiciously.
"Oh, Harry," Ron tried to dismiss him. But Harry gave him a knowing look, and Ron took the bait. "Well, we were actually talking, at first. But then…"
Harry's eyebrows raised as Ron continued to describe where they had been at lunch.
"The library, Ron?" Harry said, disappointed, "You were looking things up in the library?"
"Yeah, well, Hermione wanted to find…well I told her that my parents could…don't laugh Harry…" Ron misread Harry's expression for mirth when Harry was really quite sure what they had been looking for.
"Your parents can read each other's minds?" Harry supplied.
"How did you know?" Ron asked.
"Ginny told me about it. So were you looking up something about that?"
"Yeah, Hermione wants to know how it works. She thinks it would be fun to be able to do it."
"Can you?" Harry asked.
"Well, no, of course not. Otherwise we'd have started dating a while ago, wouldn't we, since we would each have known how the other felt much sooner."
"Perhaps," Harry agreed, but wondered if that was really so. He smiled to himself as he felt Ginny's presence again in the back of his mind, and tried to open his conversation with Ron to her. He felt her giggle and her thoughts came through clearly, great, they can help us find it, and they won't even know it's us who want to know.
"How about if Ginny and I help you look for it," Harry suggested. "Maybe we can find it faster if we all look for it together."
"Sure, why not. I'll ask Hermione."
"All right everyone," McGonagall called from the front of the class. Harry and Ron turned to face her and Hermione returned from Neville's desk and sat down beside Ron. "Your homework is on the board. It is due on Friday. I'll see you all Wednesday." The sound of quills scratching on parchment echoed through the room. Harry finished copying down the homework, stuffed his things in his bag unceremoniously, and stood beside Ron who was waiting for Hermione. She finished as well, and the three of them made their way out into the corridor and up the stairs to the common room. Ginny met them at the portrait hole and smiled impishly at Harry before climbing through ahead of him. They took their things to their dorm rooms and met back by the fire to go to dinner together. Harry took Ginny's hand in his and Ron did the same with Hermione.
"Hermione, Harry and Ginny want to help us look up that mind-link thing. Is that OK with you?" Ron asked as they descended the steps toward the Great Hall.
"Oh, sure, that would be fine. Only, don't tell anyone else what we're looking for. I wouldn't want to spread it around or anything. Apparently only really powerful witches and wizards can do it. And I think there has to be some other kind of connection too. Anyway, it's sure to be in the restricted section. We'll have a time getting permission to go in there."
They had reached the Gryffindor table and were sitting down when Malfoy came sauntering over.
"So, it seems Potter's got it bad for the littlest weasel," he started.
"Shove off, Malfoy," Harry threw back.
"What's the matter, can't admit it to her face that you're in love with a low-life, mudblood loving, freckle-faced freak?" Malfoy taunted.
"As a matter of fact, I already told her that I'm in love with her, and she's the sweetest, most honorable, muggle-born loving, adorably freckled witch in this school, or any other. Thanks for noticing."
Malfoy looked confused and sickened at the same time. He shook his head as though trying to clear it of cobwebs and glared at Harry. His sneer finally returned though, and he let one more insult fly. "Well, we'll just have to see if she sticks with the likes of you, then, won't we. Someone so honorable ought to be on the arm of someone who doesn't go breaking the law and convincing the Ministry not to punish him for it."
"Only you would know what it's like living with someone like that," Harry returned, and Malfoy instantly turned his wand on him.
"What's all this then?" Snape called from the front of the room. "Ten points from Gryffindor for provoking my student, Mr. Potter. Now, get on with your dinners before I have you all escorted out of the Great Hall for dueling."
Harry knew better than to retort to Snape's unfair treatment. He scowled and sat down next to Ginny, who promptly kissed his cheek. "What was that for?" Harry asked, suddenly smiling again.
"What you said to Malfoy," she said. "That was really sweet of you."
"It's only the truth."
"Get a room," Seamus cried from across the table, and they laughed.