Chapter Seven: Everyone's Clueless But Dean

A/N: What's this? A new chapter? I'm sure you'll all be so relieved you'll instantly go and hit the 'review' button when you've read it…

While Harry was having his disastrous Potions lesson on Monday morning, Ginny was getting into a spot of bother herself.

"Mists of enlightenment, my arse," she muttered darkly to Maud Greengrass, her Divination partner, and peered despondently into her scrying glass. Why had she chosen Divination, she asked herself for the millionth time that year. Because she'd thought it would be easy, that's why. Well, that would teach her. Bloody idiot.

"Anything, my dears?" asked Professor Trelawney, swooping down on them, beads and bangles jangling madly. She looked a bit like a demented dragonfly today, bedecked in iridescent greens and blues.

"Erm…" she attempted. "I think I've got a… a cauliflower-looking thing… and that swirl looks a bit duck-shaped… could it be something to do with… an unexpected harvest or windfall? Or tonight's dinner?" She looked up and smiled hopefully. The worst thing was, she actually wasn't trying to be funny. Stupid though she thought Divination was, she always at least attempted to decipher the signs she saw in front of her. Unfortunately, Ginny was, well… crap… and everybody knew it.

"Well tried, Ginny," said Trelawney in an encouraging – and slightly strained – voice. "Now, let me just take a look, no dear, leave your hands on the rim, that's it…" Ginny leaned back slightly as the professor leaned over and peered into the glass, her nose inches from its surface, her multiple strings of beads bashing against Ginny's knees. After a few seconds of examining the swirling mists, making interested 'hmmm' noises, Trelawney straightened up. "Well dear, you were… close… this time," she said delicately. "The cauliflower was a rose, the duck was a swan, and you missed images of chains and a skull. I'll leave you to look those up and then divine how they all form a picture of your immediate future." Dropping the uncharacteristically matter-of-fact manner that she seemed to save for Ginny alone, Trelawney floated off to help Maud.

Ginny was looking through her Divination textbook when she was interrupted by an excited squeal from across the classroom. "Oh no, Professor! Professor, Katie says I've got a dead duck in my scrying glass! Is that bad?" It was Mena Selari, gazing with some distress at the swirling mists in her glass. She watched anxiously as Trelawney peered in. "Only I've got an important Quidditch match this week and a dead duck, I don't know, it seems like a pretty bad omen to me…"

"Calm yourself," soothed Trelawney, straightening serenely. "The Fates are clearly smiling on you!" She waved her bejewelled hands animatedly. "Your scrying glass is showing you a turtle dove! A positive change of fortune in love is just around the corner for you, my dear. That special someone is at last within your reach!"

Mena went pink and as soon as Trelawney had moved away she and her partner burst into excited whispers and giggles.

"Does she still like Ron?" asked Maud in a whisper.

Ginny glanced at Mena, who was still blushing. "Yeah, I reckon so. She asked to see my photo album the other day. I think she just wanted to look at him." She laughed. "Beats me why!"

With only a few minutes left till lunch, Ginny quickly flipped to 'Skull' in her book. Not that she believed in any of that claptrap of course, but still, it was a little unsettling to have a skull floating around in your scrying glass.

'Skull or Death's Head,' the entry read. 'Primary meanings: mortality, death or place of burial; other possible meanings dependent on context: metaphorical death or end, rebirth, hatred, martyrdom, poison or potion, luck in adversity.'

Ginny tried to restrain a snort. In short, she scoffed inwardly as she packed her books away, it could mean just about anything you wanted it to.

"Ginny!" Dean's voice interrupted Ginny's thoughts as the Gryffindors made their way to lunch. He appeared beside her, panting slightly.

"Dean," she said wryly. "Been running?"

"What, me? Yeah, alright, you got me, I'm that eager to get to lunch. Care to join me for a jog?" He made as if to run off again and Ginny stopped him, laughing. "Oh alright," he said. "You just see through everything, don't you? Okay, I might have seen you from the other end of the Charms corridor and got a bit carried away catching you up…"

"Honestly," she tutted jokingly. "I hope you didn't knock anybody down."

"Oh, couple of first years, you know, but they're bendy, they'll heal. Now, have you given any thought to my suggestion of the other week?" Ginny's laugh faded slightly at this last remark.

"What suggestion was that?" she asked half-heartedly.

"Oh, you know, the one where I said how about you and I go out, you know, on a date, like people do. Or so I hear."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Dean, I already told you I'm not going to go out with you! You're a really good friend, and-"

"Oh go on, rubbish reason. I'll need a better excuse than that!"

She snorted. "How about Ron would go nuts and God knows what-"

Ginny halted her sentence in mid-air in surprise as Draco Malfoy appeared in front of her. But that wasn't the thing that surprised her. The thing that made her stop speaking so suddenly, the thing that unnerved her was his expression, a weird sort of smile she thought she recognised from somewhere.

"Hi, Ginny," said Malfoy in a meek voice that made her wonder to herself what in the name of Merlin's mum was going on. He looked… confused.

Dean stepped forward angrily. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

Seeing the look on Malfoy's face, Ginny wanted to tell Dean to stop, but she wasn't sure how. There was something really weird going on here. Looking crushed, Malfoy muttered something, then turned on his heel and rushed into the Great Hall.

"What's that little toe rag playing at?" asked Mena, echoing everyone's thoughts.

"And why was he staring at you like that?" muttered Dean to Ginny, echoing her own.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before news of the Polyjuice test and Harry's exploits in Potions filtered down the length of the Gryffindor table to the group of chatting fifth years. "Stunned him, just like that!" hissed an excited fourth year. "Out cold!"

"… and then he kicked him in the ribs and said, 'if you ever give me another 'D' in Potions, I'll GET YOU, Professor…'" Ginny overheard from a group of second years.

"I'd like to give Snape a good kick in the ribs…"

Ginny craned her neck to see to where Harry was sitting. "Something you're not telling us?" Dean whispered in her ear, having appeared suddenly behind her

She started, almost choking on a mouthful of shepherd's pie. "Sorry?"

He looked strangely at her. "Oh, nothing. Just those three are being all secretive again, thought you might… know something, that's all."

Ginny regained her composure. "Nothing. No, I don't know anything." She arranged her features into a picture of innocence. It was something she was practised at.

She didn't know anything. Well, it was practically true at the moment, wasn't it?

Ginny spent that evening up to her elbows in homework. As well as the stupid Divination prediction, for which she had made up some rubbish about Valentine's Day, she had two rolls of parchment from Snape and a chapter's Charms reading, and it was with relief that she finally collapsed into bed that night.

Ginny didn't sleep for long. She had a strange dream, in which she was floating on a swan's back, and Dean was on the ground, trying to stretch up to her. Suddenly Harry was by her side, keeping abreast of her on his Firebolt. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out but a dreadful screeching noise. Woozily Ginny woke up, and realised she hadn't dreamed the noise at all. What was that?

"Sounds like a boy trying to get in," snickered Katie. "I'm going to see!"

Pulling on her dressing gown, Ginny joined her dorm-mates and hurried down towards the common room. As she approached the gaggle of giggling girls at the top of the staircase, Ginny's stomach sank to hear her brother shouting something angrily. This could only be bad.

Ginny edged through the crowd, and her fears were confirmed as she saw her brother standing over Harry, who was sitting at the bottom of the girls' staircase looking utterly confused.

"Oh- I, er…" struggled Harry. He was in his pajamas and he looked like he'd just got out of bed. Or just woken up, Ginny realised in a flash, the situation clicking rapidly into place.

Ron's ears were going a violent shade of scarlet, and his face was so red Ginny was worried he might burst a blood vessel in his head. He looked like he was about to shout something else, and Ginny dreaded to think what it might be. She quickly stepped forward.

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry!" she cut in shrilly. Everyone looked at her, and Ginny tried to keep her composure. Thoughts racing, Ginny said the first thing that sprang into her mind. "Harry, I completely forgot you needed that book to do your Potions tonight!" Ginny prayed she wouldn't actually be called upon to fetch a book, because she didn't think she actually had anything other than her set fifth year texts.

"Po- oh yeah. Yeah, the book." Harry smiled sheepishly around and stood up. "Yeah, I, er, forgot about the slide thing." He forced a nervous laugh, and Ginny did the same. Ron remained stony-faced. Harry shot Ginny a grateful look that warmed her insides.

Just then Hermione appeared behind her, hurriedly tying her dressing gown. "Right, back to bed everyone, there's nothing to see here. Come on, before Professor McGonagall comes to see what all this fuss is about," she tutted, shooing the girls back to their respective dormitories.

"Right," said Ron vaguely, catching on. "Yeah, stop gawping and back to bed," he ordered the boys gruffly, and unwillingly the onlookers began to file back to their dorms. As he was about to go, Dean Thomas turned and gave Ginny a concentrated look.

"Are you going to get Harry his book, Ginny?" he asked quietly.

She felt her face go pink. "Yes. I'll just get it." Ignoring the looks from the people she passed, Ginny hurried up to her dormitory at the very top of Gryffindor tower.

Meanwhile, Hermione and Ron were busy clearing the common room as quickly and quietly as they could.

"Is there anyone who isn't going to know about this in the morning?" hissed Ron as he and Hermione practically forced the last curious third year into his dormitory.

"Ssshhh, not here Ron," said Hermione, grabbing Ron's arm and pulling him into the boys' bathroom.

Ron's ears went pink as Hermione locked the door behind them, but the distraction soon passed.

"Did you see that?" he seethed. "Harry's my mate but I'm not having him going round trying to get into my sister's dormitory!"

Hermione sighed. "I know, Ron, and I agree that it looked bad. But can't you see he didn't mean to?"

"Mean to or not, he still did it," rejoined Ron darkly. "If we went to Dumbledore…"

"Since when have you ever wanted to go to Dumbledore?" she said exasperatedly.

"SINCE HARRY STARTED TRYING TO GET INTO MY SISTER'S-" Ron yelled, but stopped short when he caught sight of Hermione's expression. "Anyway, since when have you not wanted to go to Dumbledore?" he asked suspiciously.

"I think in this case it would be best just to wait and see if we can solve this ourselves with minimum fuss," she said patiently. "With any luck I'll be able to backwards-brew an antidote as soon as we know what was in that flask." Ron looked unconvinced. "Look, a mysterious broomstick from a convicted murderer is one thing-"

"Sirius wasn't a murderer…"

"I know, Ron, shut up! A possibly cursed broomstick is one thing, but if we turn Harry in for having a love spell put on him and Snape has to make an antidote… Snape, of all people! Harry would never forgive us."

Ginny flung open her trunk. Books, books… hurriedly she grabbed her dog-eared copy of 'Potions: Level 5'. Hiding the title from the few stragglers she passed, she hurried back down the flights of stairs.

But when Ginny reached the final flight and looked out over the common room, it was empty and the torches were flickering low. "Hermione?" she whispered. "Ron?" She was about to turn to go when a voice from below startled her.

"Ginny?"

"Harry?" She leaned over the banister and saw him below the overhang of the balcony, looking up at her. "Where are Ron and Hermione?" she whispered.

"Arguing in the bathroom," he replied. "I just wanted to say thank you. You were really amazing." Ginny was forced to look away, because the way he was looking at her was doing funny things to her stomach. "I don't exactly know what happened," he continued. "I reckon I sleep-walked, and ended up, well – there."

Well done Harry, Ginny thought. She grinned down at him. It wasn't funny, of course, but – "Didn't Ron look like he was going to explode?"

"I didn't really notice," said Harry quietly. "I don't notice a lot else when you're there." Ginny bit her lip, but her heart stretched out towards him.

As if by instinct, he stretched up a hand towards her. "Could you – could you come down? Just for a second?"

"Harry, I don't think-"

"Please?" Ginny couldn't say no to those eyes and their steadfast gaze. Slowly she descended, her eyes uneasily fixed on his. They stood awkwardly, a foot apart. Or it should feel awkward, Ginny corrected, but somehow didn't. Somehow it just felt – nice. Sort of companionable.

Harry's eyes never left her face. In the flickering half-light, with a half-smile flickering on his face, he looked somehow… uplifted. Catching her breath, Ginny held out the book. "For Dean's benefit," she explained.

He reached out to take it, and held on, his warm hand closing over hers. "Thank you." Something flickered in his eyes. "You and Dean…" he trailed off.

"Are just friends," she said, more firmly than she'd intended. He smiled, and Ginny realised he'd caught her other hand, so gently she'd barely noticed.

"I can't believe you're so beautiful," he muttered. Listening to the boy she'd liked for as long as she'd liked boys tell her she was beautiful, Ginny almost melted.

Almost.

Mentally shaking herself, she softly disentangled her hands from his grip. "'Night Harry," she said matter-of-factly. Leaving him standing there, Ginny climbed the staircase that led to bed.

Harry felt like something was being ripped painfully off him. "I love you," he blurted after her, without quite meaning to.

Slowly, Ginny turned and looked back down at him. "No, you don't," she said gently, and before he could reply she had vanished where he couldn't follow.

A/N: Is there something you want to see in this story? Some Malfoy villainy? A touch of peril? More R/H? A bit of Snape? Or do you just want me to get on with it and put Harry in a towel? Remember what we said about that 'review' button...