"The Prophecy Undone"

Chapter 3 - The Room of Requirement…

Harry hadn't known quite what to expect from the Room of Requirement as he knew it changed each time depending on what you needed it for, but when he'd used it as the DA's hideout it had been a big empty classroom with piles of soft cushions so that they could practice stunning and hexing each other safely. The way the room had been then is what he'd vaguely had in mind when he'd had the brainwave of using it so that he and Ginny could be alone in private. They could spread the cushions out all over the floor and nestle down amongst them and take their time to enjoy each other, safe in the knowledge that they would remain undisturbed.

Harry certainly hadn't been expecting the sight that greeted them when they passed through the door this time and it was all he could do not to gape open-mouthed. It was perfect in every way…

It wasn't so much that it was a beautiful room, although it was undoubtedly handsome with lots of heavy wood and leather furnishings and deep, soft rugs. It was more the instant jolt of familiarity that Harry felt when he gazed upon it for the first time. He heard the door click shut behind him and then felt Ginny standing close by his side, breathing an appreciative sigh of "Wow, Harry – this is amazing…", but he was too entranced to notice anything other than the room laid out before him; their urgent mission that a moment ago had meant everything now temporarily forgotten.

Although he'd never been in this particular room before, it instantly felt like home and Harry knew without even having to articulate the thought that this was exactly the sort of home that he could imagine himself owning and living in one day if he ever got his own place.

The room before them appeared to be a huge, open-plan log cabin, that was marvellously light, airy and spacious, while at the same time it seemed extremely homely and comfortable. Every part of it sang to him that he was home. Everywhere you looked, thick, rich wooden logs made up the walls, floor and ceiling. It smelled fantastic. Like being lost deep in the middle of a pine forest. A pair of huge, puffy, overstuffed couches in a beautiful reddish brown hide with an exquisite grain that Harry thought might have been dragon skin dominated the main part of the room. These were set in front of the most enormous, cosy looking cast-iron fireplace Harry had ever seen, that was blazing away merrily to itself and emitting a deeply comforting warmth. Deep fluffy animal skin rugs were laid haphazardly all over the polished wooden floors and finely carved pieces of wooden furniture were arranged artfully around the rest of the room.

Unbidden, a stream of images danced into his head one after the other; he and Ginny sprawled naked and entangled on the deep rug in front of the cosy open fire - he and Ginny all over each other on one of the big dragon skin couches, their limbs entwined - Harry caressing Ginny and thrusting into her as she lay back on the enormous pine dining table, her legs wrapped around his waist - he and Ginny snuggled up in the beautiful huge four-poster bed that was visible through an open door off to one side…

As the various erotic images flashed into his head - even as he thought of them and acknowledged how tempting they were (and privately vowing he'd fulfil every single one of them while they were here) - Harry forced himself to momentarily push them aside so he could concentrate better on his immediate surroundings. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was much more to this place than currently met the eye and he wanted to explore it a bit better first to try and work out the source of this strange feeling of familiarity. After all, they had plenty of time; they wouldn't be missed for hours yet and no one would ever find them anyway...

Ginny was still standing on the spot, gazing around mesmerized and seemingly lost for words for once. Harry let go of her hand and started to move slowly around the room, taking everything in. He kept feeling that he'd been here before – no, that wasn't right – he didn't know exactly how to make sense of it, but the room was definitely familiar. He felt he knew this place, but couldn't understand how.

Harry stopped by a large window and gazed outside. He was astounded when he didn't see the summery grounds of Hogwarts that he'd left behind looking back at him. Instead, the most amazing snow-filled mountainous landscape greeted his eyes and his heart soared at the sheer beauty of the scene laid out before him. The cabin appeared to be set back on a sheltered ledge near the top of a range of breathtakingly rugged snow-capped mountains. There was nothing else around apart from the odd patch of sparse pine forest a bit further down the mountain slopes. Snow was falling gently all around and a weak wintry sun occasionally poked through the cloudy grey skies making the snowscape sparkle and glitter. He had no idea where they could be, but he'd never felt such a sense of peace, safety, contentment and belonging all at once, even at Hogwarts. He wanted to stay here forever…

His reverie was suddenly broken when he heard Ginny say, as if from a great distance away "Harry, I need to talk to you – it's important." she sounded really worried, almost scared.

"Hmmm…? murmured Harry distractedly. He didn't want to tear his eyes away from what he was seeing, but her tone sounded serious, so with great difficulty he brought his attention away from the compelling scene outside the window and turned his head slightly to glance at Ginny. She looked wretched; still standing awkwardly near the door where they'd entered, wringing her hands and looking shifty.

Ginny couldn't deceive herself – or Harry – any longer that what she'd done was innocent. She had to tell him. Being in this place made her realize that. This was no longer just some quick teenage fumble in the woods; this was serious now and she realised why Harry had brought her here and what they were about to do. She couldn't let this happen. She couldn't let him go all the way - knowing that she'd got him here under false pretences…

"Ginny, what is it? What's up?" Seeing the look on her face, Harry had rushed over to her. He didn't understand why she was upset; he thought this was what she'd wanted. Ginny was still rooted to the spot, staring at the floor and Harry put his hands on her shoulders, holding her at arms length and trying to get her to look up at him. He put his hand under her chin and tilted it up to make her look at him and saw that her face was awash with tears.

"Hey, Gin, it's ok. Whatever it is, it's ok…" he soothed, "Come on – what's this all about?" He hugged her tightly and felt her sob against his shoulder.

"Oh Harry! I'm so sorry! I feel so awful! she cried, clinging to him tightly. Harry was very confused, but shushed her softly and started to lead her over to one of the couches. He sat her down gently and then pushed her hair back off her face and wiped her eyes. She sniffed loudly and looked up at him sheepishly from under her fringe. The look on her face was still wretched. She took a deep breath, as if to prepare herself and began to speak.

"Harry, I'm so sorry – I've done something really bad…" she blurted. "We shouldn't be here. I mean – I don't think you should be here with me – under the circumstances…" she trailed off.

"Ginny, what are you on about? Harry said, rather more tersely than he'd meant to. He could see she was upset and didn't want to upset her further, but he was getting quite exasperated with the way girls could sometimes be so weird. You could never work them out; they always started crying at the strangest moments, he thought despairing to himself. "Ginny, I thought you'd be pleased about this." he frowned "You said you wanted to go somewhere private". Harry was rapidly wishing he'd never even thought of coming here. "Why do girls have to always be so complicated?" he thought to himself ruefully. Up until now, he'd thought he and Ginny were on the same level and didn't need to play games with each other.

"No – it's not that!" Ginny interjected hastily. "I do want to be here. I really

do –" She looked Harry straight in the eye. "…but I don't think you do." she finished quickly and seemed to slump sadly as she said it.

"I don't get it Ginny. Of course I want to be here. What do you want me to say…?" Harry snapped in exasperation. He mentally checked himself at the sight of Ginny's distraught face and made an effort to soften his tone slightly. "Look, whatever it is – just tell me. It'll be ok." He said kindly.

"Harry…" Ginny began tentatively. "I've been meaning to tell you for ages… I've wanted to confess for so long, but I knew you'd be angry – I didn't know how to tell you – and we've been so happy…" she continued haltingly "I – I hoped it wouldn't matter. I just didn't want to spoil anything…" Ginny paused for a second and then blurted suddenly. "Oh, Harry! I'm so sorry, but I can't keep it a secret any more –"

"…I – I spiked you with love potion!"

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Chapter 4 - "Amortentia in absentia" to follow...

Hungarian Horntail - England, July 2005