Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: Be warned, fluff mixed with angst ahead. Again. Happy reading!
Chapter 18 – Until Death Do Us Part:
Part 1
Tap-tap... tap-tap... tap-tap...
The continual pitter-patter noise on the surface of the heavy wooden table was getting on Blaise's nerves. He felt the beginning of a migraine forming in the back of his head and each new tap was boring a bigger hole. It would have been less irritating if he wasn't trying to do some last minute revisions to the Arithmancy test he had just after lunch. Trying to ignore it, he sighed and turned a page in his book and looked at the question, but no matter how many times he tried to read the same sentence, nothing sank in.
Tap-tap... tap-tap...
The words started to disappear from the page and he blinked rapidly in order to focus on the text, but to no avail. It seemed that Harry, who was sitting across from him, his one hand drumming on the table distractedly while the other was angrily flipping through an open book he set down on the table, and had his eyes staring like a hawk at something far behind Blaise's head.
Tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap...
Blaise's eyes snapped at Harry's drumming fingers and narrowed when they tapped the table again, in a quicker rhythm now.
The vein in his forehead throbbed with his quickening pulse. His eyes now red and watching as each tap had turned to a thud in slow motion. Blaise cracked a knuckle before he smoothly pulled out his wand from the inner pocket in his robes and with a non-verbal spell, he aimed it at the disturbing fingers and they immediately petrified like stone and stopped in mid-tap.
Harry, quickly snapping from his daze, as he was suddenly aware of the new feeling in his hand, looked down to see his fingers frozen and unable to move. As shock spread across his face, Blaise sighed again and muttered, "Thank Merlin," under his breath and returned to his book.
"Oi!" Harry exclaimed, knocking with his stone-like fingers on the cover of Blaise's book, which unbeknownst to him, had only irritated Blaise further. "What'd you do that for?"
Blaise turned his head to see what Harry had been staring at, knowing already he would see Ginny Weasley at her own house table. He turned back to Harry and pointed his finger at him. "I've had enough of you acting like this. For three days now, all you do is stare at her and sulk and now it's driving me nuts. You need to talk to her."
Harry's eyes looked over Blaise's shoulder again, finding Ginny talking to none other than Dean Thomas. He huffed angrily and looked back at his friend. "I tried, just earlier. She shot me this deadly glare. I seriously thought she was going to hurt me." He shrugged. "I fled."
Blaise sniggered down at his book and shook his head. "So now you're basically back where you started."
It was Harry's turn to point his finger at Blaise. "No, I'm not! I just need to figure out a way to make her talk to me again."
"Just take her on the bloody date. That would make her talk to you again," Blaise said as he dipped his quill in his inkpot and scribbled the answer to the question on his book, watching with satisfaction as a green check mark had formed next to it.
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. "You make it sound so easy..."
"How much longer are you going to ignore him?" Ginny did not bother to answer. Hermione nudged her in the ribs. Quite hard, actually. Hard enough to make her yelp. "Look at him!" she hissed.
Rubbing the sore spot, Ginny glared at her instead. "You did not have to do that!" she rebuked. "I know he's there; I know he's watching me. I'm trying to make him understand that he's a complete brainless...duck!" she said the last word that came to her mind.
"But he's trying to talk to you and you won't even let him come near you!" Hermione countered. "You're lucky he's still looking at you. If he was another guy, someone like your idiot of a brother, let's say, than he wouldn't even think twice to even try and make up with you."
Ginny knew Hermione was right. She was grateful that Harry still wanted her, even though she was a total bitch to him for the past few days, but still, she could not shake off the disappointing feeling he left her with.
"You know he's sorry," Hermione went on. "Did you even think of why he can't go with you? Maybe he got a detention that he isn't proud of and he doesn't want to tell you about, huh? Did you think of that?"
"No..." Ginny muttered, started to think that maybe she was wrong after all. She wanted to talk to him, and she was trying to make him jealous just so he would walk over to her and say 'Fine, you win!' That's all she wanted to hear, really. It would be proof that she was his all along and that he did want her, even in Hogsmeade dates. "Did he say anything to you?"
"He asked when you are going to forgive him," Hermione replied.
Ginny frowned angrily. "Well, you can tell him –"
"I'm not telling him anything, Ginny," Hermione cut her off. "I did my part. Now, you messed it up, so you need to fix it."
Ginny was sure she was steaming by now. "I did not mess it up! He did!"
Hermione raised her hands in defeat before she collected the books she had spread on the table before her into her bag. "Fix it, Ginny. Talk to him."
She stood up and looked away just when Ron and his mates passed by. Ron stopped and leaned over Ginny's shoulder, grabbing a biscuit off the table.
"Practice today at four, Ginny. Don't be late," he said nonchalantly before he left the Great Hall with his friends.
Ginny looked up at Hermione and noted the sad look in her eyes. While Ron had casually said a word or two to Ginny, which usually was only about two things: their family or Quidditch, he hadn't even once spoken or looked at Hermione since the big row they had last week. And Ginny felt sorry for her dear friend because she knew how much she still cared for her brother.
"Okay," Hermione said in a breathy voice, obviously holding herself from bursting into tears again. "I'm leaving or I'll be late."
"You still have ten minutes left," Ginny said, checking her watch.
"I know, but I want to go early so I could get a good seat. You know, not too far in the back and not too close to the window. It's all karma, really."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Whatever." Hermione didn't seem to take notice it. "Well, anyway, good luck on the test."
"Thank you," she said with a forced smile. She turned to leave, just when she noticed Harry approaching the Gryffindor table again. She turned back to face Ginny again and mouthed 'Talk to him!' before she greeted him with a polite 'Hello' and left for her Arithmancy class.
When Ginny looked up and saw Harry coming close, she quickly grabbed her book bag, took another quick sip from her drink and meant to leave before he caught up with her.
"Ginny, wait," he called after her.
"Sorry, Harry, I can't right now. I'm really late for class," she shouted over her shoulder, rushing for the door.
"You've still got some time left. Please."
"Yeah, but you know how it is, I need to get my karma seat before someone else takes it," she excused rather lamely.
"Please," he said again, his voice was now whispering in her ear and his hand grasped her forearm, and she stopped at once, missing the touch of him. "Just hear me out."
"Fine," she breathed with her eyes closed. She opened them when she felt his warm breath on her face and looked up to find his brilliant green eyes staring at her. "But I don't want to be late –"
"I'll be quick," he said. He gulped nervously, making his Adam's apple bob up and down noticeably in his throat. "I'm sorry, okay? I just can't have you be mad at me. I mean, we barely started being a couple and we're already fighting. I can't take it anymore. I... I miss you," he ended rather shyly.
Ginny felt her heart swelling at his words, as simple and corny as they were. She hated and loved at the same time the way he could make her feel just by saying something as simple as that. "Oh, Harry..." she said softly and moved closer to wrap her hands around his neck. He smiled and his hands automatically sneaked to the small of her back, holding her close. "I'm sorry about the way I acted. We can forget this ever happened and you'll see that you won't regret anything. I knew you'd take it back. This weekend is going to be –"
She never finished her sentence. Harry had moved back and took her hands off his neck, looking her in the eyes. Even without him saying anything, she knew quite well what his eyes were telling her.
She gaped at him. "Oh, you are unbelievable," she said, her voice full of silent anger. She pulled away from him, snatching her hands from his grip with fury. She wanted so badly to slap him that moment, but she held back.
"I'm sorry," he tried.
"Again with that 'sorry,'" she snapped. "Are you really? Or is it something you just say every time you want to shut me up?"
Harry rolled his eyes at that. "You know that's not true. I do mean it."
She looked at him skeptically. "I really doubt that." She spun on her heel and went up a flight of stairs to her next class.
"So you're not going to forgive me, then?" Harry shouted after her.
She stopped on a step, and looked down at him with narrowed eyes. "Oh, I'll forgive you," she said with some anger to her tone, "when pigs fly!" she spat and disappeared around a corner.
The bell rang and Harry was glad that he had a free period. He ran a hand through his hair, making it even messier than usual. With nothing to do, he went to the Slytherin common room, trying to think of a way to make Ginny talk to him again...
Ginny was running through the castle's hallways, shouting at people to clear her way. She took several shortcuts, but she was still going to be late. Ron would never let it go now. He told her not to be late, and here she was, almost eight minutes past four, still running towards the entrance hall.
Once outside on the Hogwarts grounds, she hopped on her broom and flew as fast as she could to the pitch. As she got closer, she looked at the sky and noticed six players already in the air. She cursed under her breath, leaning forward to gain speed on her broom and hoped she would fit into the practice unnoticed by Ron and try to spot the Snitch before he saw something was off.
Unfortunately, all hopes quickly left her when a high pitched whistle cut through the air and all six players stopped playing at once. The only other player with red hair turned to look at Ginny, who had just managed to get into the pitch area.
Ron looked up at his team and blew his whistle again. "Keep it going, guys," he called to them, and while they continued their practice, Ron turned back and looked at Ginny. She was sure he was going to scream at her and demand to know why she was late. She was already preparing a speech about how she was held back in class, but she didn't need to say anything, as Ron only looked at her for a minute or so, not saying a word. He drew from his pocket a little golden ball and let it go. The tiny Snitch zoomed as quickly as a flash from his hand, and Ginny lost track of it as it disappeared into the air.
Ron, still not saying anything, gestured with his head to where the Snitch disappeared. Ginny nodded stiffly and as he flew back to the goal posts, she mounted her broom higher and went searching for it.
Two exhausting hours later, Ron called the practice. They all headed to the changing rooms to freshen up.
"Ginny," Ron called and she stopped in place. Her heart raced a little faster than usual and she was sure it was nothing to do with the adrenalin from the practice. She knew he would bring her lateness up, it was inevitable. She sighed heavily, better get it over with now, she thought bitterly and prepared herself for some yelling. They stopped in the middle of the pitch, coated in orange sunset and cool winter breeze, while the rest of the team went to the changing room.
"Look, Ron, I'm sorry I was late. Professor Binns kept pouring us notes and you know how he is sometimes..."
He held up a hand and she went silent at once. "I just wanted to say good job on practice today. Keep it up and we won't lose the Cup."
She stammered out incoherent syllables, and then merely gaped at him. She definitely didn't expect him to say that. Ron had surprised her twice already today. "Oh," was the only word she finally managed to say. "Erm, I mean, thank you."
He nodded once. "Yeah, but don't let it get to your head. The next time you late, I won't be as soft as I was with you today. It'd be ten laps 'round the pitch for every minute that you missed."
Ginny nodded with agreement. "Fair enough."
A moment of awkward silence passed between them. Ron ran a hand through his hair and Ginny sighed and searched something to focus her eyes on, anything, just not on him. Finally, he spoke. "Right... Well, I'd better get a shower and head back to the castle. Snape loaded us with work."
"Right," Ginny said. "I think I go get cleaned up as well."
They walked silently to the changing rooms, shoulder to shoulder, but still not sharing a word, or a glance at each other.
On Saturday morning, Harry found himself taking a flight on his broom outside, watching longingly as a crowd of overenthusiastic students gathered in the entrance hall, while Filch and McGonagall sorted through them, checking that everyone had permission to go down to Hogsmeade.
It was a nice day for a Hogsmeade trip, he noted. It wasn't too cold and snow had fallen over night and covered the ground and trees with thick layer of white that was a real lovely sight to the eyes.
Harry sighed at the sight of the chattering and laughing students below and a ting of jealousy pierced his heart. The whole week passed by without him talking to Ginny. As much as he tried to explain to her the best he could as to why he couldn't go with her, she refused to forgive him. He was feeling rather frustrated now. He knew she would be going alone, or with her friends, and he was glad, because he didn't want to ruin it for her, but at the same time, he wished she would stay in and spend the day with him, instead.
The week they had shared was wonderful and Harry still couldn't believe it actually happened, but he now knew that it was too good to last. Nothing ever seemed to be working out for him. The last few days without her talking to him, made him think over their so-called relationship. He thought about it a lot and realized that maybe it was best if they just ended things now, before it became too awkward to do it later. They weren't speaking anyway, so why stall it? He only wanted her to be happy, anyway. And if she wasn't happy with him, then he would step back and grant her the happiness that she deserved.
Harry sighed again, this time more in desperation than in jealousy, and lowered his broom to the ground, too tired of watching other people able to go, all about to have fun just because he wouldn't be there.
Ginny looked at her figure in the mirror and tried to straighten her woolen hat. It was a Christmas gift from her mother. She had decided that it would be nice to make something different other than the usual Weasley jumpers, so she made all her children woolen hats this year. Ginny thought it was a rather nice change. She had so many jumpers with the letter G on them that she kept most of them back at home because she wouldn't wear all of them at school. She just hated the silly pompon at the top; she thought it was pretty childish.
Just when she thought she had set it perfect, a loose strand of her long bangs fell over her eyes. She blew at it in irritation and when it wouldn't move aside, she tucked it behind her ear and combed her fingers through her long, silky hair, trying to get a few knots undone.
"You look lovely, dear," the mirror said softly.
Ginny stopped fixing her hair and smiled in satisfaction. "Thank you," she told the mirror kindly. She turned to Hermione, who was sitting on her bed, a book on her lap, like always. "Are you sure you don't want to come?"
Hermione did not look up but only shook her head, turning a page in her book. "I already told you that I've got so many things to do –"
"But we'll have so much fun together, Hermione," Ginny tried to convince her friend again as she came to sit next to her on the bed. "Come on, don't make me go alone. People will start to whisper things and point at me." She faked a pout when Hermione looked up and chuckled at the face her redhead friend pulled.
"Sorry, Ginny. Why don't you just go with Luna?"
"I would, but she said she needs to search for her shoes. And they only other pair she had was flip-flops and she can't wear those, not because it's about seven degrees outside, but 'because it doesn't fit her outfit,'" Ginny shook her head, repeating the words Luna had told her about an hour ago. She sighed and pushed herself off the bed and made her way to the door. "Fine, I'll go alone. Maybe I'll run into Neville or someone."
"Are you sure it's all right that you're going without Harry?" Hermione asked, closing her book and moving off the bed. She walked with Ginny down to the common room.
Ginny shrugged. "He doesn't want to go, that's his problem. I'm tired to trying to convince him to go with me."
"But you could have done things differently. You know how bad he feels for not being able to go. Maybe you should stay and keep him company?" Hermione suggested.
"That's what he wanted, too, but I'm not going to stay behind when I can go out. I'm so tired of being stuck inside the castle," Ginny explained. "Besides, he didn't tell me why he couldn't go; he just said that he couldn't. I feel like he's already lying to me."
"Maybe there's something that he doesn't know how to tell you?" Hermione suggested.
"He knows he can tell me anything, Hermione. I told him I would be there for him whenever he needs me."
They stood in front of the portrait hall. Ginny glanced around the room, noticing only first and second years were occupying the common room. She furrowed a brow. "Are you sure you don't want to come?"
Hermione reached her hands out and hugged her friend. "Go out, have fun and don't forget to bring me some sweets."
"Well, I'm not sure that you deserve them for making me go alone," Ginny said teasingly. "But you did get me a boyfriend, even if he is the biggest git in the world – well, okay, that earned you a bag from Honeydukes."
Hermione grinned and clapped her hands excitedly. "Thank you! You're the best!"
Ginny chuckled. "I know I am."
She climbed out the portrait hall and went down to the entrance hall. Once she got there, she stood and waited with all the rest of the crowd.
"Ginny?" someone called.
She turned around and noticed Ron shoving his way through people in order to get to her.
"Oh, hey, Ron," she greeted sheepishly. She noticed he wore his new Weasley hat, as well. She secretly giggled when she noticed the color: maroon, like he always got. "Going to Hogsmeade as well?"
"Yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I couldn't stand another day of studying."
"I know what you mean," she said. "Don't know how Hermione manages it..."
Ginny saw Ron squeeze his eyes shut and she winced once she realized her blurt. "Sorry."
Ron shook his head. "Nah, that's fine. Hey, where is...you know?"
"Oh, he's not coming," Ginny said quietly, too embarrassed to talk about this subject with him. She wasn't sure anyway why he brought it up or even why he was talking to her in the first place. Wasn't he supposed to be angry with her?
Ron eyed her questioningly and when she caught his look, she smiled. "Don't get your hopes up, everything's fine. At least, I think so..." she added the last sentence under her breath.
They moved up in line, and finally when the reached the front doors, where Filch and McGonagall stood, checking a long list of names. "Weasley, Ronald and Weasley, Ginevra," she said, checking the list. "All right, you can go."
Ginny caught sight of Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat. She was lying comfortably in her owner's arms, eyeing them both maliciously with her yellow eyes. She hissed at her angrily, but Ginny ignored her.
Filch patted his cat and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Don't worry, my sweet, we'll get them later."
Walking down to the school gates, Ginny turned to look at her brother. He was looking at his feet while he walked, his hand shoved into his pockets. "Why are you walking with me?" she asked him out of curiosity. He looked up at her and she saw his pink cheeks and she narrowed her eyes. "You aren't here to spy on me or anything, are you? To try and keep me away from Harry?"
"Of course not," he objected. "I saw you were alone and thought of keeping you company. If I'm bothering you that much –"
"No, I don't mind," Ginny said, shrugging. "It's just that one minute you are a prat and you won't talk to me for the stupidest reason ever –"
"Is not!" he complained.
"Is too," she countered and fought a smirk when she was suddenly reminded of childish talks when they were kids. "And the next, you're all sunshine and rainbows again and you're walking with me to Hogsmeade like nothing happened."
Ron's ears turned red and he refused to look at his sister's face. He kicked a pebble in the road and watched roll down the lane. She knew he was too shy to apologize to her. It took a great deal of his pride, too.
"Oh, I get it," Ginny suddenly said. Ron could not avoid the amusement in her voice. He looked up at her and saw her smirking.
"What?" he asked, his eyes round.
She chuckled. "You are a prat, Ron."
He frowned at her. "What did I do now?"
Ginny chuckled again and eyed him closely. "You had no one to go with and you didn't want to go alone, did you?"
"That's bull–"
"Do not finish that sentence! If Mum was here, she would have kicked your arse back up to Hogwarts and make you study for NEWTs through all the rest of the Hogsmeade weekends."
"You're no better," he grumbled in a low voice.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Anyway," she said the word slowly, getting back to their previous conversation. "I know for a fact that Dean and Seamus are with Parvati and Lavender, because those two wouldn't shut up about it all through today's breakfast and I just saw Neville walking with some Hufflepuff in your year. You're all alone. You planned to go with Hermione, but you mucked that up, so that makes you a prat."
He was quiet for a moment, as though letting everything slowly sink in. Then he said in a quiet voice, "You're horrible."
Ginny couldn't help but laugh. Soon, he joined her and they chuckled all the way down to the village.
Ginny loved coming down to Hogsmeade. Even when it was the same each time, she still enjoyed it every time she was here. She had so many things she wanted to do today: go to Honeydukes, visit Zonko's, have a Butterbeer in The Three Broomsticks and if she still have some time left, maybe see the Shrieking Shack one more time.
She was glad that she wasn't alone anymore and that she had Ron with her. Even when he could be an absolute idiot now and then, he was a great brother the rest of the time.
"Hey, what's going on there?" Ron asked. Ginny looked where he pointed and saw a rather large gathering of people around what looked like a small shop.
"Don't know. Let's go check," she suggested.
As the walked over, they noticed Padma and Parvati Patil sorting people to enter the shop. Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny noticed Dean leaning against a distant wall, looking really bored and annoyed. Lavender and Seamus stood by him, embraced together rather sickeningly to Ginny's taste, and Seamus smirked at something that Lavender had whispered in his ear.
"'Madame Asha,'" Ron read from a large wooden sign that hang above the door. "'Seer and Fortune Teller.'"
Ginny looked up at the sign. "Oh, that must be Parvati's aunt's new place that she talked about!" she admired. She grabbed Ron's wrist and pulled him. "Come on, let's see up close."
"You can't be serious," Ron mumbled and made the slightest of protest sounds before he caved in as curiosity took over him and let his sister drag him along.
It must have been the bright, red hair that caught Parvati's eyes. She beamed brilliantly at their sight and pushed her body through the noisy crowd to greet them.
Ron eyed the crowd of shoving, loud girls warily. "You girls are mental. I don't see what the big deal is," he commented. "It's not like some celebrity had walked in there; it's just a seer, probably a fraud, too."
"Don't include me in this," Ginny hissed at him as they watched Parvati get closer. She tried to fake a smile at her friend's way. "I haven't got excited over anything yet."
"Yet," Ron mumbled. Ginny nudged his side with her elbow just when Parvati finally met with them.
"Ron! Ginny! I'm so glad you came!" she exclaimed, beaming excitedly.
"This looks fantastic, Parvati," Ginny nodded, suddenly sounding like one of the crowd-girls, which made Ron quirk an eyebrow.
Parvati's head then snapped back at the crowd as a sudden cry came from within the shop. A second later, a girl with brown auburn hair emerged out of the mass of people, holding a picture of a boy tightly to her chest. Her girlfriends quickly gathered around her in a circle and she flushed red as a tomato before she cried out, "She said we will be getting married!" No surprise was when her friends all let out an equal squeal of joy and started jumping together in a group hug.
Ginny noticed Ron was about to gag at the sight and poked him with her elbow again. Luckily, Parvati didn't seem to notice his reaction, she merely grinned at the sight of the squealing girls.
"So, things are going well for your aunt, I see," Ginny observed.
Parvati nodded. "Yeah, it's been great." There was a small pause before Parvati spoke again. "Do you want to come in? I can get you in next," she said, her eyes hopeful.
"Er –" Ginny said and looked to see Ron's surprised, yet fearful, eyes. Ginny felt uncomfortable on Ron's behalf. She knew he wouldn't like it after seeing what it was all about and she felt bad for making him wait for her. Besides, by what she saw so far, it really looked like it would be a waste of her money.
"Come on!" Parvati said, not really waiting for her answer. She grabbed Ginny's hand and pushed her towards the crowd. Without even thinking, Ginny took hold of Ron's hand again and dragged him with her again.
Ginny grinned mischievously at her big brother, who protested incessantly and tried to keep his foot locked in place, unsuccessfully, of course. "Come on, Ron! Don't be shy!" Ginny teased. "I'll let you go in first."
"Ginny, don't you dare!" he called, alarmed, trying to free his hand from hers.
Parvati whipped around. "Oh, that's great!" she said when she caught on Ginny's words. She turned to her sister who stood at the door to the shop and gestured with her head at the two Weasleys. Padma nodded and let them in easily, while fighting off the crowd of protesting girls.
Parvati walked Ginny and Ron inside the small lobby inside. Ginny was surprised the shouts and loud noise of the street outside weren't heard inside and knew there was a silencing spell on the door, probably to keep the meeting more private and intimate, she guessed.
Ginny would have to admit the atmosphere inside was really relaxing. The room was much different from Trelawney's classroom, yet similar at the same time. There was soft Indian music playing from somewhere in the room, but Ginny could not place from where exactly. A pleasant scent of jasmine was floating in the air, coming from burning incense that sat on a very low table in the center of the room. Around that said table were arranged in a U-shape, oblong, decorated pillows for people to sit on.
Aside from her and Ron, the room was empty. Ginny started to wonder where Parvati suddenly disappeared to. She noticed Ron was looking carefully at the room more in query than in wonder, like she just had. He had his hands wrapped around himself, taking in the pictures of what looked like a Hindu Goddess who had six arms and was sitting in meditating position.
A feeble jingle of bells was heard from behind and Parvati had returned, now carrying a tray with two golden, bejeweled cups.
"Aunt Asha will be with you in a moment," she said with a smile. She placed the tray on the low table in the center of the room and Ginny could see the cups were filled with some steamy, cinnamon-color beverage. "Have some Chai tea, while you wait."
Ginny smiled politely and thanked her. She looked across the room at her brother, who still seemed quite reluctant and eyed him warningly. "This place is really something," Ginny said, taking one goblet and sipping at the foreign drink. She suppressed the urge to cough at the mix of flavors. It was spicy and sweet at the same time. She honestly preferred drinking English tea; this was too much for her taste.
"It's really... spiritual," Ron added from the corner of the room, now examining a golden statue of an idol. Ginny saw Parvati turned to look at him and placed her cup of Chai back onto the tray.
There was a rustle from behind a bamboo screen, which was decorated with pink flowers and vine, and another girl, which was in Ginny's year, emerged outside with a satisfied smile plastered to her face. Parvati hurried over to her side.
"Everything went well?" Parvati asked the girl.
The Hufflepuff nodded sheepishly. "Yes, everything's wonderful." She pulled out a small leather pouch. "How much do I owe you?" she said while rummaging inside it.
"Three Galleons and five Sickles," Parvati said. Ginny noticed Ron's eyes as wide as saucers and he quickly made his way to her from across the room while the Hufflepuff girl handed Parvati her money and left the shop.
"Three Galleons and five Sickles?" Ron hissed in Ginny's ear, completely scandalized. "I don't want to spend that much on some loony!"
"Ron, you can go in now," Parvati called pleasantly, waiting next to the bamboo screen. Ron shot Ginny a deadly glare and Ginny merely pushed him forward, smiling teasingly at him. 'I'll get you for that,' he mouthed just before he disappeared behind the screen and Ginny let out a bark of a laugh when he was gone.
It didn't happen very often when Hermione got bored, especially from a book, but today was an exception and she found herself skimming through one that, she was positive that, on any other day, would be excellent reading material, without any interest in it at all.
She was sure it would pass when she would stop thinking about things that bothered her, like the whole 'Ron-is-a-prat' issue, but it had been days now and she couldn't stop her mind from wandering.
She glanced around the deserted library as she sat in one of the tables with a gigantic stack of books next to her, that she had no interest whatsoever to open right now, and sighed dejectedly. She never acknowledged how enormous the library actually was, until now, when no one was around. Even Madam Pince, who usually kept her hawk eyes on each burrowed book in the room, wasn't at her station.
She hated feeling like this; alone, sad and hurt; and she regretted her decision to skip on the Hogsmeade trip.
"I suppose I could go and meet Ginny there," she muttered to herself.
And without even giving it a second thought, she pounced from her chair and ran out of the library, forgetting for the first time ever, to return all the books she had taken out back to their respective shelves.
She quickly made her way to the entrance hall, choosing a few shortcuts she and Ron had found throughout the years and skipped through two stairways. She took a corner, only one level to her destination, when she suddenly collided with something and nearly fell backwards. She was sure the corridor was empty and that she might have just taken the corner too quickly and simply got dizzy, but a blink of an eye later, someone had materialized before her and held her shoulders steady.
"I'm so sorry," she apologized to the person, as she tried to regain her footing.
"That's okay, Hermione," he said with slight amusement. Hermione looked up at his familiar voice and into his eyes, emerald green, appearing behind narrow square-shaped spectacles.
"Harry," she said, relieved to see someone familiar. It's not that she had forgotten that he stayed behind in the castle, as well, but she wasn't sure if he will be up to spending his time with her, so she hadn't thought of going to find him. "Hello."
He smirked down at her, still holding her shoulders, just to make sure she wouldn't trip. "Hurrying somewhere?"
She shook her head. "Just thought I'd head down to the village."
"Oh," he said quietly, releasing her and taking back a step to put some space between them. "Well, have fun," he wished with fake sincerity in his tone.
She watched him as he bent down to pick up something from the floor and tucked it inside his robe's pocket. She couldn't see what that thing was, but it was protruding out of his pocket. He then walked down the corridor with heavy footsteps, to where she had just come from. She thought he looked depressed, just like every day for the past week since Ginny wouldn't talk to him. She sympathized with him, knowing he was lonely and hurt just like she was.
She turned around and run over to keep up with him. His eyes glimpsed at her inquiringly when she came by his side.
"What are you up to?" she asked innocently.
"What do you mean?" he asked, unsure.
She gulped and cleared her throat, as though she needed to emphasize she needed to rephrase her question.
"I know you're not going to Hogsmeade, so I wondered how you were going to spend your day."
He didn't reply, but merely kept walking on, and she stayed by his side. She wasn't sure where he was heading, but she was sure that neither did he.
"I mean, I wasn't planning on actually going myself, up until a few minutes ago, but I can stay, with you, if that's okay."
There was an obvious pause as he seemed to consider her offer. She noticed a faint smile graced the corners of his lips. "I'd like that," he told her.
A comfortable silence passed between them as they strolled around the castle, nowhere particular in mind. Hermione liked it that way. She looked up at him secretly every few minutes and smiled to herself. It still amazed her how he had changed in such short time. If she had walked around in the same corridor as him only four mounts ago, she wouldn't be surprised if he would have insulted her in one way or another. Now she admired how he had matured, only because a single emotion – Love.
After what looked like a good ten minutes of silence had passed, the thought of what he had put earlier in his pocket was still on her mind. Curiosity took over and she couldn't stop herself from asking him. "What is that bulging out of your pocket?" she asked quietly.
She was startled, however, when he let out a strong, hearty laugh. She looked up at him, and he gave her a cheeky wink. "Not an average kind of question to ask a bloke now, is it?"
It took Hermione a full minute to realize what he thought she meant and her face turned warm and red. "Don't be rude. That's not what I meant."
He chuckled again. "I know what you meant. That's just my father's cloak."
She raised her eyebrows at him. "Do you always carry you cloak in your pocket?"
"No, just this once. I use it when I want to be alone."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, perplexed.
He shook his head. "You wouldn't understand."
"All right," she nodded, accepting his reasons, but not really getting it.
"So, how is Ginny? Is she okay?" Harry asked, changing the subject.
"She's still quite upset that you couldn't come with her. She was quite looking forward to go out with you, especially when this should have been your first date and all."
Harry sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck. "I know. I really messed up with her, haven't I? I hope I will be able to take her next time. That is, if she won't ditch me by then." He chuckled dryly, no real amusement behind it. He sighed again. "She would probably hold it against me forever. I wish there was some way I could make it up to her."
"But you can, Harry," Hermione said brightly. "She's there; you just need to get to her."
"Hermione, I can't," he said firmly.
She stopped to look at him. "But what is it exactly that you can't, Harry? You can't leave the castle or you can't be in Hogsmeade?"
"I can't be in Hogsmeade without leaving the castle, and I can't leave the castle without being seen," he said, trying to keep his patience with her.
She seemed to ponder this for a minute, then suddenly she looked up and Harry noticed an unusual shine in her eyes. "Yes you can, Harry!" she said excitedly. Then all of the sudden, she grabbed onto his wrist and broke into a run, pulling him with her all the way to the third floor, to a corridor which seemed to be deserted but for a single statue of a one-eyed witch.
"Hermione, what are you doing?" he asked, short-breathed.
She waved her hands at him in a wild gesture that he should stop talking and listen to her, while she caught onto her breath herself. "Harry, trust me. It's possible to leave the castle without being seen. Ron told me he and his brothers used to do it all the time. You just have to be sneaky, and I know that you Slytherins are nothing but sneaky."
Harry smirked at her words. He couldn't deny to that.
"There's a secret passageway over here," she said, walking over to the ugly statue of the one-eyed witch. Harry watched, transfixed, as she pulled out her wand, muttered something under her breath that he couldn't catch, and tapped it once on the witch's hump. The stone hump slowly slid open and revealed a narrow and dark gap. "It will lead you to straight to Honeydukes. Try to be as unnoticeable as you can."
Harry looked at her, completely astonished. Then a mischievous smile slowly traced his face. "Hermione," he said lightly, walking to stand by her, "if I'm going, then you're coming with me."
Hermione did not respond, however. She stood still, not saying a word, her eyes slowly widening. Harry wanted to ask what was wrong but was stopped when she clumped her hand to his mouth before he could say anything. He was too busy to fight her off and nearly bit her in the process, but then he heard it himself, the distant murmur of someone approaching. The timing couldn't be any worse, he thought to himself and he stopped struggling with her. The voice grew louder and then another joined the first as the people whom they belonged to drew nearer. A second later, Harry noticed Remus and Professor Dumbledore quickly coming their way from around a corner down the hallway.
Without giving it much thought, Harry pulled out his father's cloak out of his pocket. He ignored the urge to laugh out loud by the look that Hermione had on her face when she realized that he was holding a real Invisibility Cloak in his hands. Without saying anything, he threw the cloak over them both and made them disappear, as though they were never there.
Together, they clumsily struggled through the gap in the statue, desperately trying to cover up the bottom so their feet wouldn't be seen. Then they slid inside and heard the hump of the witch slid close behind them.
As Remus and Dumbledore passed by, Remus stopped near the still statue. He was sure he saw something switch in it. Being one of the Marauders, of course he knew all about the secret passages in the castle. He walked closer to it and examined it more carefully. The stone was still as in any other statue. He listened carefully, trying to hear something, maybe some voices from within the tunnel, but there was complete silence. The only thing he did notice was a torn net of spider webs that must have been stretched from the witch's hump to the back wall. He knew for sure the passage was in use after the Marauders' time, especially when their map had been passed through several students of the school, but it didn't mean that it was in use in this very moment. Those spider webs could have been torn for days, if not weeks.
"Coming, Remus?" Dumbledore asked, waiting patiently for him a few feet away.
Remus looked up at the old Headmaster's face and shook his head to himself. "Yeah," he said and went to join him.
Still a little suspicious, he walked with Dumbledore to the Headmaster's office, but made a note to himself to check more into it later when he'll be back in his own office.
"Damn, that fall was hard," Harry muttered when he rubbed the sore place where he landed on his bum. He helped Hermione get up from the floor.
"Thanks," she whispered, dusting off her robes. "But you didn't need to push me, you know."
"Sorry," Harry said, only his head now visible, floating in mid-air as he wrapped the cloak around his body.
"And I don't see why you needed me to come this way. I could have just met you there."
"I thought you wanted to keep me company? Anyway, where to?"
Hermione's hands closed around her wand once again and she lit it. She looked around the narrow hallway and started leading the way, though, now that Harry could see much better, he realized there was only one way they could go.
"That's scary. Stop that," Hermione complained suddenly, eyeing Harry's floating head guardedly. Harry laughed and the sound echoed through the empty space, but he didn't reveal the rest of his body. "Where did you get an Invisibility Cloak anyway? Aren't they supposed to be rare?"
"I told you, I got it from my father. It's an old family heirloom," Harry answered simply. "So yes, I suppose they are rare."
"I thought the ministry had banned them."
"It's a good thing that my father is an Auror, then," he said half-jokingly and she huffed angrily, unsatisfied with his answer.
They walked together quietly for several minutes until they reached a set of stairs carved into the stone. They climbed and climbed, until finally they met a trapdoor in the ceiling. They stopped to listen if there were any voices outside, but all they could hear were their shallow breathings. Very carefully, Hermione reached up and pushed the door open and peeked outside. Harry stood still besides her, waiting for her to make the first move.
"I think it's safe," she whispered. She pushed herself up until her whole body was over the opening and she was peering down at him from what looked like a cellar. Harry quickly followed her and hoisted himself up. Hermione closed the trapdoor as he stood up and quickly rejoined him. He threw the cloak around them both once again and together they looked around the small room until they found a door.
"Please don't let it be locked," Hermione silently pleaded as Harry tried the brass knob.
"Are you a witch or not?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow. He saw her thinking about it for a second, until it finally downed on her and she pouted. He chuckled silently and switched the doorknob and pushed. "In any case, it's open."
They walked into the sweets shop very close together, invisible to anyone else, and tried to push themselves outside through the thick crowd of customers.
When they were finally outside, Harry felt the warmth of the store replaced with the cold air and the smell of fresh snow entered his nose.
"Where do you think she is?" Harry asked Hermione, looking around the street for Ginny. There were too many people there; it would have to be impossible to find her. The only hope he had was the bright red hair to give her away.
"I don't know," Hermione said, her eyes fixed on the faces of passersby. "I didn't see her inside Honeydukes. We'll have to start looking. I need her to see me," she added.
"Right," Harry said. He led her behind a group of trees, where she would be able to come out from under the robe without people seeing her appear out of thin air. "Be careful when you talk to me," he said in a low and amused tone while they came back onto the street. "You don't want people thinking you're some crazy person who talks to herself."
Hermione didn't say anything and Harry wasn't sure if she was ignoring him or actually taking his advice. They slowly walked through the crowd and Harry saw the many faces of different Hogwarts students, but as different as they were from each other, they all had one thing in common: they were all looking happy.
They passed a group of chattering girls and Harry turned his head to look at them, observing how gleeful they all were. They shrieked with laughter and a pang of guilt stung in his chest. How could he be so selfish? How could he break his promise to Remus and risk everyone?
He gulped when a strange voice entered his head. As long as you're covered, it's safe... No one can see you.
He nodded to the voice, gripping the cloak tightly in his fingers and tightening it around himself so it didn't have a chance of slipping off.
"Harry!" He heard Hermione hiss. "Are you there? Where are you?"
He looked up and saw Hermione standing in the middle of the street, looking around herself frantically in search of him. There was no way she would be able to find him like that. He quickly jogged to her. "I'm here," he whispered.
"Don't go disappear on me now! Stay with me!" she chided and Harry laid a hand on her shoulder so she'll know he understood. "Come on, I think I know where she might be," she said and led the way to where a large crowd of girls stood outside a small store.
Ginny jumped with a start when Ron suddenly burst out from behind the bamboo screen.
"Ron?" she asked with confusion, but he didn't turn to look at her.
"I'll wait for you outside," he spat.
She watched as he thrust the money into Parvati's hand and strode out of the room, muttering something that sounded like "Stupid seers and their obsession with love."
Parvati turned to Ginny with a perplexed expression, but all Ginny could do is shrug. She got up from her seat and followed Parvati behind the bamboo curtain.
"Please go in," she said, holding her hands in a way that motioned her inside the door that stood behind the screen. A smooth curtain of transparent pink fabric hung all the way to the floor from the threshold.
Ginny nodded to her housemate and pushed herself behind it and wrinkled her nose when another strong smell of sweet incense hit her. She looked around the small, dim and round room. It was almost complete blackness inside but for a few candles that floated around and gave it enough light to see through. She noticed the walls were painted in dark burgundy and had gold ornaments painted on them. With a close inspection she saw they were of stars and planets. She noticed several suns and moons.
Heavy black curtains reached the floor, concealed the windows and the daylight. There was nothing else on the walls besides that. No shelves of books or tea cups or crystal balls.
In the back of the room, exactly in front of the door was a round table that was covered with black velvet. A small bowl, a little deeper than a bowl of soup, but altogether around the same size, held a small blue flame in it.
"Come closer, child," a deep, husky voice said from the back and Ginny felt herself shiver.
She wasn't sure she even wanted to get closer to the table, but it seemed like her legs thought differently. She couldn't control them, they moved with their own will, like some unknown force beckoned them forward. As she got closer, she was struck to see the blue flame lightening darkly the features of a woman's face. Her face looked engraved and smooth, like she was made of stone. Her skin was dark copper and her hair black with silver streaks. Despite all that, she was very beautiful.
"Sit down," her lips, full and sculpted moved with the strange voice that did not suit her stunning face. Ginny found herself suddenly facing the woman, standing behind a chair. She unwillingly complied, slowly sitting down and looked into her eyes, noticing they were coal black. As they were face to face, their eyes locked together, and Ginny found she was transfixed and unable to blink. It didn't hurt or sting, it was like she was hypnotized in some way. She couldn't tear her gaze from the blackness of the other woman's eyes and she felt something stir deep inside her. It wasn't in her head or in her heart or veins, she felt the black gaze wrap around her soul.
"Ginevra," she hissed. Her name sounded to Ginny like it was some strange language on the woman's pointy lips. "The White. So strongly different from the Red. A pure innocent, yet you evoke so much flare around you."
Ginny let out a small gasp suddenly. She was hearing her, listening carefully, but the vision of her stone-like face in front of her vanished in a second when the words become sights. It wasn't anything she ever experienced before in her life. She was in the same room, still sitting where she was, but colors started to swirl around her like in a tornado; strange, nameless colors, ones she had never seen before. The colors suddenly mingled together into two forms. Ginny could distinctly see her own image in each form, only one was red and the other was white. The two figures of herself that stood across from her vaporized like smoke and abruptly disappeared. Ginny found herself staring again into the black eyes of Madame Asha, still incapable to look away.
"Ah-oh," Hermione said in a small voice. She stopped abruptly in the middle of the crowd and Harry nearly collided into her. He could feel her shoulders tense and tried to understand why she stopped. Screeching girls pushed all around them, trying to get their turn to see the Seer and Harry snarled when he was hit in the head several times. He started to hate the fact that he was invisible, but knew it was for the best.
"What?" he asked with impatience, a little more than desperate to get away from the girly crowd.
Hermione said nothing and stayed frozen in place. Harry followed her gaze until he saw what caused her to stop. Ron Weasley was pushing his way out of the Seer's pavilion. Harry noted he was obviously upset about something. He watched him get away from all the screaming girls, lean against a side wall and sigh. He was looking at the ground with a desperate look.
"Go to him," Harry whispered in Hermione's ear, giving her a little push.
"No... I... I can't," she stammered. "He wouldn't want me there."
"He needs you."
Hermione slowly turned her face to where she knew his must be. Even though she couldn't see him, she was looking right into his eyes. "Walk me over?"
"Sure."
He grabbed her hand and pushed her through the crowd and walked with her towards Ron.
"Hold your hands above the basin," Madame Asha instructed.
Ginny's hands lifted from her lap on their own. Her palms stretched out her slender fingers above the small, blue flame. The forefingers and thumbs touched their equals and a shape of an inverse heart formed in the space between them.
Madame Asha's hands rose up high from the table top, guiding with them the blue flame to grow bigger in the small bowl.
The flame rose from the basin and spread between Ginny's outstretched fingers. They didn't burn, but gave a warm and soothing feeling while they licked and tickled her skin, and through all this time, Ginny kept looking into the woman's eyes.
She held her hands above the flame for another minute. "Turn them over," the Seer said in her low voice.
Ginny did as she was told and for the first time since she took her seat, she felt the need to look away, to see her palms, and when she tried, she found she was able to do as she was pleased. She let out another small gasp when she saw in the glow of blue flames that there were red marks scorched into her skin. The odd scars created a pattern of symbols, similar to ancient runes, which she could not understand.
Madame Asha bent over and took hold of Ginny hands in hers. Her touch was so light, Ginny could barely feel it. She could feel the Seer's long, dark nails scratch her skin, but it wasn't uncomfortable. They sat silently for a long moment. Madame Asha examined the symbols, reading through them, trying to decipher their meanings.
"You found yourself your one true love," she commented suddenly. Ginny's mind flashed suddenly with an image of Harry before coming back to reality. "I see he cares deeply for you, as much as you for him, but you do not believe. It is important, my fair child, that you never underestimate him. Even true love can break apart.
"The boy who is standing outside and waiting for you, loves you greatly and he will protect you," she said. "But he can also cause you great pain, my child, physically and emotionally." Ginny inhaled deeply, trying to understand what she was being told. She fought the urge to argue, to tell her that this sentence was meaningless, since it was only her brother waiting for her outside and there is no way in the world that he will ever cause her pain, but she was mute, she couldn't open her mouth to speak and it frustrated her.
Without anything else to do, she stayed as still as she was and listened, prepared for another vision to flash before her, only none came. "You will come across a fork in the road today with your love. The path you will take together is meaningful for your future. The choice is up to you, whether you choose the white road or the red one. Go to the white and all will go well until death do you part. Go with the red and it will be as if nothing had ever occurred between you."
As she finished her speech, the flame extinguished and all was left of it was a trail of gray smoke. The symbols on Ginny's palms disappeared as though they never existed and Ginny was able to think more clearly and move freely once more.
"Thank you," was all Ginny could say. She knew she wanted to say more than that, to protest somehow, to ask questions she wasn't sure about. She didn't understand half the things she was told.
"Good luck, Ginevra," Madame Asha said in her deep, mystical voice and nodded once.
Ginny left the room a little shaken. She wasn't sure if she should take this experience seriously. It seemed even beyond serious, but the words she repeated to herself in her head just didn't make much sense.
She handed Parvati the money she owed for the visit, not paying much attention to the question her friend asked her, and went outside to meet up with Ron.
Ron lifted his gaze when a shadow covered his eyes. He let out another sigh when he saw it was Hermione standing before him. Just like she said, he thought back to the Seer's words. Until she had actually appeared, he wasn't sure if he should trust what the Seer had said to him. Only, here she was, standing before him, looking into his eyes with an expression he could not quite figure out.
"Hello, Ron," she said in a small voice.
"We need to talk," he said and grimaced at the firmness of his own voice. She nodded quickly. "Erm – the Three Broomsticks?" he suggested feebly.
She nodded again, tucking a long curl of her hair behind her ear nervously. He was glad he wasn't the only one of them who wasn't feeling this way. "Sounds good," she said.
Ron pushed himself away from the wall and straightened his body. He couldn't look into her eyes for much longer and had to shift his gaze and look at something else, but from the corner of his eyes, he thought he saw her shift her shoulder in a weird way, like someone just touched her, but it couldn't be, they were alone, just the two of them.
"Oh, wait a second," she suddenly called and he turned to look at her reluctantly, hoping he wouldn't get lost by the beauty of her eyes. "Did you happen to see Ginny? I was looking for her earlier."
"Oh, yeah, she's in there," he pointed back to Madame Asha's place. Then he cursed silently. "I was supposed to wait for her."
"Don't worry," she said quickly. "I'm sure she'll manage on her own. We really need to talk."
"Right..." he said slowly, not quite sure what was up with her. He saw Hermione turn around for a second, before she looked back at him with a little smile on her adoring lips. The odd move made him want to ask her what was wrong, but he let it go. There were more important things to discuss right now.
As Harry took Ron's place and leaned against the wall, still hidden beneath his cloak, he watched him and Hermione head down together to the Three Broomsticks. It was strange, but he couldn't fight off the smile when he was looking at them. He really wished them well. Even when it was Ron Weasley, his long time enemy, the hatred he once felt towards him was now gone. He wasn't sure when exactly it happened. Was it when he made his amends with Hermione or when he finally started seeing Ginny? Even so, his goal right now was to talk to Ginny before he'd try to talk to him and make him accept his feelings for his sister, because if things didn't work out well today between them, there could be a chance that he may not need to talk to him after all.
He lingered about five more minutes, before he noticed the crowd of girls not too far from him, had started screaming and pushing again. A moment later, his eyes caught upon a gleam of red, which he could not mistake. It was her and she was coming close to him, pushing her small frame from the mass of girls, until she was finally free.
She stopped and looked around, surely looking for her brother and couldn't find him. He wasn't sure how he should approach her, but he knew he must do it now, or all be doomed.
He took five quick steps and he was standing behind her. She was still unaware of his presence. He took in a deep breath.
"Ginny," he whispered and was not surprised to see her jump and turn around at the sound of her name. He caught her wrists in his hands and she froze, not sure what was touching her exactly. "It's okay, it's just me," he said in a soothing voice and watched her relax, but only little. She was still a bit cautious.
"Harry?" she whispered, looking down at her wrists where he held her.
"Yeah."
She looked up and he was sure she was trying to look at his eyes, but her own eyes only focus on the blank air around her. "Why can't I see you? What kind a spell is it?"
He lifted one hand and touched her cheek lightly. He watched her lean gently into his touch, feeling the silky texture of the cloak on her skin. She hummed softly and closed her eyes. He shook his head, but realized immediately that she did not see it. "You can't see me because I have an Invisibility cloak on."
"Oh," she said simply, as though having an Invisibility cloak was the most common thing. She opened her eyes and looked up, to where she guessed his eyes must be, but they only reached his nose. "Where's Ron?"
"He had some matters to sort out with Hermione."
She nodded and then looked up again. "You said you couldn't come. You changed your mind?"
"I just didn't want to hurt you anymore," he explained.
"But why can't I see you?" she asked again, pressing on the matter.
"It's complicated," he answered. "I don't want you to get into this, but let's just say that I can't be seen here. I couldn't tell you before, but I also couldn't stand you staying mad at me. We only just started dating and here we are, already fighting. That's not how I wanted it to be. And now, it came to a point where I just didn't care anymore, because it was stronger than me."
"I want to see you," she said, her voice only pleading a little.
Even when Harry deep down still remembered the promise he violated, he couldn't deny her request. He wanted her to see him, too. He wanted to be able to walk around freely just like her, to hold her hand and not touch her through an enchanted fabric. He knew he couldn't do it, he couldn't be seen. But would it really hurt anyone if she was the only one who could see? He asked himself.
"Not here," he said.
She nodded once more, understanding immediately. She closed her fingers around his invisible hand and tugged lightly. "Somewhere more private, then." And he let her lead the way.
"I must say, this is not quite what I pictured for our first date, but it's better than nothing," Ginny said when they walked together side by side. She was still holding his hand, and she was quite sure she saw a few people shooting her strange looks when they caught her talking, apparently, to no one. She giggled at the thought, but couldn't care less, because Harry was with her, finally, even if he was invisible.
"I'm sorry this is not what you expected. I hope to make it up to you next time," he said. "Oh, and to make you see how sorry I am..."
Ginny looked to her left, where she knew he was standing, with a puzzled look when he didn't compete his sentence, and noticed the tip of his wand appear out of thin air. She heard him mutter a spell and saw a jet of yellow light hit a small sparrow that flew up in the sky above them. The sparrow started to swell and its gray-brown feathers turned pink. It grew two triangle ears until they were too long and flipped over. Its beak got flat, rounded up, and became fleshier until it was a snout. Ginny stared at it, completely struck. It was not a sparrow anymore, but a pig with sparrow's wings, and it was flying in circles, squealing and snorting out of surprise. Ginny started to laugh, and caught the attention of a few more people, who also stared at the flying pig and started to point and laugh.
"You're crazy!" she whispered at Harry when she calmed down. She pointed her own wand at the pig and turned it back to a sparrow and watched as it flew away.
She heard him chuckle. "Well, you said you'll talk to me again when pigs would fly. When that didn't happen I had to take some action."
She giggled, squeezing his hand in hers and feeling his do the same.
"So, am I forgiven?" he asked.
"I need to see you before I'll forgive you," she replied and tugged on his hand again, still guiding their way. She wasn't sure where she was taking him, but she needed to find some isolated place where no one will see them.
They walked several more steps until their path was blocked by the fence viewing the Shrieking Shack. She looked to her left and saw in the distance of the snow-patched road, a small group of trees. She turned to her right and noticed a madden path leading to an empty, narrow alley.
Then she froze, and the words Madame Asha had spoken to her merely minutes ago, words she had forgotten, staring to swarm back into her head. You will come across a fork in the road today with your love. The path you will take together is meaningful for your future. The choice is up to you, whether you choose the white road or the red one. Go to the white and all will go well until death do you part. Go with the red and it will be as if nothing had ever occurred between you...
This was it, Ginny thought. This is what she meant, the fork in the road, the red and the white.
The red road was the muddy path on the right, which led to the empty alley. If they choose to go there, it will be like nothing ever occurred between them. Everything will be lost, they will come apart. And if they choose the white road, the snowy trail on the left, all will go well. Until death parts us, Ginny repeated to herself. She suddenly realized the meaning behind the phrase. Marriage. This is the pure future she could ever hope for herself, only she wasn't in a position right now to decide whether she wanted it with Harry. They were on their first date. How was she supposed to know right at this moment if she wanted them to get married?
Then, the rest of the prophecy flooded her mind.
The boy who is standing outside and waiting for you, loves you greatly... he will protect you... It only hit home at that exact moment. Madame Asha had meant Harry all along. He was waiting for her outside, he loves her, and she knew, without any doubt in her heart that he will protect her in time of need. He was her future, her pure white future, but what was with the rest of the prophecy? He can also cause you...–
"Ginny?" Harry asked, cutting Ginny mid-thought.
She looked up to the sound of his voice, searching his invisible face. "Yes?" she asked weakly.
"Are you okay? Do you want to head back?" he asked with concern.
She shook her head. There was only one place where she wanted to go with him right now. She flashed him a smile. "Everything's fine. Let's go here," she said, pulling him with her to the group of trees, where their future together waited. She had to admit it looked more inviting, more romantic than a narrow and filthy alley.
Harry chuckled again, oblivious to her musings. "I wished I would have brought some Butterbeer..."
"Later, maybe," she said, pulling him behind the trees. In a second, Harry's head, covered with a smug smile, had appeared from underneath his cloak, looking around to check they were indeed alone. She did her own checking before; she didn't need him to do it himself. "We're alone," she promised.
"Yeah..." he breathed and his eyes were focused on her lips. She smiled in return and leaned over and touched her lips to his. He sighed into the kiss and took her small frame into his arms, pulling her closer to him. While still kissing him, Ginny took hold of the silky, invisible fabric of the cloak and pulled it off his shoulders and tossed it to the snowy ground, revealing the rest of his body.
"Much better," she said between kisses and Harry nodded, completely focused on kissing her.
"Did you forgive me yet?" he asked cheekily as he drew his lips from hers and started kissing her neck instead.
She was so lost in their moment that she forgot how to speak. Enjoying the hot feeling of his mouth on her neck, she merely nodded in response. She could feel his warm breathe on her skin and a small shiver ran up her spine, sending goosebumps from her shoulders and down to her toes.
They pulled apart after a moment, both panting for air and giddy from the kiss. For a moment Ginny wondered how was it possible there was snow all around them, when she felt so hot all of the sudden.
"I think I'll take that Butterbeer now," she said, still breathing hard. Harry ran his hand through his hair, nodding. "Do you want me to go get the drinks?"
He looked up and she noticed his cheeks were red. She knew she looked just as mess as he did. "Um, no. I'll go. You stay here."
She meant to protest. She thought he said he couldn't be seen. She didn't want to ask questions that he wouldn't be comfortable answering, so she chose not to say anything. She got her answer, however, when she watched him pull the cloak back over himself. "I'll be right back," he whispered before he disappeared once more.
"Don't steal anything!" she called after him and heard him chuckle in response.
Harry wasn't sure how he was supposed to get into the Three Broomsticks without revealing himself, but he didn't want to make Ginny do the job. He wanted to show her he was gentlemanly enough to get his lady her drink, even in his situation.
When he reached the door of the pub, he waited, not quite positive whether it would be a good idea to open it himself. It would look strange if the door will open on its own. So he waited. Fortunately for him, he didn't wait long. A minute later, two old wizards left the pub and Harry hurriedly pushed himself inside before the door got shut again.
Now is the hard part, he thought as he walked over to the busy bar, careful not to bump into someone. He looked around, noticing the patrons that were merrily chatting and shamelessly flirting with an overloaded Madame Rosmerta. Everyone looked busy and oblivious to him. Harry quickly pulled out of his pocket 4 Sickles and called in a fake, rough tone, "Two Butterbeers to go, Rosmerta."
Luckily, no one seemed to look for the voice without a face. Madame Rosmerta, too preoccupied with her other customers, took the money quickly and placed two bottles of the golden beverage without even looking away once from the people who she had a conversation with. Thankful for that, Harry swiftly hidden them under his cloak and turned around to leave.
As he passed the tables on his way out, his eyes focused on the very back of the pub and a smile spread on his lips. There were Ron and Hermione, leaning in for a kiss. Glad that things had worked well for them as well, Harry chuckled silently to himself and made his way to the door.
The noisy chatter around the pub had ceased at once when an ear-splitting scream came from the main street. Every head in the small tavern rose with a start.
The bottles in Harry's hand had slipped away from his grip and shuttered to the floor. No one seemed to notice the small incident, because every eye in the room was seeing the same thing Harry did: the mass of people on the main street, running and screaming in fright and in the skies was reflecting a great, green skull with a snake protruding from its mouth.
"Death Eaters!" someone yelled and the silence in the pub was replaced with a wave of screams, just like in the street outside.
The entire population of the Three Broomsticks started to scramble for the door and Harry, white faced, was out with the rest of them. They started to run and Apparate away. Students of the school were running back to the castle, crying and calling for help.
Only Harry stood frozen in the middle of the street, trying to understand what was happening. It couldn't be his fault. "It just couldn't be..." he whispered to himself.
"Harry!"
He spun around to the sound of his name. Hermione was running towards him, a frantic look on her face. Ron was just behind her. Then Harry realized that he didn't have his cloak on anymore. He looked around, but he couldn't see it anywhere. He knew that it must have fallen off when people had started pushing around him on their way out of the pub. There was no time to go back and look for it now.
"Harry!" Hermione called again, trying to catch his attention. Harry's mind was too dazed by the overwhelming occurrence at the moment. His eyes couldn't focus much on Hermione. It was his fault. His fault! Everyone was in danger because of him. How stupid and reckless could he have been? He felt himself shaking, his whole body convulsing into tremors. "Harry, we need to go! Do you hear me?" Hermione yelled, holding him by the forearms and giving him a little shake to make it snap back to reality. "Where is Ginny, Harry?"
At the sound of her name, Harry's snapped to attention at once. His eyes focused on Hermione's brown ones, searching, but he wasn't sure what exactly.
"Ginny...?" he asked weakly.
Hermione nodded frantically. Ron stepped over and pushed her away from him. He stood face to face with Harry, glaring menacingly. "Where did you leave my sister, Potter?"
"Ron! Now's not the time!" Hermione screamed just when a jet of light hit the wall of the pub behind them. "We've got to go! They're getting closer! Ginny must be already on her way back to the castle!"
With all his will, Harry forced himself to clear the fog that had clouded his brain. "Ginny!" he let out a scream, looking around and running back to the direction of the group of trees where he last saw her.
"Harry, no! Come back!" he heard Hermione scream at him, but he didn't stop to look back at her. Curses and spells flew all around him, but he didn't see who shot them. He dodged them easily, his wand already in his hand, ready to fight back.
But he didn't care. All he cared about was finding Ginny and make sure she was safe. He told her to wait for him, so he needed to see if she listened to him. What if she was still there? He couldn't leave her behind. His own life meant so little to him right now.
"GINNY!" he screamed again with all the air he held in his lungs, but he couldn't see her anywhere. He couldn't even see her where he left her. "Ginny!"
"Harry, over there!" he heard Hermione's voice. He turned around swiftly and saw her and Ron running over to him. Hermione was pointing to the ground, several feet between them, to the pebbled street. Her hair was always the first thing he looked for and there it was, vivid red as ever, spread over the whiteness of the snow on the ground. Realizing she was lying motionless, Harry sprang into a sprint, calling her name over and over and hoping that he was not too late and she would raise her head at the sound of his voice.
He was at her side a few seconds later and rolled her to her back. "Ginny," he sighed in relief, seeing her breathing and her eyes fluttering. She opened them and looked up at him and immediately they started to water with tears. The sight of that crushed his heart and he sniffed through his nose, forcing himself not to cry. He couldn't let her see him cry, he needed to look strong. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry."
"Ginny!" Ron's called as he knelt beside her as well. Hermione stood a few feet back, watching out for any Death Eaters anxiously. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
She shook her head a little. "No... I don't think so..." she said feebly. "I saw the Death Eaters and started to run, but I stumbled and fell."
"Can you get up?" Harry asked, hoping to get them out of here as soon as possible. He could still hear people screaming as they ran away. From the corner of his eye, he noticed several black figures walking in the streets, shooting spells, and another group of people, fighting them back.
She nodded, pushing herself on her elbows and then shifted her weight to her feet when she tried to stand up. Harry and Ron gave her a little room, watching her with cautious eyes. She stood still for a second, but then swayed and her eyes rolled back into her head. Harry caught her quickly in his arms before she hit the ground. Her eyes fluttered open again and she let out a low, protesting moan.
"She's too weak to walk. I'll have to carry her back," Harry told Ron. Ron nodded and grabbed Hermione's arm. Harry swept Ginny into his arms and they all started to run to the castle. He fell behind them. As little and light as Ginny was to him, holding her body was slowing him down, but he knew he had to keep running, for her sake, at least, if not his own.
"Harry, look out!" Hermione suddenly screamed and without even thinking, he ducked down, shielding Ginny's body with his own. He saw the curse coming their way and knew it would hit him in the back. A second, two seconds, three, had passed and he saw he was still safe. Alarmed that somehow it hit Ginny, he looked at her face, but even though he eyes were closed, she was still breathing. He looked up then and noticed a glowing shield charm covering them. He turned to see who cast the charm and saw that someone was standing behind them, his arms were spread out to his sides and his wand was in his hands. Harry thought he was looking at some bright light, but quickly realized what that whiteness was and he was completely speechless.
"What are you doing?" Draco screamed, looking down at Harry. "I can't hold the shield much longer! Go! Get her back to the castle!"
But Harry shook his head, knowing exactly at that moment what he should do. He sprang to his feet and ran over the Ron and Hermione, where they waited for him. He carefully placed Ginny in her brother's arms and looked at their bewildered expressions.
"Take her back," he told Ron with evident confidence in his voice.
"What about you?" he asked.
Harry looked at Ginny's peaceful face. "They're here for me," he mumbled quietly. He raised his head and looked back at Draco, noticing him shooting spell after spell at the approaching Death Eaters.
"Are you mad? This isn't the Dueling Club at school! This is for real! We've got to get out of here! Now!"
Harry shook his head in return. "I know what I'm doing."
"Get her back, Harry!" Draco screamed from behind. "I'll fight them off!"
"Go," Harry said to Ron with definitive tone in his voice. Ginny's eyes opened again and they locked on him.
"Harry, don't..." she whispered.
"I'm sorry, Gin," he said.
He exchanged one last glance with Ron, before he and Hermione stated to run again. Harry turned around to face Draco, but shut his eyes when he heard Ginny's protesting shouts.
"No! Don't! Take me back to him, Ron! HARRY!"
Wiping off a single tear, Harry stepped next to Draco and started shooting spells at the Death Eaters.
"Thank you, Draco," Harry said solemnly while escaping a stunner.
"Thank me later if we make it back," Draco said through gritted teeth, casting another shield around them. They could see the small group of Aurors coming their way to help. "That was quite noble of you, what you did back there."
"Yeah... Guess that's not very Slytherin of me to do."
"Don't be stupid," Draco scolded. "Come on! Let's go, they've got it!" he said, seeing the Aurors now taking action and covering for them. He grabbed Harry's arm and they started to run.
They came to a halt when they heard several pops and Dumbledore's and the Order's forces had appeared out of thin air. Harry's eyes widened with shock when he noticed his parents, Remus and Sirius were running towards them.
"Harry?" his mother called, alarmed.
"Hi, Mum," he said in a small voice.
"Get down!" Draco yelled and pushed Harry to the ground and rolled himself to the opposite direction, splitting them apart. Another red light nearly hit them. Lily Potter recovered quickly from her shock and shot a stunner back at the Death Eaters who aimed at them. She hit it squarely in the chest and he dropped down unconscious to the floor.
"Nice hit, Mum!" Harry said with admiration.
"James! Your son is here!"
"Get back to the castle right this second, young man!" Harry heard his father's angry voice.
"No! You're all here! I'm staying!" he insisted. He got back to his feet, and looked back, searching for Draco. He saw him shooting several more spells at a Death Eater and managing to knock him out cold. He turned to look at the fighting scene, but stumbled back and fell on his behind, when a Death Eater was standing right in front of him, his wand pointed straight at him.
The Death Eater took off his mask, revealing his face. Harry didn't recognize him. He was short and fat, had dark hair and a long nose and he was leering at Harry and cackling a laugh.
"Expelliarmus," he called and Harry's wand shot from beneath his hand and into his.
Harry gulped, not daring to call for some help or look away even for a friction of a second.
The Death Eater pointed his wand exactly at Harry's heart. He gave one last sneer before he called out, "Avada Kedavra!"
Harry shot his eyes firmly and heard his mother deafening scream. "HARRY!!!"
"NOOO!"
Harry felt like he was hit by a large stone. His body was thrown a few feet back and collided with a wall.
He opened his eyes, sure he would see heaven, but he was still in Hogsmeade, watching Death Eaters and Aurors and his parents running to him.
He wondered how was it possible that he was still alive after being hit by the Killing Curse.
He tried to breathe, and found it a little hard. A great weight was lying on his chest, pressing on his lungs.
Harry, still a little dazed, looked around. The squat Death Eater who shot the curse at him was now lying on the ground, tied by invisible ropes. Sirius was pointing three wands at him. Not too far from there, Remus was standing over two more stunned Death Eaters. Everything was quite all of the sudden.
His mother was holding his face in her hands, stroking it tenderly while tears flooded her eyes in heavy streams. His father crouched down to him and picked up something large into his arms and carried it away. Suddenly, Harry felt the heavy feeling being lifted away from him.
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," his mother was saying to him.
Confused, he looked at his father, noticing the grim look on his face. At his feet lay a body. He could only see the legs. The face was covered with his father's cloak. But he didn't need to see the face to know who lay there.
He let out a sob, feeling his eyes sting with tears that he finally allowed to flow. "No..." he cried in agony.
His best friend saved his life and gave his own in return. His best friend, which he never really made amends with, was now dead. He could never ask him for forgiveness again.
"NO!" he screamed. He fell into his mother's embrace and cried while she rocked him. "It's can't be..."
"I'm so sorry, Harry. I'm so sorry," she whispered, her own voice chocked-up.
A few minutes had passed and the pain refused to go away. Harry knew it would take much more than that until it disappeared, if it ever would. He was walking to the school's infirmary, his parents by his side, guiding the way, because he couldn't see much. All he kept seeing was the still body of his best friend.
His father pushed open the door to the hospital wing. The room was full with scared students. Harry didn't see, he could only hear their voices.
"Harry!" he heard Ginny's voice and he was suddenly engulfed into a warm hug. The smell of flowers entered his nose, but as much as he wanted to respond to her, he couldn't feel anything. "You Prat! I was worried sick! Thank goodness you're okay! Don't you ever do that to me again, you understand? You could have died out there!"
When he didn't say or do anything in return, she pulled back and looked with a puzzled expression at his parents. Receiving a painful look in return from both, she took his face in her hands and made him look her in the eyes. "What's wrong?"
He couldn't hold it in anymore. The sob burst out and he couldn't stop it. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck, crying his heart out.
Completely taken aback, Ginny held him close and ran her hand up and down his back soothingly.
"Draco..." he whispered in pain and let out another sob.
The room fell into deadly silence and only Hermione, who was sitting in the back, let out a gasp of horror. "Oh, my God."
A/N: Like I said, fluff mixed with angst. I hope I didn't depress you too much and that you liked it. And in case you wondered, then no, I didn't plan for Draco to die when I started this story, but that's where it was heading lately and I'm quite happy with the result. I'm sorry if you liked him and now hate me for killing him, but hey, that's how my fic goes and if you don't like Draco dying, you can always go back and read Deathly Hallows and read the epilogue...
Now, this is nearly the end! I think there will be another chapter and an epilogue to this story. Keep checking my profile for updates and vote the poll in there if you haven't yet had the chance to. Thank you for reading and please review and tell me what you think.