Chapter 5: Questions and Answers
A/N: Okay everybody, here's a chapter early since the last one was kinda late. Oh, and I have some statements, and then a question, so have patience with me.
Statement #1: Thank you to my betas for taking the time and energy to edit my chapters. Scarletangel2424, you rock my world and you are awesome, thanks for making me feel better about my writing. Grammer beta, though you don't have a post-able name, thank you so much for your patience in fixing my chapters, and I hope you don't truly wear out your comma button.
Statement #2: One of my beta's is having a crazy life right now and can't edit the chapters.
Question: Would anyone like to be a beta for me? (First-come first-serve basis.)
Thanks for your time. Hugs and kisses. Exia
ooOO00OOoo
Harry's pronouncement, and subsequent disappearance, left the remaining people feeling rather shell-shocked. Harry and Ron had had tiffs before, their biggest one lasting for nearly the entirety of their last school year, but things had seemed better after the Tri-Wizard tournament.
Ginny and Hermione glanced about the room nervously, unsure as to what to say or do. Fred and George looked at Ron, their looks of undisguised displeasure bouncing fruitlessly off the back of Ron's head.
Ron, for his part, was rather proud of himself, having finally managed to prove to Hermione exactly how much of a lying bastard Harry really was. After all, if Harry was so loyal, why would he drop Ron like a bad habit at the slightest provocation? No, no, he'd definitely done the right thing. Hermione would believe him now when he told her what a bad person Harry was, and he'd finally have her all to himself. Maybe she'd even let him go a bit farther in their snogging sessions after this. Nodding his head in satisfaction, Ron looked up and took a step back in trepidation when he met the flaming eyes of his mother.
"Ronald Benjamin Weasley!" She stated his full name for the second time in as many minutes. This could not be good. "What has possessed you to say such awful things to Harry? And why were you smiling? Are you actually happy that you've managed to push Harry to the point where he is no longer willing to be your friend? What is wrong with you? Harry is a kindhearted young man, and he does not, nor has he ever deserved such treatment from anyone, much less you! You are supposed to be his friend, and then you go and do that, I wonder if you aren't under the Imperious. I don't know exactly what has happened between you two, but if this is the way you've treated him all summer, then it's no wonder he doesn't want to be your friend. Frankly, I'm horrified and disgusted with your behavior. First Percy and now you." Mrs. Weasley's voice cracked with her last words, and tears began to spring up in her eyes. "What is it about that boy that people hate him for existing? He's gone through so much, and now you turn your back on him when he probably needs you the most. I can't believe I actually gave birth to you. Now go to your room, and stay there!" Straightening her spine, Molly dashed her tears away and pointed imperiously towards the door Harry had disappeared through. "Now, Ronald, before I take a belt to you. You're father will hear of this when he gets home."
Grumbling under his breath, Ron made for the door, pushing it open more forcefully than required and letting it slam closed with a bang. Immediately, Mrs. Black began to screech from the foyer and Molly heaved a frustrated sigh before turning to her children. "Don't any of you even think about leaving before I've had a chance to talk to you." She said sternly before heading out the door to confront a shrieking hag.
As the door swung closed, George spoke up, "I knew Ron was having a spot of trouble with Harry, but I didn't think it had gotten so bad. I can't blame Harry one whit, and I hope he puts Ron in his place."
"After all," Fred continued. "Harry is another brother, and he deserves better than that."
"I don't know, guys." Hermione temporized. "Ron's been awful jealous of Harry since the Tournament, and you all know that Harry hasn't written to him even once during the summer. He didn't even write a thank you note to Ron for his birthday gift. Maybe they just need some time. I'm sure things'll work out."
"Well, I'm just surprised Ron said that stuff. If I wasn't looking at him, I'd have said that it was Malfoy who was saying that stuff, not Ron." Ginny interjected.
"Ron's a prat." Fred spat, "He's been a prat the whole summer to us, and you can't deny that he was a royal pain in the ass last year either. He didn't believe Harry at all when he said he hadn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire."
"None of us did!" Hermione protested. "At least, not at first." She continued awkwardly in the face of the incredulous looks shot in her direction. "Come on Fred, George, how long were you two pestering him to find out how he'd gotten his name in the Goblet? And Ginny," she turned to the smaller girl. "Don't tell me the thought hadn't crossed your mind that Harry was out looking for more fame. What with Professor Lockheart the previous year…"
"Don't bring that git into this Hermione!" George cut in, "Besides, doesn't that just prove our point, and not yours? Harry hated that man, especially when he kept showing up at odd times and insisting on taking pictures with Harry."
"Well, I did notice that in those photos, Harry's image never actually appears. You always see Lockheart pulling on his arm, trying to get him to enter the frame, but he never actually does." Ginny put in.
"How do you know that, Gin?" Hermione questioned.
"Well…" she mumbled bashfully, her eyes dropping to the tabletop, and her hands reaching out to compulsively straighten the silverware sitting in front of her. "I sort of…I sort of snitched one of Lockheart's pictures of him and Harry."
"Really?" Fred (or was it George?) reached out and threw an arm around Ginny's neck and ruffled her hair. "That's our little sister! Causing mayhem and trouble for that pompous git."
"Ginny? How could you? Stealing from a teacher!" Hermione admonished, her face set in a disapproving frown.
"Well, it wasn't like he didn't have enough of them!" Ginny defended herself hotly, throwing her brother's arm off and valiantly trying to straighten her hair. "There must have been a hundred copies of that one picture."
Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but found herself cut off by the sudden silence in the house and the rather flustered return of Mrs. Weasley.
"I'm sorry about that dears, Mrs. Black was being exceptionally difficult because no one but me showed up at her screaming. Apparently she enjoys an audience."
"Even if that audience consists of traitors and mudbloods?" George (or was it Fred?) quipped with a grin.
"Apparently so." Their mother responded. "What have you decided dears?" She questioned, apparently in a better mood for having taken her anger out on Mrs. Black's painting.
"We're staying friends with Harry." The twins said together, "Ron's been a right prat all summer." A steely glint in their eyes warned the room's occupants that Ron was not safe from the twins' retaliation.
"Me, too." Ginny put in, rather more quietly.
"I don't want to loose Harry, but Ron's important to me, too." Hermione groused. "I just don't want to lose either of them, and it's not fair they've put us in this situation. They should just work it out for themselves." So saying, she picked up her fork and viciously stabbed into her salad with it, a cherry tomato giving up the fight with a wet pop.
"Well. No one said you have to make up your mind right now." Ginny quickly assured Hermione, wary of a third dressing down from her mother, "And I think we all hope they can work this out." She said, glancing around for support.
"Of course we do, Dear," Molly said, beginning to clear the table of the empty dishes. "You obviously aren't really hungry, Hermione, so why don't you all clear out and find something to do, hmm? We've got a meeting in here in about an hour and I need time to clean up a bit."
"What? Oh, yes. Of course." Hermione said, setting her fork, with a much-abused vegetable on it, down from where she had been spinning the bruised tomato around in it's own juices. "I think I'll just go do some homework." She said absently, much absorbed with her thoughts.
Molly Weasley nodded and began to busily gather up the dishes, gravely shooing the children out the door, calling out admonishments after the retreating twins to not blow the house apart.
Fred and George waved their hands at their mother, calling out an insincere "of course not, Mum!" as they disappeared up the stairs. Ginny too, entered the stairwell, intending to find her journal and put it to good use. Her encounter with Tom Riddle's journal had not made her stop using one, but it had made her much more cautious about what she wrote, and on what she wrote it.
Hermione, her thoughts galloping across the surface of her mind, bypassed the stairs and instead entered the library, her thoughts slowly turning to Transfiguration essays and Potions ingredients.
Settling herself into a chair with a satisfied sigh, Hermione opened her thick tome to the last place she had been reading, right before Ron had turned back into a human and had started this mess. Settling her eyes dutifully upon the page, she couldn't help but feel relieved that she was once again studying. It always helped her to think, and she had much to think about. What was she going to do about Ron?
ooOO00OOoo
Harry walked into his room and threw himself face up onto his bed, his thoughts whirling about his head like snitches inside a little box. Had he done the right thing? Had he been too harsh with Ron?
Ron had been his best mate for years now, sure they'd had spats now and again, but they'd always been able to work through them just fine. But now…he'd just cut things off with Ron. For good? Truthfully, Ron hadn't even said anything truly horrendous. Nothing compared to the verbal abuse he got from the Dursley's or Malfoy on a daily basis. What made it hurt so much more was that it was coming from Ron.
But then…
Harry sighed and grasped his hair with both hands, letting out an inarticulate groan of frustration. He'd said that he wasn't going to allow anyone to walk all over him again, but there was such a thing as being too stubborn and not allowing anyone to offer constructive criticism ever again. He didn't want to allow Ron to treat him like dirt, but was Ron treating him like dirt? Or was he just being a prat about how he said it, but was the message itself, in fact, valid? Was Harry being stuck up? Had he changed for the worse?
Hedwig gave a soft hoot from her position on top of her cage and took off, gliding gently over to where Harry lay miserably in his bed. Back winging, she landed softly, careful not to snag her talons on the bedspread. As she settled her wings along her back, Hedwig tilted her head to the side as she pondered Her Wizard. He was a small lad; lanky, with slight muscle overlaying fragile bone, but for all his physical pettiness, there was a strength inside her Harry that she saw in few other mages. Hooting again, she leaned over Her Wizard and gently nipped at his earlobe, seeking to distract him from his somber thoughts.
"Oh, Hedwig." He said, sitting up and looking at her distraughtly. "What am I supposed to do now? Did I do the right thing?"
Hedwig clacked her beak. How was she supposed to know? He hadn't told her what he did!
Fixing him with a stern glare, Hedwig hopped up on his lap and butted her head against his chest in a manner that said 'go on and scratch my head, you know it always makes you feel better.'
Harry was reaching his hand up to touch Hedwig when she butted her head against his chest and upset Serin.
"Watch out feather head. If you ssquash me, I'll be very upsset. And you don't want that, because I am fearssome." He hissed, poking his head out from the oversize pocket and slithering down Harry's side to coil up on the comforter.
Despite himself, Harry chuckled. "I'm sure she didn't mean to hit you on purpose, Serin, she just wanted me to pet her." Raising his hand, Harry did just that, getting a 'Huur' of pleasure from Hedwig in response.
Turning his attention to the little reptile at his side, Harry questioned, "What do you think Serin? Did I do the right thing?"
Serin lifted his head and flicked his tounge out pensively. "I am unssure, Wizard-Mine. If he were a ssnake, he would not ssurvive long with ssuch wordss coming from hiss mouth. But, he iss not, and sso he lives."
From her coveted position on Harry's lap, Hedwig gave a hoot of indignation, demanding to be told what had happened.
"Hmm? What is it Hedwig?" Harry asked. "Is that better?" he shifted his hand around and began scratching at a different spot, working his way through the dense feathers on her head.
Closing her eyes in bliss, Hedwig came back to herself with a snap, how was she going to get Her Wizard to tell her what happened if she couldn't talk to him? To bad the understanding only went one way. Ruffling her feathers in annoyance, Hedwig nipped rather sharply at his fingers. She couldn't think when he scratched her head, made her want to sleep and dream of mice.
"Oww, geeze Hedwig, what's wrong with you? First you crawl in my lap and demand I pet you, and then you nip me so I won't. Sheesh. Just like a woman." Harry brought the injured digit up to his mouth and sucked lightly on it.
Hedwig ruffled up her feathers again, puffing herself up to look larger and let out a screech of annoyance. Silly boy, why don't you just tell me what happened?
"Aaah, Hedwig! Come on now, I'm trying to tell you something serious here. Don't go screeching at me." Harry glared at Hedwig, then relented at she hooted softly at him and looked up at him with her large eyes. "Aww, girl. Why can't I stay mad at you?" Bringing a hand up once more to caress her feathers, Harry began to talk.
"I went downstairs this morning to go get some clothes, since my trunk didn't seem to have made it up here last night. On the way down, I passed by the twins' room and they had some sort of experiment going on. Big surprise there, right? Well anyway, I was thinking about this mist that was coming from there door and didn't notice my trunk sitting at the end of the stairs, so – of course – I trip right over it, and land of my face. Then this portrait of this ugly old woman starts to scream at me about being unfit to live in her house."
"Aaah, I remember that." Serin cut in. "Sshe woke me up, and that'ss when I realized you were gone."
"Yes, well." Harry said restlessly, "Anyway, so she's screaming at me, and of course the whole house hears her, so they all show up to see what's the racket. Then Sirius, that's my godfather, Serin, shows up and he yells back, calling her all sorts of names. He finally shuts her up, and gives me a hug. But, I'm just so mad at him, I'm happy to see him, but so mad. He's been gone all summer, and hasn't sent me a single owl the whole time. He didn't even send me a birthday gift! I've been sick with worry about where he's been and what he's been up to; I thought he'd been killed or captured by the Ministry. And yet, here he is, safe and sound, in his own home, no less, and he hadn't bothered to tell me as much!" Harry shifted about, dislodging Hedwig to the bed's surface so he could pace the room in agitation.
"I was so mad I punched him, though I made sure I didn't hurt him, too much. And –"
"Punched?"
"Er, yeah. I uh…attacked him with my hand?" Harry clarified, unsure as to how to describe a punch to a creature with no limbs.
"How do you…punch?" Serin asked, lifting his head a bit and flicking out his tongue.
"Well, like this." Harry said, demonstrating on thin air. "See? Anyway," Harry eyed Serin for more interruptions "…Anyway, I punch him and tell him how I'm sick of being treated like a child, and I deserve more respect, and well, you know, all those things. Sirius looks all contrite, but then Dumbledore shows up behind us and tell me that I'm right, I'm not a child and that he has some things to tell me."
Hedwig hooted with alarm, flapping her wings in agitation.
"My thoughts exactly, Hedwig. Dumbledore has a tendency to keep his cards close to his chest, and the sort of things he knows…" Harry shook his head "Well, we go into this room full of stuff and he tells me this prophecy that basically says that Voldemort marked me as his equal when he tried to kill me, and that 'neither can live while the other survives'. It also says I have 'the power the Dark Lord knows not' whatever that means."
Harry stopped pacing and hung his head, bringing his hands to his cheeks and scrubbed back and forth, as if trying to scrub away his problems. "I just don't know what to think about that. I mean, me? Kill Voldemort? Most people won't even say the man's name, they just say You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." He snorted in derision. "As if that would stop him from coming to kill them if he had a good reason." He shrugged. "Or a bad one."
Giving a frustrated sigh, Harry begins to pace once again. "So I'm all agitated, and worried, and so shocked I can't think straight. Apparently there were two children that met the description given at the time of the prophecy, Neville Longbottom and me. Now, Neville is a great kid, but he's a bit absent-minded at times, and I honestly can't see him as the one who could defeat Voldemort. But there's this part of me shrieking in the background telling me, would it be nice if it was Neville? Then his parents would be the ones that had been killed, and mine would still be alive and I wouldn't have been raised by the Dursley's." He gave an involuntary shudder. "But that really isn't fair of me is it? Wishing trouble onto Neville? It's just that so much has happened already, what with Voldemort coming back and… C-Cedric."
Harry paused in his pacing and swallowed hard. "Cedric died because of me, so I guess it's only fair that I have to kill Voldemort." He shook his head sadly. "But how am I supposed to do that? By some 'power the Dark Lord knows not'? I never knew prophecies were possible anyway, and now I'm supposed to believe one given about me by a person I don't even know, before I was even born?"
Gesturing with his hands in agitation, Harry continued, "Then Dumbledore gives me this thing, telling me that when I want to ask him questions, all I have to do is say his name into it and he'll come answer them. I have so many questions at the moment, I don't have any idea as to where to start!" He fiddled with the object the Headmaster had given him for a moment, and placed it on his bed at Serin's request, resuming his pacing.
"So here I am, Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, prophesied Boy-Who-Will-Destroy-Voldemort, getting the shock of my life. I go downstairs again after coming up here and retrieving my wand – and Serin – and find Hermione, Ginny, and Ron in the dining room, with Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen yelling at the twins. Apparently they have some updated version of the Canary Cream that turns you into a bird every time you try to speak. And since Ron can't keep his mouth closed, he's the perfect target." Harry shrugged. "I thought it was rather funny, myself."
Harry walked over to the bed and scooped Serin up, cuddling the tiny reptile in his hand and running a finger gently down the adder's spine. "Once Ron turns back into a human, permanently this time, he proceeds to tell me what an utter jerk I am and how he's sorry he ever became my friend in the first place and how much I've changed since he first met me. He even went so far as to say that my running away from the Ministry was me looking for more attention and fame!"
"I was so mad that Ron would even think such things about me, much less say them, that I reacted without thinking and told him that if he was going to be like that, then I didn't need to be friends with him, at least as an acquaintance – and I was hard pressed to say acquaintance and not enemy – I'd know what to expect." He sighed, "But now I'm wondering if I did the right thing in cutting things off with Ron. If nothing else, it will make things difficult for everybody else, since Mrs. Weasley has practically adopted me into the family, and all because of Ron in the first place. And poor Hermione, she's our best friend, and has been dating Ron since the beginning of summer. What will she do now? I don't want her to choose between us, but I'm afraid that Ron might push the issue and make her choose, and I can't help but think that she'll choose him."
Hedwig owl-walked over to him and cooed soothingly, nibbling gently at his wrist in a bird kiss.
"Thanks, Hedwig. So, what do you guys think? So much has happened to me today, and it's barely afternoon, I don't really want to think about the rest of the day, though I do want to talk to Dumbledore again, soon. He didn't even tell me how much I could tell my friends, though telling Ron anything is a moot point."
"I don't know Wizard-mine." Serin said, regret obvious in his hissing syllables "I don't have any experience with humanss, though it sseemss to me that Ron wass very mean to you. I can't tell you if you over reacted, humanss do ssuch sstrange thingss all of the time, it is difficult for me to decide if ssomething was warranted or not. I am ssorry that I cannot help you. I'm afraid you have mad a bad choisse of companionss in me."
"Of course I haven't made a bad choice, Serin. It's not your fault you are young. And I must admit, most of what humans do doesn't make sense to us, either." Harry comforted the snake, soothingly stroking the adder's spine with a fingertip. "What about you, Hedwig?"
She blinked up at him and then, in that unnerving way owls have, whipped her head around rapidly from right to left, giving the appearance that her head had just turned completely around on her shoulders.
"Uh, I'll take that as a 'no'. But, is that a 'no, you didn't do the right thing' or 'no, you shouldn't feel ba-" Harry was cut off as she hooted excitedly. "Ok, 'no I shouldn't feel bad' it is." Harry smiled and reached out, gently scratching behind her ear-tuffs; a place he knew was especially sensitive. "Thanks for listening you two, you made me feel better. Even if I'm still not certain it was the right thing to do. Don't worry, Hedwig," Harry hastily put in when she glared fiercely at him even as she leaned into the caress. "I'm not going to completely forgive him, but I will give him a second chance. After all, he was my very first friend. But now," he continued, standing with a flourish as Serin coiled around his wrist, a wicked smile on his face. "It's time for some music."
ooOO00OOoo
Ginny sighed as she closed her journal. Her thoughts had been more chaotic this morning than she'd initially realized and it had taken her a considerable amount of time to organize them enough to put them on paper in some semblance of a coherent manner.
Placing her quill down neatly nest to her inkwell, Ginny took a few moments to ponder the situation. Ron had been hard on Harry all last year, and he'd been a bit prickly with the rest of the family during the summer. Time spent at number 12 Grimmauld Place was a study in patience these days.
Ron waffled about with his emotions, elated and in love with Hermione one day and cranky and upset with Harry the next. Ginny had been privy to a number of arguments between Ron and Hermione considering their mutual opinions of Harry. Hermione advocated patience and understanding with him, after all, he'd been through a lot. Ron, on the other hand, had a tendency to huff and snarl that Harry was nothing but an attention-seeking buffoon who didn't appreciate his friends as much as he should and who couldn't truly be trusted to keep his word.
Ginny was simply baffled at this turn Ron had taken. Where exactly was the problem? Ron and Harry had been duking it out all last year, but they'd seemed over it well enough at the end. And they had been over it – hadn't they? Ginny shook her head in confusion. Perhaps not. Obviously not. So what was the big deal then?
Ginny sighed and laced her fingers together, arching her pack as she raised her hand over her head, smiling slightly in satisfaction as one or two of her vertebra popped. Sitting here wasn't going to get her any answers, and talking to Ron was, she already knew, hopeless. Maybe Harry would be willing to shed some light on the matter.
That decided, Ginny stood and padded her way out the door and down the hall to Harry's room. Number 12 Grimmauld place was a rather large residence and had plenty of rooms for each of the inhabitants, though Ginny and Hermione were sharing a room for pleasure, not out of necessity. She had assumed earlier that Harry and Ron would do the same, though now it seemed that was going to be rather unlikely.
Approaching the door, Ginny was surprised to hear the sounds of muffled singing coming from the other side of the closed door. She glanced up and down the hallway, checking her location in relation to the other doors. One, two, three…yes, this was the third door down from the bath, second from the stairwell. Also known as Harry's room. Wasn't it?
Lifting her hand slowly, her fingers curled in a loose fist, Ginny gently rapped her knuckles softly on the wood of the door. When admittance was not forthcoming, and in fact the singing did not stop, Ginny tried again, applying a bit more force to her knock.
"Um, Harry? Are you in there? Open up, it's me, Ginny. I wanted to talk to you."
The singing paused, and there was a muffled hissing, as if someone was slowly letting air out of a partially inflated balloon, and the crinkle of paper's being shoved together before the door opened just enough to allow Harry to look warily at her.
"Yes, Ginny?" He asked, politely.
"I was, wondering if you'd be willing to talk to me a while. I know you and Ron are having, er, issues, but I still want to be your friend." She stated nervously, absently toying with the hem of her shirt.
"Sure, Gin, of course. Come on in." Harry said, stepping pack and pulling the door with him to grant her access to the room.
Stepping across the doorframe gingerly, Ginny looked around the room, noting absently that Hedwig had found Harry here, and was apparently enjoying a pleasant nap.
Settling herself absently in a chair, Ginny began to furiously try to gather her scrambled thoughts. While writing at her journal, she'd had all manner of questions that she wanted to ask Harry about Ron, but now she found herself unable to come up with one. Well, that wasn't strictly true. She still had…
"Why?"
Harry turned from where he'd been closing the door and gave a small sigh. Not even bothering to pretend that he didn't know what she was talking about, he walked over to his bed and settled himself on it. What should he say in answer to that? That Ron was a prick? That he had been for over a year now and frankly Harry was just sick of it? That he'd had a crisis of faith in everyone around him and that he'd decided he could only depend on, and live for, himself? Running a hand ruefully through his hair, Harry decided once again that honesty truly was the best policy.
"I don't know."
Ginny looked at him with a rather shocked look on her face. "What do you mean you don't know? How can you not? Harry, he's my brother, and your best friend and he has been for four years now; and you can't even tell me what is going on, or why you broke things off with him."
"I know, Gin, and I'm sorry. I just – I shouldn't have said that. He just made me mad. And he hurt me. I made a decision earlier yesterday that I wouldn't live for anyone but myself. The wizarding world dithers about in their opinion of me, never deciding if I'm someone to be admired or hated. My relatives hate me, they always have, and Dementors attacked me. Then, when I tried to defend myself and my porker of a cousin from them, I'm punished; told I'm a bad boy for saving us, that they've kicked me out of school and are sending someone over right away to destroy my wand. For defending myself they're going to take away my only means of protection? I don't think so." Harry growled at the memory.
"So I left. I packed my trunk, grabbed everything I thought I'd need and I left. I didn't know where I was going or what I was going to do, all I did know was that I was not going to allow anyone else to dictate how I lived my life ever again. I'd had enough of everyone telling me what was best for me. In my opinion, they're obviously wrong, so why should I listen to them or do anything they say?"
Harry slipped his wand out from behind his ear and twirled it absently around, working it back and forth across the backs of his fingers. "So when Ron said all of that stuff, and without even knowing what was going on, I just reacted. Not the smartest thing I've ever done I'll admit, but it hurt, Gin." He looked up at her, pleading for her to understand. "I know what I said was wrong, and as soon as I can work off my anger at him, I'm going to see if I can fix things with him. I'd hate to lose my first friend to a stupid scuffle. But that hasn't changed my earlier decision to not allow other people to dictate to me anymore. It's just made me realize that it's going to be harder than I originally thought."
Softening at the words Harry had said earlier, and hearing some of his hurt and confusion in his tone, Ginny got up from the chair and came over to sit next to him, gently placing one hand on top of his where he nervously spun his wand, stilling the movement.
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, I don't want people to just walk all over me, but I don't want to push everyone out of my life just because they have a different opinion from mine, or because they dare to offer a bit of constructive criticism." He shrugged helplessly. "It's just difficult to find a balance between the two is all. Unfortunately, I'm new at this whole balancing act, and I've messed things up rather royally with Ron. Not that I think he was right in what he said, in fact, I know he wasn't. But still…" Harry trailed off, feeling like he'd already made his point.
Ginny removed her hand from Harry's and tucked it demurely into her lap. "I understand Harry. And I think your right. Ron's said some hurtful things, and I can see how that letter from the ministry would make you mad, and why you decided those things. I also agree with you when you said you over-reacted and I'm glad you are going to try and patch things up with him." Ginny suddenly grinned rather maliciously. "And don't worry about getting your own back against him, the twins have your back on that one."
Despite himself, Harry returned the smile. "Speaking of the twins and their pranks, what's going on with them, anyway? I woke up to them yelling something to Ron about pranking Hermione? I didn't know they even could pull a prank on her, she usually sees them coming a mile away, observant as she is."
Ginny's smile widened, if that was possible, "Usually, she can see one coming, but not after she's been studying with Ron."
"I'm sorry?" Harry said, confused. "What does Ron have to do with this?"
"Well, you see," she explained, "Hermione had just come back from studying arithmancy with Ron, and she was apparently exceptionally irritated with him for his idiotic questions. The twins were coming back from another failed attempt to listen in at one of the meetings and saw her stalking down the hall, muttering to herself, her nose firmly planted in the spine of some book. Of course, being them, they took full advantage of the fact that she was distracted, and placed a spell on the door to our room. As mad as she was, she walked right past it the first time, giving them time to place a spying spell on the wall opposite our door, and then go hide in their room. I was in our room at the time, but I didn't hear anything, or I might have warned her."
"Might, Gin?" Harry asked, bemused.
"Well," She said, an innocent look plastered on her face, "I enjoy a good prank as much as the twins do, and it does get annoying to have Hermione be the only one who gets away scot-free so…well, anyway," she said with a shrug "I didn't hear anything, so I guess it doesn't matter what I might have done. Hermione doubles back down the hallway towards our door, and just as she puts her hand on the knob, the spell activates. The twins never did tell me if it was because she touched the door or if it was timed, but regardless, the spell activates, and Hermione is suddenly sporting bright pink hair, like Tonks, and lime green skin. They even changed her finger and toenails to neon yellow. I heard her scream from the doorway and by the time I got there, the twins were falling all over themselves with laughter in the hallway."
"I can imagine." Harry said wryly
"It was rather funny. Hermione tried to take the spell off and was told that 'finite incantium' wouldn't work, nor would any of the other cancel phrases. According to the twins, she couldn't touch anybody for three days, no bodily contact with any human being, then the spell would end. But I have it on good authority that they knew the counter-spell and just wanted to keep her and Ron apart for a couple of days."
"What did she do? I heard them say something about good ideas when she retaliates."
"Well, she was pretty mad at them, she was supposed to go see her parents the day after they pranked her and she couldn't avoid touching them, they gave her a hug first thing, so she spent the time with her parents thinking up a good counter-prank. The only problem is that it's summer and she couldn't do any spells because of the underage restriction. She ended up sending a letter to Charlie in Romania and she got him to do the prank instead. He wrote them a letter that had a spell hidden in the parchment. When the twins touched it, and they had to be touching it together, they began to talk in rhyme, and they could only say five words at a time."
"Wait, if they could only say five words at a time, how were they rhyming?" Harry asked, frowning.
"Well, they alternated talking back and forth, and every time George said something, it had to rhyme with what Fred had said. But Fred could say whatever he wanted, it didn't have to rhyme, that was George's job. It was amazing. Apparently, Hermione had come up with that spell, and then sent it to Charlie, asking him if he'd put the charm on a letter and owl the letter to the twins. The best part was that suddenly everyone could tell which twin was who, all you had to do was pay attention to who was saying what."
"That was a pretty good retaliation, but you said Hermione came up with the spell? I didn't know you could do that. That's awesome." Harry said, clearly impressed.
"Yeah," Ginny nodded, "Mum was so impressed with Hermione that she didn't even scold her for it at all. Of course, the twins took it all with good humor, and she told them how to reverse it after a few days."
"Wow. I wonder if Hermione would mind teaching me how she came up with that spell? I'd love to make up one of my own."
"You never know. Hermione loves to be bossy, so she probably wouldn't mind."
"Hey, Ginny?" Harry asked, a thought suddenly occurring to him. "What were the twins talking about earlier when they said you were their test subject for Halloween costumes?"
"Oh, that. Well, you see, there's going to be a masquerade ball at Hogwarts this year, and the twins are trying to come up with all sorts of disguises to sell to the kids who can't come up with one of their own. When I heard them talking about it, I offered to be their test subject, in return for them making one specifically for me." She smiled shyly at him. "I was thinking about being a fairy."
"A fairy, huh? That sounds nice. I'll have to think of something." Harry leaned backwards on the bed, pillowing his head on one of his hands. "I could always go as Harry Potter, though I guess that would be kind of redundant."
"You think?" Ginny giggled, turning slightly so that she was sitting cross-legged on his bed, looking at him. "What would you do differently?"
"Hmm. I don't know." Harry frowned. "I could always take a quill and draw a large lightning bolt on my forehead." He turned his head to look at her, demonstrating with the tip of one finger. "See? Then, I'd be done, and I could go as Harry Potter. It's the simplest disguise ever."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Come on, Harry, be serious. You hate all the fame, why would you want to call attention to the fact that you're Harry Potter? I'd have thought you would look foreword to being someone else for a little while."
"Yeah, I know. I was just kidding." Harry turned his head once again and began to stare moodily at the ceiling, one of his feet kicking absently at the side of the bed with the back of one heel.
"Cheer up, Harry, things will work out in the end." She reached over and patted him gently on his shoulder. "Now, let's think of something good for you to be."
"Nah, not now, Gin. I've got some things to do." Harry sat up on his bed and walked over to his trunk, pulling out some papers, a quill and ink, and a strange machine before closing the lid.
"What is that thing?" Ginny asked from her position by the door where she had been about to let herself out.
"Hmm? What thing?" Harry asked, without turning around, fiddling with the 'thing'.
"That thing." She insisted.
"Thing? Ginny, what are you talking about?"
Ginny gave an exasperated sigh and stalked over to Harry, tapping the contraption with her finger. "Yes, Harry, thing. If I knew what it was, don't you think I would have called it by its name? What is this thing?"
"Oh," He said sheepishly, "It's a CD player; a Muggle machine. It's a way of playing music."
"Music?"
"Yeah, here, just stick these in your ears and listen." Harry placed the earpieces in Ginny's ears with a minimal amount of difficulty and hit the 'play' button, causing the player to start up from where he had last been listening.
…There was a time the pieces fit, but I watched them fall way.
Mildewed and smoldering, strangled by our coveting.
I've done the math enough to know the dangers of a second-guessing
Doomed to crumble unless we grow, and strengthen our communication.
Cold silence has a tendency to atrophy any sense of compassion…
The music cut off as Harry hit the stop button and reclaimed the headphones from her.
"Wow, Harry, that sounds just like you and Ron." Ginny said, in awe of the little machine.
"Yeah, I know. That's why I was listening to it." Harry wrapped the CD player up in the cords for the headphones and packed both away in one of the deep pockets of his over-sized trousers.
Walking Ginny to the door, Harry paused, his hand on the doorknob. "Hey, Gin? How do you know there's going to be a masquerade ball? We haven't gotten our list of supplies yet for next year, and they wouldn't mention something like that to the students this early anyway."
"Oh, that. They were talking about it at the meeting last week. Fred and George were listening in with their extendable-ears and told the rest of us about it." Ginny shrugged. "It sounds like fun to me."
"It probably will be, but what meeting, Gin? And what are extendable-ears?" Harry insisted.
"The Order of the Phoenix meets here once or twice a week, and we're all here 'cuz Mum and Dad are both members. Come to think of it, so are Bill and Charlie, though Charlie can't always come, because he's taking care of the dragons. The twins came up with the extendable ears as a way of listening in to people's conversations, and they used it on the Order until Mum caught them at it and put an imperturbable charm on the door." She smiled brightly up at him. "Professor Dumbledore even comes sometimes. He was here this morning."
"I know." Harry said, his thoughts wandering off. "Thanks, Gin, I'll see you later, huh?"
"Sure, Harry."
Harry closed the door after her and reached into his trouser pockets, retrieving his CD player, placing the earphones in his ears and starting up the music. Order of the Phoenix? That was on the paper Harry read just before arriving at Number 12, Grimmauld Place; just another thing to add on to the list of questions to ask Dumbledore when he came back.
ooOO00OOoo
The song Harry let Ginny listen to is called 'Schism' and is sung by Tool. Good stuff, good stuff. Tootles!