Chapter 13: A Light in the Darkness

"Got it again!" Ginny announced triumphantly. Harry grumbled as he landed on the muddy Quidditch pitch. Why did he have to say she could fly his Firebolt whenever she wanted? Because I thought I could scare her out of it, he reminded himself glumly as he absentmindedly watched an owl fly toward the castle. Well, so much for that.

"The score's 4-3 Potter, you're slipping again!" Ginny gloated.

"Hey, I'm still trying to get used to your broom," Harry complained. The Cleansweep looked like it was actually struggling to get out of his grip. "How do you ride this thing during the Quidditch matches?"

Ginny laughed. "Well for one thing, I don't try to strangle it into submission," she commented.

Harry grasped the handle with both hands and forced the broom into position so he could mount it again. "Okay, let's have another go with that Snitch."

Ginny grinned. "Well alright, if you think you can--" she suddenly looked up apprehensively. "Uh-oh."

"What?"

"I think it's about to rain," Ginny said as she tucked the Snitch away in her pocket. "We'd better get back inside."

"What are you talking about? C'mon, you just want to quit while you're ahead--" Harry felt a couple of raindrops hit his head. He slowly looked up. Then the rainclouds let loose.

Harry and Ginny ran back to the school as the rain pounded on them. By the time they got back inside they were soaked to the skin and splattered with mud. Ginny glared at Harry. "What was that about me wanting to quit while I was ahead?"

Harry shrank back a little. "Sorry," he said quickly.

Ginny looked shrewdly at him for a moment and smiled. She reached up, wiped his wet bangs out of his eyes, and took his hand before they started walking back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Toffee?" Harry offered as they reached the seventh floor. He took some candies out of his pocket that came from the Easter egg he got from Mrs. Weasley that morning.

"Oh, thank you," Ginny said, taking the toffee. "You know, it's just as well that we had to go back. The career pamphlets will be in the common room today."

"Anything you have in mind?"

"Well, I think I'd like to be a Healer. When Dad was in St. Mungo's I watched the Healers working and I thought it was fascinating."

"I saw the pamphlet for that! They have a lot of requirements..."

Ginny drew herself up proudly. "I think I'm up to the challenge," she declared. "Besides, with you and Ron becoming Aurors, we could probably use a Healer in the family!"

Harry was chuckling at this statement when suddenly they heard a mewing sound off to their right. They looked down and froze. Mrs. Norris was standing right next to them.

She eyed them suspiciously for a moment before taking off. Harry and Ginny stood there wondering what they could possibly get in trouble for when they looked at each other and realized they had both been trailing mud all the way down the hall.

"Filch'll kill us!" Harry exclaimed.

"But we can't get back to the common room in time!" Both looked desperately around for somewhere to hide. But that's useless, Harry thought. Filch would know of any hiding places... Then he noticed a familiar picture on the wall of a man in ballet slippers getting beaten up by trolls...

"The Room of Requirement! It's right over here!" Harry said as he ran to the spot where the door was.

"I'll clean up our trail! Scourgify! Scourgify!" Ginny cleaned the mud off their clothes and slowly worked her way down the hall while Harry paced in front of the wall where the door was supposed to be. We need a place to hide...we need a place to hide...Harry thought frantically. As he walked by the spot a third time the door appeared. He wrenched it open to find...a broom closet.

"Ginny! C'mon!" Harry called. Ginny ran back up the hall and ducked into the room. Harry jumped in after her, shut the door, and locked it.

The closet was pitch dark and cramped. "Ow Harry! My foot!"

"Sorry I--hey! Watch your broom!"

"Well I--ouch! Oh this is ridiculous! Lumos!" The closet instantly filled with the light from Ginny's wand.

The space was even smaller than they thought. There probably wasn't more than three square feet of maneuvering room in there. Ginny reached up and placed her lit wand on an overhead shelf filled with cleaning supplies. "Here, let me get our brooms out of the way," Harry said. He took their brooms and tucked them away in a corner behind him.

Harry turned to face Ginny again and started to step toward her when his foot made contact with something slippery that felt suspiciously like a wet bar of soap. His foot flew back wildly behind him and he fell forward, pinning Ginny against the wall. Ginny instinctively grabbed Harry's shoulders in an effort to steady them as Harry regained his footing.

"Sorry," Harry said, chuckling nervously. Ginny simply smiled back at him. Their faces were just an inch apart.

Harry stared at Ginny, his eyes locking onto hers. They're so beautiful, he thought. So deep, so alive...I could get lost in them for hours... Without thinking his hands wrapped slowly around her waist. His eyes moved down to the splatter of freckles on the bridge of her nose and her cheeks. He must've counted those freckles a thousand times these past few months, especially that little one on her right cheek that didn't seem to match up with the rest of them. Harry smiled and tenderly kissed that spot. He felt the apples of Ginny's cheeks rise in a smile as she reached up and gently stroked his jaw. He pulled back his head and gazed into her eyes a moment more as his arms tightened around her. He pulled her closer and felt her heart beating against his chest (or was it his own?). His eyes closed and his face leaned toward hers...

Harry couldn't remember ever feeling such ecstasy before in his entire life. He heard Ginny sigh and felt her lean against him and run her fingers through his hair as she returned his kiss. He was so caught up in the moment that he didn't even notice that his scar was starting to tingle.

Ginny pulled out of the kiss and looked at the door of the closet. Harry dreamily leaned forward to kiss her again but stopped in surprise when Ginny quickly put her hand over his mouth. "Listen," she whispered. Harry blinked and looked toward the door. Then he heard it.

"Well Mrs. Norris, where do you think they've gone to?" they heard Filch say. Harry's eyes widened and his heart started thumping faster. Ginny snatched her wand off the shelf, extinguished it, and tucked it away before she wrapped her arms around Harry's shoulders again. They stood there in the dark holding each other tightly as they listened and waited.

"Their trail ends here, but where are they?" Harry and Ginny could hear Filch mumbling and stumping around looking for them. Please don't pace in front of the door, please don't pace in front of the door, Harry quietly prayed. What he wouldn't give for his Invisibility Cloak right about now.

"Blast it! Where did they go?" Filch finally shouted. "Filthy kids! Track in a mess and disappear without a thought!" He continued to curse them as he stomped angrily away.

It wasn't until they were certain he was gone that Harry and Ginny realized they were both holding their breath. They let go of each other and gasped with relief as Harry felt for the doorknob. He cautiously opened the door and peeked outside to make sure the coast was clear before they grabbed their brooms and continued on their way to Gryffindor Tower.

I just kissed Ginny! I just kissed Ginny! Harry thought excitedly as they walked down the hall. He tried to compose himself and act like nothing big had happened, but when Ginny slipped her hand into his, he couldn't hold back a grin. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her to the side.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ginny asked playfully.

"What? I thought it was obvious!" Harry teased. They laughed for a moment before Harry leaned forward to kiss her again.

It happened without any warning. A sharp, searing pain exploded in Harry's scar. He cried out in pain as he let go of Ginny, clamped his hands over his forehead, and backed into the wall, his broomstick falling with a clatter on the floor. The hall swirled in front of him like some sort of surreal dream as he heard a cold, high-pitched voice laughing, saying, "Finally...finally..."

Then just as quickly as it started, it stopped. Harry leaned against the wall and breathed heavily as he took a moment to remember where he was and what he was doing.

"Harry? Harry!" Ginny called to him, pulling him out of his fog. Harry blinked and looked up at Ginny. "What happened?" she asked in a panicky voice.

Harry stared at Ginny as he slowly realized what just happened. His eyes widened in shock. "Oh no," he whispered as he sank to the floor and curled up into a ball.

"Harry what's going on?" Ginny asked as she knelt down in front of him.

"Voldemort--he knows about you," Harry moaned.

Ginny winced before she continued. "So? What does that have to do with anything?"

"No, no, you don't understand," Harry said. He took a deep breath and told her about the prophecy Dumbledore showed him the year before.

Ginny's eyes widened in shock. "So you're saying...that you have to kill You-Know-Who...or he'll kill you?"

Harry nodded. "That's why he targeted my family when I was a baby; he figured he could fulfill the prophecy right then and there. And that's why he's still targeting me now."

"Oh Harry," Ginny leaned forward to put a comforting arm around his shoulder, but Harry pulled away.

"There's more," he said reluctantly. He paused, not wanting to keep going, but he finally made himself tell her about the dream he had before Christmas.

The color slowly drained from Ginny's face. She reached inside the collar of her shirt and pulled out the blue diamond Harry gave her. "Is this why--you couldn't tell me?" she whispered. Harry nodded again.

Ginny sat stunned for a moment, then turned back to him. "But...but are you sure? You're sure he knows about me?"

Harry thought about it. He worked to remember every last detail; every last emotion, every last thought. "No," he answered. "No, it happened so fast. I didn't see any sign that he saw you."

Ginny's courage picked up a little. "Well then, it's okay..."

"No it's not," Harry said, his eyes tearing up. "Ginny I really care about you, but if you keep dating me you're going to get hurt. If something happened to you I don't know what I'd do."

"So what? That's it? You're breaking up with me? After what just happened now?" Anger rose in Ginny's voice as tears started forming in her eyes.

"Do you think I want this? You think I want to just walk away from everything we've done? Ginny, I can't risk--"

"So you'd rather hurt me like this? The whole wizarding world is at war right now! Everyone is in danger! I am not about to let Vol--Vol--," Ginny seemed to be choking on the name.

"Vol-de-mort," Harry sounded out quietly, his heart swelling as he gazed intently at her.

"Vol-de-mort." Ginny hugged herself and shuddered when the name escaped her lips. Her voice grew stronger though as she repeated the name. "Vol-de-mort. Voldemort! I'm not afraid! Harry, I refuse to be afraid! And I'm not about to let him scare me away from you!" She leaned forward and grabbed his arms. "Harry I know firsthand what Voldemort is capable of, and I'm not running away!"

Harry's eyes clouded over as he recalled what Ginny was talking about. "Ginny that just proves my point," he said. "You've already been targeted before; you'll definitely get targeted now!"

"I don't care!"

"Ginny please--"

"NO!" The tears were now flowing freely down Ginny's cheeks. "You--can carry on--as much--as you like--but I'm--not--LEAVING!"

Harry was boiling in frustration. Why won't she go? Doesn't she see what's at stake here? He angrily wiped the tears that had fallen down his own cheeks and looked up at her. He had just opened his mouth to yell at her when his eyes met hers; those big, brown, fiery eyes that left him speechless. He never could say no to those eyes.

Tears rolled down Harry's cheeks again as he took Ginny's hand. She moved a little closer to him and they wrapped their arms around each other. They sat there crying in each other's arms for a few moments before Harry calmed down.

Harry looked up at the hall, then down at Ginny's face, and smoothed a lock of hair away from her eyes. He chuckled and raised his arms with a dramatic flair. "Behold, The Boy Who Lived, curled up on the floor, crying in an empty hallway. If Voldemort could see me now."

Ginny chuckled. She reached into her pocket, pulled out the handkerchief Harry had given her, and dried his cheeks with it. "He'd still be running scared," she declared.