Chapter Thirty-Four
Perhaps a little about life at Hogwarts as autumn set in seriously, and winter threatened its approach. Not that the castle ever really got cold, but the grounds certainly could look bleak when the leaves started to brown and fall from the trees, and you always wondered, when you looked up at overcast skies, if the dark clouds meant rain or snow.
Potions classes had their ups and downs; Genevieve was still distracting a number of the students, but her classes were practically interesting. I say practically, because she was teaching us generally useful, if not mundane, potion fabrication. Cleaning supplies, perfume bases, health elixirs, and commercial sorts of things. It opened up a whole new world of understanding for many people; that potions could be a business, just as Genevieve's was, and that they didn't all have to be as sinister as Snape used to make them out to be. Admittedly, most of the boys weren't terribly interested in the perfume class, but when they realized that the base could be used for so many other applications designed to draw people to you, or push them away they got a little more enthusiastic.
Hermione had a potion figured out for Ron, to keep his head clear of the Veela side effects pretty early on, though I don't know that she let on she was giving it to him; or maybe she did, she wasn't the type of person to dose someone without their knowing it. I can't say she wasn't the jealous-type, but I think she knew well enough that Genevieve LaSeigne wasn't returning any of the moony gazes given to her by most of the males around the school. Really, none of the girls had anything to worry about, though I'm sure there were a few disappointed men. In the end, Minerva knew it would be like that, which is probably why she had no reservations about hiring her in the first place. Genevieve just seemed to get on well enough with everyone around the school; well everyone but Alonso. Not to speak out of turn, but I think that she was used to having the men around her succumb to her charms, whether she did anything about it or not, but Daniel Alonso didn't. He seemed quite naturally immune to her, which was envious. I think that threw her off a bit.
As for Daniel Alonso's classes, they continued on in the same sort of 'half-full' vein as they had started, and by that I mean that he seemed to see the negative before the positive in most things, preferring to be ready to go to war should the need arise. He seemed to be of the mind that the best defense was a good offense, and so his classes dealt with detection of dark magic, and recognition in the face of ambiguity; and then, how to defeat it. It was rousing, and perhaps the most comprehensive DADA class I had seen in my seven years. As I look back, I know it gave me a solid foundation for my subsequent work with the Ministry. As I came to know him better it became perfectly understandable why he took the view that he did, and I tried very hard not to fault him for it.
As for Alonso's other position at the school, that of the girls Quidditch coach, well, that was an altogether different venture. There were initial rumblings about how unfair it was that one team of the now five, had a professional coach; yes, Ron's little discovery hadn't stayed secret for long. But Alonso refrained from teaching the girls anything beyond the basics of the game and the moves available in any Quidditch manual. The Harpies were given no fancy advantages by him; though they made up a few of their own, under Ginny's watch, but that was no different than any of us. And any practice that he oversaw could be observed by anyone else at the school. The compromises silenced the critics in fairly short order, and the modified season got underway. With a dozen or so matches to fit in, some weekends were scheduled to see two, and it only kept us all busier, and out of trouble; so again, I could see, on reflection, Minerva's logic. And while his involvement with Quidditch was purposely transparent, one thing that wasn't quite so open and honest also had a connection with Ginny, though I had to wonder if Alonso even noticed the way she was acting around him all of a sudden. It wasn't hard for me to see, or Ron, or Hermione, or Draco, and probably Neville as well, that she let her gaze rest on him just a little too long, and that she threw his name into conversations where it really didn't belong. She was becoming quite smitten with him; possibly to Dean's detriment, I didn't know, or really care. Perhaps he was just dark and mysterious and powerful enough to fill the void I'd left behind? But as I said, he either didn't notice at all, or was doing an incredible job pretending not to notice for the sake of his job, and position at the school. It had to be frustrating for Ginny.
Our Hogsmeade weekend was one of the few weekends we didn't have a Quidditch match scheduled, and I'm referring to the one that the whole school was attending, not Draco's and my first terrible attempt. He decided that he wasn't going, but he made me promise that I would. I argued with him for a few minutes, but as angry as I was at Rosemerta, I needed to have some time with Ron and Hermione, who I had been seriously neglecting as friends. Besides, I thought, I could get a Christmas present for Draco then, without him seeing it. So, while I gave The Three Broomsticks a wide berth, I did enjoy seeing Hogsmeade again properly. And the people there really did treat me well, despite my outburst of a few weeks back, so apparently Rosemerta hadn't passed on the nature of it to anyone, which did make me trust her sincerity a bit more. It was great to see George again at his shop, which had been doing a brisk business despite Filch's beginning of term admonishments against bringing the products back to the castle. Honeydukes was also full of students, loading up on sweets. It was nice to walk the streets again with Ron and Hermione, as we had, for all those years, in good times, and those not so good. And it was wonderful to laugh again, as I was beginning to feel as if I might not be able to with all the worries I had on my mind; from Draco to Alonso, to Genevieve, the baby and these prophecies that Professor Sinistra kept alluding to. For a few hours I let them all go; and I managed to pick up gifts for all my friends, and the Weasley's, and something to send to Bill and Fleur, and Charlie, in case they didn't make it to the house. I even got some baubles for Kreacher to unwrap, and made sure the ladies in the shop packaged them in the brightest paper they had, with miles of golden ribbons. I placed a few more orders for things to be delivered to the house for the holidays, just to make sure I had enough linens for the guests, and that my walls weren't completely bare. I figured I'd get a tree organized when I got to London. Kreacher would love decorating it with me. So with a mind full of Christmas, and arms full of parcels I headed back to Hogwarts feeling warm and comfortable in my own skin again. It would have been so nice if that feeling could have lasted longer than the day.
I had arranged to meet Draco after dinner, I'd pulled out the Marauder's map a day before going, and I'd chosen a place we could meet, safely, where I could assuage some of the guilt I was feeling at having had a day away in Hogsmeade while he had stayed behind. It wasn't that I felt like I was betraying him or his feelings by going; well, maybe it was a little about that, but I had made sure to stay away from Rosemerta's so I didn't feel wholly guilty. I just wanted the chance to have some time with him alone. We'd had our study sessions, and those previously described 'moments' in the darkened niches Draco knew of, but nothing like the hours back at my house, and after his expressed concerns about things ending after that one time, I wanted to make sure he knew that I was serious about making time with him.
I took the invisibility cloak, in case we were out late, stuffed it into my book bag and headed out; looking every bit like I was off to study, which was becoming a normal vision of me. But instead of going to the library or the Great Hall I went down to the North East corner of the castle, entered a passageway guarded by a rather tarnished suit of armor whose door looked more like rock than wood, followed its shortened entranceway for twelve steps, then stepped out into a small bedroom, long abandoned by all but those people fortunate enough to glimpse it on a magical map such as I possessed, or be given its precise location by someone who had. The key was the twelve steps, counted out, and that was the spell that made it open into the bedroom, and not just look like a long broom closet. There wasn't any furniture in it any longer, but it was private if not luxurious, and Draco was waiting for me inside, sitting on the floor by the fireplace.
I watched him stand as I materialized in the passageway, and he waited as I crossed the room, coming to stand in front of him, and offered him an embrace and then a lingering kiss.
He asked about Hogsmeade and I described it in the most benign terms I could think of, to make the day sound as normal and uninteresting as I could. He knew I was doing it on purpose that way, but he humored me, commenting that he obviously hadn't missed much, and that he much preferred going to London anyways. And we chatted about doing just that; from the sights of the city, Diagon Alley, and lastly 12 G. There was some laughter abut Melody, and what type of club she planned to drag us out to, as well as some curiosity and nervousness about what we might be expected to wear to said club. Eventually the talking gave way to shy caresses, and then those that were more intense, and finally to my hands pulling at his shirt so that I could slip my fingers below the waistband of his pants and touch his skin.
I felt incredible, it had been such a good day for me; reliving the happy memories of my first days at the castle, my immediate friendships with Ron and Hermione, the ease of life, earning about myself and the heritage I had never known, and then having Draco there, with me, bringing in a groundswell of new emotions that I was still sorting out. I let the emotions take over me, but they brought me to a place I had never imagined I would ever go.