Author's Note:

This is the chapter I accidentally posted earlier. You all get it early because some of the people who read it when it was up are confused.

If you've been staying with this story, thank you! Your readership means a lot to me, as do all of the favorites, follows, and reviews you've made to this story. If you're just now finding this story, there's still time to do all three of those; this story isn't ending any time soon. One of the people reading this story who reviews on pretty much every chapter is SevLoverKat. (If you get the chance, you should really check out some of her work.) She called Dumbledore an interesting name in one of her reviews, and I asked her permission to have a character use it. I hope all of you enjoy seeing that in this chapter.

Chapter 17

Harry and Ginny stood in front of Dumbledore's office. Harry raised a fist to knock on the door, but Ginny opened it before he had the chance to hit the wood with his knuckles. She'd looked in a mirror before they had left the comfort of Gryffindor tower, and she wasn't happy when she saw her hair. "Look, Dumbles—"

"Miss Weasley, as your head of house you should know by now that my name is not 'Dumbles'." Professor McGonagall stood from the headmaster's chair and stared at her two Gryffindors. "You should also know that knocking on the door is the polite way to enter someone's office, as I'm sure Mr. Potter here was about to do. Since you've so rudely barged in here, is there something I can do for either of you?" She looked closer at Ginny. "My dear, why are you so wet? It hasn't been raining today."

Harry put his hand down. "Professor McGonagall, where is the headmaster? We need to talk to him about something serious."

"He's away on a business trip. As Deputy Headmistress, I'm taking his place until he returns. Whatever you need to speak to him about can be said to me; I'll do my best to help you." She conjured a blanket and wrapped it around Ginny's shoulders. "Please, sit down. Would you like a lemon drop?"

"No, thanks." Harry and Ginny sat down in two armchairs in front of the desk. Professor McGonagall sat in the headmaster's chair and popped a lemon drop in her mouth.

"Would you like some tea?" Ginny nodded, and McGonagall ordered three cups from a house elf. A moment later all three of them had a teacup in their hand. "Please explain whatever happened that made the two of you come up here."

Harry swallowed nervously, taking another sip of tea before he began their explanation. "Well, Ginny here is wet because I cast Aguamenti on her—" McGonagall gave him a stern look. "—for good reason. Her hair was on fire."

"Why was Miss Weasley's hair on fire?"

"Well, she was cheering me up—"

McGonagall cut him off. "Why did you need cheering up?"

Ginny answered for him. "Harry's been distant from all of us since the attack on my dad. I was trying to make him feel better. He's been a bit distraught from it all."

"Mr. Potter, the attack on Mr. Weasley was not your fault in any way. I'm sure your friends care about you and want to see you open up to them after all that has happened over the winter holidays. Please, continue."

Harry took another sip of tea. "I did feel better after she talked to me, and then I—well, I—" Harry blushed, as did Ginny. "I kissed her."

Professor McGonagall rolled her eyes."Don't tell me that you thought her hair was on fire when you got that close to it. Her hair is naturally that red. I would have thought you would know that with all the time you spend with her brother."

Harry blushed even further. "No, it's not that at all. I know her hair's that red. When I was kissing her I felt this warmth rise in my throat—"

"Was it happiness, Mr. Potter?"

"No, it wasn't natural. I moved away from her in time to catch her hair on fire."

"I highly doubt that a kiss would light Miss Weasley's hair on fire."

"No, I was breathing fire, Professor. I was breathing fire, and it caught her hair. I grabbed my wand and cast Aguamenti on her; that's why she's so wet."

McGonagall thought for a moment. "Miss Weasley, please come here." Ginny stood up and walked around the desk. Minerva picked up Ginny's hair and inspected it. "The ends on the hair right here are burnt. Do you know what might have caused you to breathe fire, Mr. Potter?"

Harry shook his head. "No, but we kissed again after that, and my throat started to feel warm like it had the time before. I turned my head away from her, and I started to breathe fire again. There are holes through the curtains on my bed now from it. If you need any more proof, my entire bed is drenched since I cast Aguamenti on it again."

"You can return to your chair, Ginevra. I know some spells that will fix your hair; I'll help you after we've figured this out. Harry, stand up." Ginny sat down as Harry stood up. McGonagall picked up her wand and flicked it at him, casting some basic scans on him. "Well, I can't find anything that would be causing this sort of reaction." She stood up. "Give me just a moment, will you? I'm going to contact Madam Pomfrey in the Infirmary. Stay here." Professor McGonagall grabbed a pinch of floo powder, threw it into the fireplace, shouted "The Infirmary!", and put her head in the fire. She opened her eyes to see Madam Pomfrey's office. "Poppy! Poppy, are you in there?"

Madam Pomfrey came bustling in the doorway, closing the door behind her. "I'm right here, Minerva. What do you want?"

"I have a student in the headmaster's office. He claims he's been breathing fire. From what I can tell, he almost burned Ginny Weasley's face. I've run the scans on him, and I can't find anything wrong. Do you have any idea what could be happening?"

Poppy thought for a moment. "No, I've never heard of such a thing. Who is it?"

"Harry Potter."

Poppy shook her head and closed her eyes. "I suggest you contact Severus. It might be a side-effect from that potion we gave him at the end of last year. That's the only explanation I can think of."

"I was afraid of that. Thank you, Poppy." Professor McGonagall pulled her head out of the fireplace, stood up, and grabbed another pinch of floo powder. She turned to the two Gryffindors in the headmaster's office. "Madam Pomfrey doesn't know what's wrong, but I know of someone else who could probably help us. I suggest both of you get ready for travel while I check to see if he's in his rooms." She tossed the floo powder into the fireplace, shouted "Severus Snape's quarters!", and stuck her head in the flames once more. "Severus! Severus, are you in here?"

Professor Snape entered the room from the doorway to his potions lab. "What do you want, Minerva? I'm brewing potions for the Infirmary."

"They can wait; I've got two students in the headmaster's office, and one of them was breathing fire. Poppy suggested we talk to you about it. I'm bringing them to your rooms through the floo system. We'll be through in a minute." She pulled her head out of the fire before he could respond and turned to her students. "Well, grab a pinch of floo powder and head to Professor Snape's quarters. He's expecting us; I'll be right behind you."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other, swallowing nervously before they headed to the fireplace and traveled to their Potions professor's rooms.