Harry Potter and the Mind Mage
By James Milamber
A/N: Greetings once again! Good grief, this is Chapter 17 already! Seems like only a few weeks ago that I first posted…oh hang on…it was only a few weeks ago. Oh well. Enjoy!
I need some serious comments on this one, people. Like it or hate it, tell me. Let me know if it needs to be re-done. Please?
athenakitty: (blinks) That's a lot of questions! As to the answers…you'll just have to wait and find out, won't you?
Aimee Locke: lol, actually I AM a procrastinator. I could update this story every six hours or so, if I could be bothered. It only takes me a few hours to write a chapter. But seventeen chapters in three weeks (or so) isn't too bad, I think. I'm aiming for two to three chapters a week.
TheDarkServant: Ah, but nowhere in QTTA does it mention the capital cities, and none of the teams are from them. That's what I meant, that it isn't big in the cities themselves (which is where Alex and Cassie came from). That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Thanks for pointing it out, though.
Schnuff: McGonagall and Voldemort dancing? That is seriously weird nightmare material.
By the time Harry and Ginny parted, they were both breathless. Ginny's eyes were closed, her lips curled into a soft contented smile. Then her eyes opened and Harry almost lost himself in the depth of emotion he saw there.
'Wow,' she breathed, stroking his face softly with one hand. Harry could have sworn he heard a ghostly chuckle from the other end of the ward. 'What took you so long?' She leaned down and once again caught his lips with hers.
There was a loud cough. The two teens reluctantly parted to find Albus Dumbledore watching them with an amused twinkle in his eyes. 'I won't keep you long,' he said, coming to stand by Harry's bed. Harry noticed that Ginny kept her eyes firmly on the floor, and remembered what Sirius had said about her yelling at the Headmaster. 'Clearly you have more important things to attend to,' Dumbledore winked at Harry, who flushed a deep red.
'We were just –'
'It's alright, Harry,' Dumbledore assured him gently. 'That love can bloom in such dire times as this is a truly wonderful thing. But I must speak with you briefly about your experience on the dream plane.'
Harry looked at the Headmaster sharply. How did he know where Harry had been?
'I know that Voldemort came to you,' Dumbledore continued. 'I just need to know what he told you.'
'He offered me an opportunity to join him,' Harry answered honestly. Ginny gasped, her hands covering her mouth.
'And what did you say?' Dumbledore's face was expressionless.
'I told him he could stick his offer, for all I care. I'll not join him,' he said the last mostly to Ginny, and smiled at her in reassurance. She smiled back, and Harry felt that familiar leaping sensation in his chest.
'Very well then,' Dumbledore turned to leave. 'As you were, Harry. I will speak with you later.'
After Dumbledore left, Ginny quickly drew the curtains around Harry's bed, returning to his side once they completely concealed the bed and it's occupants. She lay down beside him on the bed.
'As you were indeed,' she breathed.
'Ginny…there's something I need to tell you,' Harry said hesitantly. A strange look passed over her face, but her expression quickly turned curious. He told her about meeting Sirius on the dream plane, and the gist of their conversation. 'When he told me about Amanda,' Harry said after he finished the story, 'it was like this bubble burst inside me, and suddenly I just…knew, like it had been there all along just waiting for the right moment to come out.'
'Knew what?' she asked, at the same time needing to know and dreading the answer.
He tried to speak, but couldn't get the words out. He took a deep breath, his mind blank. I can't do this. Suddenly he heard Sirius' words in his head. I loved her to distraction. I had since our sixth year, I just couldn't admit it. I wasn't brave enough. The pain in Sirius' voice as he had said those words was beyond Harry's ability to comprehend. Sirius had wasted so much time and regretted it the rest of his life, and Harry swore then and there that he wouldn't do the same. He had taken the plunge, now he needed to take the next step.
'I love you,' he said simply, staring into Ginny's brown eyes. 'I think I always have. I just never noticed before.'
'Oh Harry!' she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. 'I love you too,' she whispered as tears formed in her eyes.
'So what are we going to do about this new revelation?' Harry asked her, his emerald eyes sparkling and his mind whirling.
'We'll think of something,' she said impishly, moving closer to him again.
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Ginny's head was spinning. She couldn't believe this was really happening. She was kissing Harry Potter! Not only that, he was kissing back. Enthusiastically.
When Harry had said, "there's something I need to tell you", her mind had immediately gone into overdrive, summoning all sorts of possibilities for what he was about to say. Her heart sank as she told herself that the most likely thing he was about to say was something along the lines of "I thought you were someone else" or "I was delusional". She forced herself to look interested in what he had to say, even though she was dreading hearing him say it. When he told her the story of meeting Sirius on the dream plane, her doubts grew. How was that relevant? Then he had dropped the bombshell.
He had told her he loved her.
And she didn't doubt it for a second. The look in his eyes when he had spoken those fateful words was so sincere, so honest, so Harry.
She sighed as they parted, laying full against him on the bed, snuggling up to his side. He ran his hands through her flaming hair, and she shivered with pleasure. It was strange, really, how his slightest touch sent shivers down her spine and made her whole body down to her toes tingle.
'I love you,' he whispered again, as though he were trying the words out. It suddenly struck Ginny that he had most probably never said those words to another person before. He had never really had the opportunity. Her heart went out to him all over again as she thought of the lost little boy he had been the first time she had seen him, dumped at King's Cross Station by relatives that didn't care less if he got the train or not. Back then, she hadn't realised who he was, but the first time she laid eyes on him, somehow she knew, right through the depths of her being, that he was the one. Even at age ten, she had known. And now, six years later, she sighed in absolute contentment as they simply lay together, and she knew that everything would finally be alright.
'I love you too,' she whispered back. She glanced at his face to see his eyes closed and a peaceful smile. His regular breathing told her that he had fallen asleep. She smiled too, settling down with her head pillowed on his chest, and promptly fell asleep, her long hours of vigilance at his side finally catching up to her.
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By the time Harry was released that evening, somehow the story was all over the school. It was a constant source of bafflement for Harry as to how these things managed to get around so quickly, although he privately suspected a certain painting hanging near the doors in the hospital wing.
For once he wasn't worried about the rumours. As he entered the Great Hall for dinner, he found himself surrounded by Prefects. Ron and Hermione were there of course, as always. Ernie Macmillan nodded solemnly as he, Hannah Abbott, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Padma Patil took up positions around him to escort him to the Gryffindor table. The public show of support touched Harry deeply, far more than he was willing to admit. It seemed almost as if the whispers died abruptly as Harry made his way across the hall.
Far more importantly in Harry's eyes, however, was the fact that Ginny was firmly by his side. Her arm was around his waist and his was around hers, and Harry could feel the eyes upon them as they sat at the Gryffindor table. It also seemed to be public knowledge that she had spent the last six days with Harry in the hospital wing, refusing to leave even for the Headmaster. Soon enough the whispers started again, although they didn't have anything to do with Voldemort.
'Good to have you back,' Justin whispered to Harry as the "honour guard" returned to their respective tables. Harry looked across the hall and caught Malfoy glaring at him, fingering his wand.
'Harry, mate!' Alex bounded up to him, followed as always by his twin.
'Great to see you up and about again,' Cassie chimed in as the two took seats.
Just then Dumbledore stood. 'Attention, please!' he called, and every eye in the hall turned his way. 'I am pleased to announce that this year there will be a Halloween Ball here at Hogwarts! It is open to any students above third year, although younger students may attend if invited by an older student. There will be a special Hogsmeade weekend for anyone who doesn't already have dress robes to purchase some. Now, let's eat!'
Harry turned immediately to Ginny and smiled shyly. 'Come with me?'
'Love to,' she smiled back, firmly linking her hand with his.
Ron leaned over and whispered something into Hermione's ear. Her eyes went very wide, and she suddenly smiled. She tilted her head slightly in the direction of the doors, and without a word both left the hall.
Alex blinked. 'Did I miss something?'
Neville politely excused himself and left, heading for the Ravenclaw table. As Harry watched him leave, his eyes suddenly caught Cho's. She was watching him, taking in his close proximity to Ginny and their linked hands. She smiled weakly at him, quickly turning away, and Harry thought he saw a tear running down her cheek.
He turned back to Ginny to find her also looking at the Ravenclaw table, although she was scowling. A boy Harry recognised as Michael Corner was motioning between himself and her, smiling hopefully. Very slowly and obviously, Ginny pointed to herself, then Harry, then shook her head. Michael's face fell, and after Ginny turned away he glared at Harry.
'What was that all about?' Harry asked her curiously.
'He's been trying to get back with me all year,' Ginny said absently, now munching on a buttered roll.
'Oh has he now?' Harry glanced back at Michael, who was speaking tersely with another Ravenclaw boy next to him.
'Yep,' Ginny confirmed, giving his hand a squeeze. 'Now I have an excuse to turn him down.'
Alex, who had been watching the exchange, raised his eyebrow. 'I take it the rumours are true, then?'
'You two are together now?' Cassie asked with an impish smile.
Harry and Ginny looked at each other briefly, wordlessly agreeing. 'Yes,' they said simultaneously.
Alex laughed, clapping Harry on the back. 'Good for you, mate,' he said. 'How did Ron take it?'
'Surprisingly well,' Harry admitted. 'He said pretty much the same thing you just did, actually.'
'Maybe that's because he's finally growing up,' Hermione said as she and Ron returned. Harry wasn't about to say anything, but Ron had a smudge of lipstick on his cheek that was precisely the shade Hermione was wearing. It seemed the twins didn't have his self-restraint.
'Oi Ron! Is that lipstick on your cheek?' Alex asked, jumping to his feet.
'No!' Ron said immediately, rubbing his cheek furiously – the wrong cheek.
'Don't worry, we'll get it for you,' Cassie said, also standing. Both grinning widely, the twins approached Ron, one from each side. They both had handkerchiefs, and they held them extended before them.
'Really, I don't…geroff!' Ron cried as they leapt at him, swiping his face furiously with the kerchiefs. Ron toppled over backwards, sending all three of them crashing down and knocking over Neville, who was returning from the Ravenclaw table. Hermione, trying desperately not to laugh, pulled Ron back up.
'Stop it, you two!' she said, although the corners of her mouth twitched.
'We're sorry Hermy,' they said contritely as Ron helped Neville back onto his feet.
Harry and Ginny looked at each other and burst out laughing.
A/N: Ye gads, I crack myself up sometimes. How sad is that?
PLEASE REVIEW! I need comments on this chapter, specifically the first bit. It works, it sucks, anything!
