Chapter Forty-Five

I felt more relaxed at dinner than I had most of the day, Ginny not withstanding. Molly had maneuvered her into sitting beside her father and not beside Daniel, which most all of us could see had been her original intention. Ginny was not a master of subtlety. Not in the least. Molly's cooking was a wonderful, comfortable, hodge podge of dishes that you couldn't stop eating more of, even when you were full. And when dessert came out, even though I'd had four biscuits I couldn't say no to apple pie and cream. Kreacher even joined us for dessert, which put a great smile on Hermione's face. I was really happy that he felt so comfortable with all my friends there, and even Daniel didn't seem particularly perturbed by a house elf dinning at the same table, which moved him up another peg in my estimation.

Barely able to move, we managed to shift from the dining room into the living room where Kreacher began to serve drinks, even as he managed to tidy up the leftovers and plates. We made happy small talk in front of the fire, or at least most of the men did. Molly was still full of energy and insisted on bringing down piles of boxes from her room to go under the tree; which everyone commented on, being as it was so shinny and all. I felt a little guilty then and got myself out of my chair to fetch my own gift to add to the tree. In a matter of a half hour we could barely see the lower two rows of branches for all the carefully wrapped boxes, ribbons and bows. I don't know if I could have painted a more perfect picture for the first Christmas at my new home. And fortunately, I didn't have to commit it to memory, because George insisted on bringing out his camera and snapping dozens of photos of all of us, in various poses around the tree and the fireplace. I knew it wasn't going to be hard to decorate the walls of the house after that; not with so many memorable portraits to fill the voids.

Daniel and Charlie began a game of wizards chess off in one corner, which meant that Ginny drifted over that way as well, dragging Hermione with her so it wouldn't look nearly so desperate as it was. Ron sat down with Draco, George and I and we talked about school a bit, and about what we were going to be up to after it was over.

At some point Arthur and Molly vanished up to their bed, and Kreacher came to tell me that he was going to do the same, but that I should call for him if I should need anything. Feeling a little weary myself, after all the anxiety and the wine, I said my own goodnights and went upstairs, Draco not far behind me, leaving the brothers, and sister on their own with Daniel. Hermione stayed with Ron for a few more minutes, but I heard her on the stairs not long after. As wonderful as it was to have a houseful of company, and the happy noises that came with, it was good to shut the door of my room and just enjoy the quiet of the night.

"Are you sure this was a good idea Harry?" Draco was standing a little stiffly beside the second bed Kreacher had made up, ostensibly for him.

"One of the best I've ever had. Now come here Dragon. I've wanted to kiss you all night."

An unfamiliar noise woke me well after midnight. Having spent the whole summer in the house I was used to most every sound it made. Perhaps it was more of a feeling I had, as I think back on that Christmas Eve, that had woken me, just knowing that something was wrong.

"What is it Harry?" The sleepy voice of my lover asked.

"I'm not sure Draco. I'm just going to go make sure everything is okay."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I'm sure it's nothing stay in bed and keep it warm for me." I leaned over and kissed him.

"Take your wand, if you aren't back in ten minutes I'm coming to look for you."

"Okay."

Clad only in my pajama pants I pulled a shirt over my head before going out. I wasn't much like the main character of the poem 'A Visit from St. Nicolas', no cap, no shutter to throw open, no big man in a red suit to encounter, leastwise I hoped not. Just Harry Potter, bare feet, white tee shirt, baggy plaid pants, glasses and a wand clutched in my right hand creeping down the stairs.

There was a light on in the kitchen, and I though perhaps it was just Kreacher, up far too early, preparing for Christmas breakfast. It was the noise of someone going through the cupboards that let on that it wasn't him. I wondered if I shouldn't have grabbed up my invisibility cloak as well as my wand. But, it was my house after all, so I poked my head around the door to see who it was. I had truly not expected to see the person I saw.

Daniel Alonso had finally collapsed at my kitchen table, head in his hands, obviously not having found whatever it was he'd been seeking.

"Daniel?" It still felt a little odd to use his first name.

"Oh God Harry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

He looked like hell, and that was hard to do when you were that gorgeous. There was a lost, long look on his face, and a sickness in his eyes that betrayed confusion and fear.

"What's happened?"

"I was just looking for a drink, to calm myself. I didn't mean to make so much noise."

He looked like he could certainly use one. Being as it was my house, I knew the liquor was in the pantry, and I fetched him a snifter full of Port and set it down in front of him before repeating my question.

"Thank you." He took a large gulp of it from two shaking hands.

"Daniel, what's happened?"

"I don't even know how I can say it Harry." He stuttered at me.

"I promise you Daniel, I won't repeat a word of it, if that's what you're scared of. You can trust me."

He looked up from his glass, into my face, and looked to be on the verge of tears so much so that I wanted to wrap my arms around him and comfort him; not that it would have been at all appropriate.

"I knew I should never have accepted Miss Weasley's invitation. I should have known you hadn't really sent her."

"It's all right Daniel, we're all really happy to have to here. No one should be alone at Christmas." I knew how miserable it felt, to be alone. The Dursley's never really included me at holidays; I was there because they couldn't avoid feeding me. But I certainly wasn't invited in to the party, or to meet the guests. "Ginny was right to invite you, it was my mistake not doing it myself. She knows how I feel about family and holidays."

"I am an idiot Harry. She didn't want me here out of sympathy. She wanted me here because she has a crush on me." I knew that, most of us had known that, but I sincerely couldn't believe she'd acted on it, in my house and I felt my anger rising.

"What did she do Daniel?"

"I could lose my job if anyone finds out. I could go to prison depending what she tells them." He began to tremble.

"What did she do?"

"I take potions to help me sleep Harry, most every night, to keep the dreams away." He didn't elaborate just then on what his dreams were, and I didn't ask. "I didn't hear my door open, and God help me, I didn't feel her crawl onto my bed." There was definite anger now, he was in Sirius' room, and Ginny knew how important he had been to me, not that it would have ever crossed her mind, the significance of the place she was defiling.

"I awoke when she kissed me, still groggy from the potion. She wasn't wearing any clothing Harry and she began to grind her hips against me, and she took my hands and put them on her breasts, willing me to touch her." I thought for a moment that I should have poured two drinks when I'd been in the pantry because my own nerves were starting to shake.

"Did you?" I couldn't even finish the sentence.

"No Harry, oh God no, I threw her off me, I didn't want to yell in your house, I didn't even know she'd woven a silencing spell over the room or I would have. She tried to kiss me again as I fumbled out of bed, and she kept reaching for me and trying to press her body into mine. She wouldn't stop. I finally had to take up my wand and stun her."

"Where is she now?"

"She's lying on the floor of my room. I put a blanket over her, I just don't know what to do Harry. When she wakes up she'll probably tell everyone I invited her there, or that I raped her." I didn't doubt that for an instant, Ginny was a firecracker when she felt wronged, and she didn't retaliate to get even, she did it to win.

"I've never led her on Harry, I've never done anything to encourage her." He was absolutely frantic. "And now I've actually hurt her. I don't know what to do."

"We'll think of something Daniel. I promise you that. I won't let her hurt anyone else." He looked at me strangely. "She was my girlfriend once, I know what she's capable of." That statement didn't comfort him in the least.

As we fell to silence we both heard footsteps, Draco knocked softly on the kitchen doorframe to announce his presence.

"Is everything all right Harry?" then he saw Daniel, without a word, he knew. "What's Ginny done?"

Daniel dropped his head to the table, hiding it in his arms. "Am I really the only idiot in this school?"

"Not by a long shot Professor."

"Tell him Harry." He said with a muffled voice.

"Ginny tried to force herself on Daniel."

"I didn't do anything, I couldn't do anything." He moaned into his arms.

"Where is she?" I loved the confidence of Draco's voice at that instant. It was like he already had a plan, which of course, he did.

"She's stunned, on the floor of Sirius' room."

"I'll take care of it, don't worry." He squeezed my shoulder, nodded at Daniel who had finally raised his head and disappeared.

"He won't hurt her will he?"

"No, he won't."

"What's he going to do?"

"Perhaps it's best if you don't know. Plausible deniability." I smiled. "She won't remember anything about what she tried to do tonight."

"Draco is that good?"

"Draco is better."

He finished the drink in his glass quickly, and I rose to pour him another one. He looked so grateful when I returned with it. He was still looking for answers.

"What could I have possibly done to make Ginny think that I wanted to have sex with her?"

"Breathing would be my first guess." I was being sarcastic, mostly. "Daniel you are very handsome, a Professor and a Quidditch star. Ginny isn't the only girl in school fantasizing about you." He sighed.

"I'm not a star at anything Harry."

"You're an excellent teacher."

"Plagued with nightmares."

"You certainly aren't the first, or did no one tell you about the motley crew we have employed at Hogwarts over the years?" He actually laughed a little about that one.

"No, I've heard a few stories in the staff room. Past and present, a ghost, and werewolf, a half giant, centaurs, death eaters, and those possessed by evil. A motley crew to be sure."

"A few nightmares are nothing."

"But they aren't nothing Harry."

"I'm sorry Daniel, of course they aren't nothing." Some help I was. I tried to change the subject. "When you were playing Quidditch you must have had girls falling all over you. How did you deal with it then?"

"That was easy, they were adults, you could almost reason with them, you could walk away."

"It must have been tempting."

"No. Things like that weren't for me. I wanted to play the game, play it well, earn respect. I loved that game."

"So why did you quit?" I was awfully bold in the middle of the night it seemed. He laughed kind of sadly.

"Quit? I didn't quit Harry."

"They fired you?"

"Something like that."

"But Ron said you were world class, a cup winner, that doesn't make any sense."

"So many thing in my life didn't back then. I guess the short answer is, I fell for someone." He got really quiet then, and his eyes looked far away, like he was remembering something happy, and yet exquisitely painful. I reached out a hand, to just touch his across the table and he focused on me, as if he was willing me to understand something unspoken. Perhaps just then I did.

"What was his name?"