(Thanks to the reviewers who review. I was considering not updating but that crazy girl and Rachel have made me sufficiently willing. I might post another chapter later today too.)
Ron shot me the most conspicuous meaningful looks all throughout the day. Harry kept his eye-contact cautiously away from Ron's. Whenever Ron opened his mouth to say something, he would cough or shove food into it. Sometimes Harry would jump in, mentioning Quidditch.
Hermione, Ron, Harry and I sat in the library, a few hours before Quidditch practice, getting some homework out of the way. She paused over a star chart and looked as though she couldn't concentrate.
"That's Betelgeuse." I said to her.
"Favian, I'm not an idiot." She said.
"I didn't say you were, but you looked like you were having trouble."
"What's going on?" She hissed at the three of us.
"Favian slept with Harry last night." Ron burst.
Harry gave Ron the dirtiest look I had ever seen in my life.
"Not like that." I amended. "I was scared so… it seemed like a good idea at the time. I just took up the other side of his bed. Nothing happened." Hermione stared in amazement at me.
"Nothing happened? Were you having another nightmare then?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah."
"He didn't do that again, did he?" Hermione whispered.
"Harry stopped him."
"Did you see the bruises on her shoulders?" Harry asked. "I mean, I could see them getting squeezed in her sleep."
"What did he do?" Ron asked. "That he did before that Hermione's been hinting at for a long time."
"Perceptive." I glared at Hermione.
"Well, don't you think they should know?"
"No."
"It might help, in case it happens again, so they can help out." Hermione blabbered.
"It doesn't matter." I was turning steadily redder in the face.
"Maybe if you and Harry played it cool for awhile it would stop happening…." Hermione tried again.
"That's not going to change how horny he is." I spat. "You deal with the dreams, Hermione, and then you can decide who I can date." I slammed my book shut and stomped out of the room. I knew Hermione wasn't going to say anything, but they would figure it out. It wasn't exactly difficult. Or maybe it was.
"Favian," Harry caught up to me, pushing his glasses back into place, as I was heading towards a staircase.
"What?" I turned to look at him, gritting my jaw. "Did she tell you? Are you done with me for my 'safety'?"
"Only if you want to be done with me." He looked rather hurt.
"No, of course I don't." I pulled my bag in front of my chest and hugged it.
"D'you want to go talk somewhere?"
I nodded and we walked up to the North Tower where people seldom went. We sat inside a deserted room and I told him about my ordeal, praying that I might keep the tears away. It didn't work. I became a human Niagara Falls. Harry squeezed the healthy part of my shoulder then hugged me slowly, as though afraid he might break me.
It was the day of the final match. Us versus Ravenclaw. It was also my first match. And I was playing against Harry's ex. Guess who has a Bludger, Cho. I was surprised at how vindictive my thoughts were. I was extremely nervous about how my play would go. Angelina had been extremely fervent in our practices, but I noticed that she was always watching me to make sure that I was still conscious. Ginny thought that Angelina meant to revive me without informing Pomfrey. I didn't contradict her.
I put on my red and gold Quidditch uniform and breathed deeply for a few minutes. My semi-trusty broomstick was clutched tightly in my right hand as I stood by the exit next to Kirke.
"Nervous?" He asked, grinning.
"Like a nervous-thing." I stammered.
"Nice. Don't worry about it. Really."
"And here are the Gryffindors… Johnson… Spinnet… Bell… Weasley… Fynn…." I followed the aforementioned onto the field, my face bursting with red. "…AND Weasley!" There was applause from the Gryffindor side of the stadium. Lee Jordan called out the Ravenclaws next. Madam Hooch blew the whistle and we jumped up into the air. Kirke and I spread out, ready to slam the whizzing black balls of doom at opposite players.
"And they're off!" Said Lee. "And Davies takes the Quaffle immediately…." I searched for a Bludger, but it was conveniently absent. The Ravenclaw captain made the first score.
"Weasley cannot save a thing,
He cannot block a single ring…."
I found a Bludger and slammed it at a Ravenclaw player who came into possession of the Quaffle. I knocked the wind out of him and he dropped the ball into Alicia's hands. She flew down the line at a goal and almost made it if not for a Ravenclaw Beater. Angelina had gotten underneath her and caught the Quaffle, making the first Gryffindor score of the game. I smiled and looked back to see how Ron was faring. He had a sort of sickened and craven look on his face. I didn't want him missing any more goals so I was determined to keep all Ravenclaw players away from him.
Bradley, a Ravenclaw Chaser came in possession of the Quaffle. He started towards Ron with a sort of wicked grin on his face. I saw a Bludger but the Ravenclaw Beater beat me to it and hit it at me. I just managed to dodge it and it went flying by. Everyone on the Gryffindor team sat on tenterhooks, hoping… praying that Ron might make his first save….
"AND WEASLEY SAVES THE QUAFFLE!" Lee Jordan boomed magically loud. He jumped up and did a victory jig, pausing to hug McGonagall who looked equally pleased. Ron's face, earlier sullen and dark was now beaming and excited. I noticed Angelina's mouth drop.
I saw Ginny crying with mirth and Cho was looking around distractedly. She went into a dive and I found a Bludger at the same time.
For Harry, I thought as I slammed the ball at the Ravenclaw Seeker's back. I hit my target and Ginny turned around as she heard Cho cry out in anguish and pain. Ginny mouthed a silent "thank you" to me and went back to diligently searching. Cho shot me a dirty look but I just saluted her with my bat and flew on.
Again, Bradley, perhaps his pride shot, flew towards Ron with the Quaffle. It seemed to me that Ron had never been so determined. He managed yet again to stop the Quaffle and return it to his teammates. The Gryffindors screeched with joy. Ron was positively glowing with pleasure. Davies wasn't happy with Bradley and demanded that he pass the Quaffle to him. Davies flew towards Ron but Ron again saved the goal. The stadium exploded into a roar of approval. Davies intercepted the Quaffle and I slammed a Bludger at him, knocking the Quaffle out of his possession. He turned back to look at me incredulously. I smiled at him and winked. I didn't stop to watch his reaction, because Katie Bell had scored a goal for Gryffindor.
Ginny circled high above with Cho following her as they searched for the Snitch. I saw it flutter for a moment by the Ravenclaw end but I didn't want to point it out for both Cho and Ginny to see. It disappeared in a flash of gold and there was a roar of approval as Alicia made a score.
Cho stopped to watch as Davies made another attempt at scoring against Ron. In that instant there was a flash of red as Ginny Weasley flew at top speed over to a spot just beneath Cho Chang. In the second it took for Cho to look down, Ginny already had the small struggling Snitch caught in her right hand, silver wings beating uselessly against her fingers. Madam Hooch blew the whistle and everyone came down to land. Cho was furious. She threw her broomstick away and stomped off into the lockers to change.
The entire team ran towards Ron and we lifted him up into the air. McGonagall came down practically sobbing as she handed the Cup to Ron, who held it triumphantly in the air.
"Weasley is our King! Weasley is our King! He didn't let the Quaffle in! Weasley is our King!" The stadium shook with the new improved version of Ron's theme song.
Once we were back in the Common Room, there was an unbelievably raucous party. When I saw Harry I was so happy that I kissed him square on the lips, bowling him over as I ran into him. Hermione clicked her tongue and looked surprisingly distracted. Was she on O.W.L. thoughts? I didn't think that O.W.L.'s were appropriate to be thinking about at a time like that. I was rather disappointed in her.
Ron was the center of attention. At first he was blushing as people flocked to him to congratulate him on his success but soon he was giving a lively reenactment of his performance. Kirke kept coming over to me and slapping me on the shoulder and shouting that he "couldna done it without yaw!"
I wished that Fred and George were there. I knew that if anyone could improve a party, it was them and this was an occasion I was sure they would find significant.
The party ended when McGonagall came in and told us all to go to bed. Before Hermione and I headed up, she decided to tell me about something important.
"He's called Grawp." She whispered. "He's Hagrid's 'little' brother."
I couldn't imagine anything related to Hagrid being small. Apparently Grawp was far from.
"Take care of him?" I was petrified.
"If Hagrid has to leave." She whispered. "I hope more than ever that he doesn't. Oh! Why does he always need to make life more difficult?! I mean, there was Aragog, Norbert, Buckbeak, and those damned blast-ended skrewts!"
I squeezed her shoulder. "It'll be all right. Just you see. Come on, up to bed with you."
"Hm. Hm."
"Bonsoir." My heart thudded in my chest at sight of Voldemort. "Comment t'allez vous?"
He slid over to me, his movements very reminiscent of a serpent. "Still dating Potter?"
"Oui monsieur." I looked at my nails, pretending not to notice his unwavering stare.
"How is it you are so…confident? You mystify me." He leaned on his hand and watched me.
"It's got to be the puppy chow." I mumbled.
"By the end of all of this, you won't be so cocky."
"We'll see." I shrugged. I didn't slide away, afraid any sudden movements might trigger him. He came around behind me and started to stroke my hair. I didn't stop him because I knew it would be futile. After all, there were certainly worse things he could be doing. At first I sat stiffly but slowly my muscles unwound. It felt perversely good. That was when I had to jerk away. "Stop." I commanded. "Harry?" I gasped. Tom was no longer there, but Harry smiled back at me. "What are you doing… here?"
"Dunno. I just sort of turned up. Is this what you see every night?" He looked around. "Your dreams are kind of dull, aren't they?"
"Yeah…." A terrifying thought occurred to me. That wasn't Harry but Tom masquerading as him to make me feel uncomfortable. "Yeah it is. I think I'm going to go now. I'll meet you in the Common Room."
"Why leave? I like it here."
"Tom, stop imitating him. It's disgusting." I turned away.
"I thought you might like me better as young Potter." He hissed in my ear.
"I like you neither way, Mr. Riddle." I turned and was confronted with a tall, pale man with red irises. His pupils were those of a cat and his fingers were like albino spiders. "Ew." I said solemnly.
He smiled. "Do you see what I have become, Favian?"
"You look like the inner-you. I didn't know that the inside could be revealed on the outside."
"We learn something new all the time. But you see," he continued, "this is what I truly am. I don't like it much more than you except for the power. I lack one important thing to consummate my power with you."
"So you're not really a man anymore?"
"I suppose you could say that." He smiled and began to change back into Tom. "You might say it's lucky that I can possess this body for hours at a time."
"Favian! Wake up!" Hermione called distantly.
"Yup. Got to go. Au revoir."
"You speak French in your sleep." Hermione said at breakfast.
"Do I? That was just last night." I spooned some bland oatmeal into my mouth.
Hermione pushed a chunk of hair out of her face and took a bite of toast. "How do you stand it?"
"What? French? It's a good language."
"No, your dreams."
"Who said I stand in them?" I asked, dodging the question.
"You know what I mean."
"Well, Hermione, as I don't seem to have a thousand options queuing up to rescue me, I guess I just have to deal."
Ron sat down next to me, beaming as he was ready to fill the day with his proud joy.
It was sometime after Hermione and Harry had to break the Grawp news to Ron that Harry and I went off on our own. Hermione for the first time didn't protest but simply smiled at me. Ron was looking from Hermione to Harry to me very quickly as though he was waiting for someone to explode. Harry slid out of the portrait hole and waited for me, giving me a hand.
"Such a gentleman!" The Fat Lady crooned.
We walked down the corridor together, heading for the grounds. I held his hand without saying a word but I was filled with a sudden, deep contentment. Pansy Parkinson and her gang of Slytherin girls passed us by. She shot me a dirty look.
"So, it's Potty and the slut." She cackled. Her awful laugh was backed up by a cacophony of her friends, all squealing in delight.
I smiled serenely at her and continued. She turned very red. After all, what does one say to a smile? I said nothing and continued out the front doors with Harry in hand. We wandered down to a secluded area by the lake surrounded by willows. None of those were the Whomping Willow, which would not exactly constitute as a romantic spot.
I slid down against a tree and Harry knelt to sit with me. The sky was a cloudless blue and there were cries of laughing students in the Quidditch pitch playing on their brooms. A lot of students were inside studying, but I hardly thought that would be a just reward for winning the Cup. I leaned my head back against the tree and closed my eyes, a smile engraved on my face.
I'm never so content as when I am with you, I thought.
I looked at Harry. He was lying on his back staring at the sky. There were lines of worry on his forehead. I had never worried so much in my life as I had that year. But I didn't want to think about it just then. I crawled over to Harry and looked at his face more closely. I removed his glasses and kissed each of his eyelids. He reached up and grabbed my head. I rolled onto the ground next to him and kissed his lips.
He brushed my hair away from my face and kissed me back. Running my fingers through his hair, I held him close to me. It was as though I was trying to keep him forever, though eventually we would have to part. I began to see white behind my eyelids. My eyes shot suddenly open and I pulled away.
"What? What is it?" Harry asked, looking shocked.
"I saw… white. Lot's of white." I shook my head. "Sorry. I just thought Voldemort was coming again." I felt bile rise in my throat as I remembered what he had done to me. There was a sharp pain in my gut. I cried out.
Harry took my hands in his and squeezed, looking furiously worried.
"You are mine!"
I made a noise of protest and withdrew my hands to cover my ears.
"You are mine!" The voice hissed most viciously and cried out in aggravation.
My bruises… oh the bruises were being darkened.
"Favian, come back." Harry held my chin firmly in his hands. "Favian!"
I gasped and my eyes shot open.
"Oh gods, Harry!" I fell forward, crying into his shoulder. "When will it end? When will it end?!"
"Favian, we are going to kill him. I promise he will pay for your suffering."
"And yours," I looked up at him.
Harry had a grim line set on his forehead.
"You want to know something funny?" I couldn't bear to see his face so grave. Harry tilted his head at me. "Old Voldey lacks the important reproductive organ that most males treasure."
Harry's eyes widened.
"That's why he needs to become Tom again." I wiggled my eyebrows.
Harry started laughing and hardly could breathe.