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------- I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good -------
Chapter 19
'You are doing entirely too much,' Luna stated calmly as Harry and Hermione wandered into their common room and promptly collapsed into a pair of overstuffed armchairs near the fireplace.
Harry opened one weary eye and regarded her in silence. Hermione seemed to have fallen asleep. After a moment, a wry grin appeared on his face. 'They're getting better, though. Sirius, especially. When the contest comes 'round, I think he'll probably be the winner.'
'Naturally,' Luna replied. 'He is your apprentice, after all.'
'Huh?' Harry sat up, staring her straight in the eye, and looking alarmed. 'Apprentice?'
'You are going to ask him, aren't you?' Luna asked, a curious expression on her face, which suddenly turned to a vaguely Hermione-esque, stern frown. 'It'll be awfully rotten if you don't, Harry. Everything you've done while you've been here has indicated that you're going to.'
Harry suddenly began to feel decidedly queasy. 'Er… what exactly am I supposed to do?' he asked, after a brief hesitation, and then realising that he had just practically given away his last escape route – ignorance.
Luna sighed. 'You wouldn't have to do much more than you're doing now, except that you'd have to agree to support him financially and to live with him until his apprenticeship ended. You should probably wait to see if he's a Mage before offering, though.'
And that, it seemed, settled the matter.
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Ginny wasn't entirely certain how the charmed Muggle pocket watch, which her father had given her for her birthday a couple of years ago, had ended up on top of a large bookshelf in her classroom. She suspected that it had something to do with Peeves, though, and the fact that she'd left it there by accident last night.
How it had got there really wasn't something she was going to consider at the moment, however. Neither she nor Neville – the only other person in the room at the time – had been able to see the watch clearly enough to levitate it down, and summoning charms really weren't their forte, so Neville was balanced precariously atop a large ladder, while Ginny supported it at the bottom.
The close proximity was making her slightly giddy, and her grip loosened slightly. She felt awful for it when the ladder overbalanced, and he came crashing to the ground with a yelp of pain.
'Nev,' she said, her eyes wide and horrified. 'Are you okay? I'm so sorry I let go: I didn't mean to, honestly. Do you need to see Madam Pomfrey?'
A small grin grew on Neville's face as she continued to blurt out apologies. 'I'm fine,' he said after a moment, and then looked down at his hand, where Ginny's pocket watch lay in pieces. 'Your watch doesn't seem to have been so lucky, though.' He winced. 'I'm sorry.'
Gobsmacked, Ginny's mouth opened and closed a few times in silence, before she regained her composture, repaired the watch with a quick spell, and offered Neville a hand to help him stand up.
'Neville Longbottom,' she said, her face completely straight, 'you are the most utterly infuriating boy I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, and in-' she paused to glance at the now working watch- 'three seconds, I am going to kiss you.'
She counted to three, and then promptly did so.