Late Night Conversations
Ginny quietly crept through the halls. She hadn't ever been under the invisibility cloak alone; Harry had always been with her. She felt a rush of excitement. She was breaking the rules alone this time, even though it was Harry who had asked her to come.
She had mumbled an excuse to Ron and Hermione, who were treating her very carefully since her little outburst at lunch. They had looked at her for a moment when she said she needed to find something in the library this late at night, but soon had turned back to the book they had been glued to since Hermione got the spell to open it.
Navigating the halls, she had to dodge a few people, namely Crabbe and Goyle who had obviously been raiding the kitchens again. Upon finally reaching the hospital, she looked at her watch. Nine-fifteen. Great. I'm late.
She was about to knock on the door, when it swung open, and Professor Dumbledore stood by the doorway, offering parting words to his students. "Remember, lads, this is very important. And if we get it right, you will not only be able to talk to each other, you may even be able to see what the other is seeing. There may be a time when I won't be around, and all you will have is each other to rely on."
During Dumbledore's little speech, Ginny was able to sneak into the room. Dumbledore closed the door behind him as he left. Harry was sitting up in the bed farthest from the door, while Draco lay sprawled with his hands behind his head in the bed opposite Harry. Ginny noticed that Harry looked tired. Maybe they hadn't been allowed to sleep.
"What does he mean, 'we get it right'," grumbled Draco. "I didn't see him doing anything the entire day."
"He's teaching, Draco. He's representing the outside thoughts we're supposed to be shutting out." Harry glanced at his watch. "We should take our sleeping draughts and get some rest." Draco picked up a potion on the table next to his bed, downed it in one gulp, and turned on his side. "I hope this doesn't take long. I'm exhausted," Draco yawned, and closed his eyes.
Harry studied Draco for a minute, to see if he was really sleeping, then got out of bed and started to pace. "Where is she? I hope she got my message. Maybe she wasn't able to get my cloak?" Harry muttered to himself.
"Maybe she was waiting for Malfoy to fall asleep," Ginny said, pulling off the cloak. Harry was so surprised to see her he took a few steps back and fell back onto the bed. Then he broke into a wide grin.
Ginny's stomach did a little flip. I hate it when it does that. "You aren't the only one with the capability of roaming about the castle without being caught. Although, I thought Dumbledore knew I was here. He did leave the door open for quite a bit."
"Yeah, that man has an uncanny way of knowing things," Harry was still grinning. "So what brings you here so late at night, anyway, Miss Weasley?" Harry was teasing her now.
"I was summoned by the Golden Boy, was I not?" Ginny teased back, sitting at the foot of his bed.
Harry's grin fell from his face. "I would never 'summon' you, Ginny, as if you were some…"
"I know, Harry, I was kidding." Harry's reaction surprised Ginny. She smiled at him to try to ease the situation. "What happened today? We had no idea where you were until McGonagall got a note from Dumbledore."
"From Dumbledore? No, Gin, I wrote that to McGonagall. I thought you might … I mean: everyone would worry, if I didn't show…" Harry faltered again. "So, you weren't all that worried then?" He asked, a little dejected.
"Of course we were, Harry. Hermione even used her communication charm in the middle of class to see if I'd heard anything. Since when have you ever heard of Hermione not paying attention in class?" Ginny joked.
Harry grinned again. "So, I wanted you to come because I found some things out that I wanted to discuss with you."
Ginny's smile wavered. "Oh. So you just wanted to discuss information? About what?" Ginny tried to sound interested. She no longer felt like teasing Harry.
"Well, I can't really talk about specifics. I don't want to break Draco's trust. But, I believe him. And he didn't mention anything about Hermione throughout the whole time we were working together. He obviously doesn't know she shares the dreams. Or if he does, he's not letting on. And I'm not about to invade his mind again with Legilimency and offend him. Not when we're making so much progress."
"What exactly have you been doing all day?" Ginny inquired.
"Training," Harry answered enigmatically. Ginny gave Harry a puzzled look.
Harry continued, "It's all silent. You're practicing silent spells in Defense Against the Dark Arts, right? Well, we start out looking at each other and thinking about your co-communicator's memory that elicits a very strong emotion. In my case its guilt. That's the key that allows Draco into my head, knowing my memory and being sympathetic to my emotion. I have to trust him in order to let him wander freely in my mind."
"If it sounds complicated, that's because it is. Neither of us have any clue what we're doing." Harry threw his hands up in frustration. "At this point it's almost like a tug of war between the two of us for control of whoever's mind we're in. I'm having trouble seeing how we're supposed to occupy both minds at the same time, control our own thoughts and bodies, keep everyone else out, and not drive each other insane. And I've had a pounding headache for about an hour. It's very trying, actually. And we get to try again tomorrow afternoon." Harry grimaced.
"What's the key that allows you into his head? What's his emotion?" Ginny asked.
"Knowing his memory as you do, through Hermione, what do you suppose it is?" Harry put the question to her as a challenge.
Ginny thought for a moment. "Anger. His emotion is anger." Ginny raised her eyes to Harry's. His green eyes were glowing.
Harry put his hand on Ginny's. "You are going to top Hermione one of these days, Ginerva Weasley," he said softly. Harry leaned closer to Ginny. His pulse was racing. The closer he got, the more he thought his heart would come bursting out of his chest.
Ginny could feel Harry's breath on her lips. She closed her eyes, and felt her breath catch in her throat.
"MISTER POTTER!" Madam Pomfrey's voice echoed around the hospital room. "MISS WEASLEY! What in Merlin's name are you doing out of your room at eleven o'clock at night!"
Ginny jumped off the bed in surprise, mumbled something to Madam Pomfrey that Harry could not hear and made her way purposefully to the door. She turned before leaving, and shot a conspiratorial smile at Harry. He thought she looked beautiful when she blushed. Harry glanced over at Draco to see if he'd awoken during the outburst. He hadn't moved.
"Back to your dormitory, now. Shoo! And you Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey turned once the door was closed, "should have taken your sleeping draught hours ago! Go on! Take it. Professor Dumbledore said you needed your rest!"
Harry downed the potion, replicating the manner in which Draco drank his, and fell into a restful sleep.
A/N: Thanks to my reviewers! Hero the Priestess, Karone-Sakura, Lady Lily3, Elemental Dragon1, and Festis! I'm glad I got that Veil thingy sorted out. :)
I hope you guys liked this one. Please review, I know you want to! (I know I want you to...)