A/N: I apologize for not getting this up faster, but I've been working on a series of one-shots that have turned into very long stories in their own right. I should be posting this in conjunction with a new chapter for Harry Potter and the Lord of Time as well. As always, I do not own any of this except maybe the plot; no, I don't even own the chapter titles.
As Harry slowly climbed the steps towards his dorm he could already hear shouting and raised voices coming from the closed door. He passed a few boys coming down the stairs that stared either at him or at the door and then quickly slid around him to get down the stairs rather quickly. Climbing up the last few steps he placed a hand on the door knob and took a deep breath; turning the handle and pushing it open intensified the shouting that was already going on.
"…sensitive git, sometimes Ron." Dean was standing near his trunk throwing some of his clothes back into it before kicking the lid closed. "Honestly, he's been rooming with us for five years now and suddenly you decide this now?"
Ron's bed had been positioned directly across from Dean's for the last several years, directly next to Harry's, but now he looked like he was trying to move his things from the bed across the room to the bed next to Dean. This was encumbered by Seamus whom was already lying on it and shaking his head. Looking at the head of the room where the single bed rested with Neville reading a book on it, Ron huffed and fell back on his trunk, sitting now in the middle of the room.
"I refuse to stay in the same room as a dangerous Dark Lord in training. Who knows what kind of evil things he could get up to at night with the four of us?"
"Yes, I hear that the blood of a virgin can be used in quite a few dark rituals." Seamus smirked as he called out from his bed. Ron jumped up red faced and pointed his wand at the Irishman.
Thinking quickly to diffuse some of the situation, Harry pushed the door open hard so that it slammed backward against the stone wall and making a loud bang. This of course got the attention of his roommates as he smiled and strolled into the room over towards his trunk which was positioned at the foot of his bed. He ignored the glare from Ron and the smirk from Dean and Seamus as he started to unpack his things, humming a light tune as he moved around.
Ron kept his wand trained on Harry the entire time he was moving; not wavering in the slightest, but when he started to put things away is when he found his voice again. "Don't bother unpacking, Potter, you're not going to be staying in here for very long, you know."
Dean and Seamus glared at Ron while Neville merely rolled his eyes behind his book. Harry straightened up from putting his clothes in the small dresser near the bed and smoothed out the wrinkles on his robe. "That sounds almost like a Malfoy thing to say, Ron."
The other boys gasped and looked back to Ron was his wand wavered a little, looking like a small ball of light was forming on the end of it. "I'm nothing like Malfoy and you know that, you little traitor. You're not welcome here anymore."
Stepping forward Harry left his chest open to attack as he stared into the eyes of his one time friend. "Ron, I know that you really don't want to do this." The wand tip started to glow a little more and Harry cocked his head to the side. "Ok, maybe you really do, but if you do then you could get expelled, and who is going to protect Ginny then?"
The redhead's concentration wavered at the mention of his sister, but the wand was still resolutely pointed at Harry's chest. "What about my sister? What are you going to do to her, you monster?"
"I'm not going to do anything." Harry waved his hands a little. "I heard her say that she was meeting someone tomorrow night for a date, she seemed rather excited about it, something about intimacy." This got all the boys interested, and Neville even set his book aside to watch the interplay.
"You're lying, trying to trick me." Ron stuttered as he changed stance so that he wasn't looking at Harry's chest anymore and instead directly at his eyes.
"Ask one of her friends, or Hermione, she was talking about it while on the way to the prefect meeting. She said that she and this new guy were going to try a few…things on their date, or at least that's what she expected to happen."
"If she has a date already then why did she want me to…" Ron broke off suddenly and moved his wand quickly back up to rest just under Harry's chin. The black haired teen had moved forward slightly, and even if he had stopped, Ron's words had caught the other's attention.
"To do what, Ron?" Dean spoke up for the first time from his bed, sitting up expectantly. Ron's eyes flickered to him and then back to Harry, but he didn't say anything.
"You can protect your sister, Ron. She's getting interested in boys now and soon there will be snogging, and with your brothers all gone, who is going to look after her?" Harry opened his arms and shrugged. "I suppose if you asked nicely I could do it for you."
"NO!" Ron shouted and then lowered his wand, still glaring at Harry as he stalked back towards his bed. "I'm going to make sure that Ginny is protected, from you and this other guy." Sitting down on the bed he grabbed the hangings and pulled them closed, his shadowy form waving his wand over them as he lay back down.
Shrugging his shoulders, Harry went around the side of the bed and started to put his things away, moving slowly and deliberately around the trunk and pulling things from it. The smashed remains of the mirror were still resting in the bottom as he shifted a few things around and gently pushed them to the side. As he moved he continued to hum a little and only stopped at a small hesitant voice coming from the other side of the room.
"Harry, were you…..I mean….does Ginny really have a date tomorrow?" Neville sat up in his bed, sitting on the edge of it staring down at his shoes. Dean and Seamus had already changed and pulled their hangings closed the same as Ron had moments before.
Sighing, Harry came to sit down beside the wayward Gryffindor and looked at him a little. "Yeah, I'm sorry, Nev."
"You weren't just saying that to get Ron all riled up, were you?" Neville's voice as small hopeful and a little hesitant as he continued to stare at the floor; finding his shoes more interesting at the moment.
"I know that you've liked her in the past, Nev, but there are better girls out there for you. Plenty here in Gryffindor and certainly there are more out there in the other houses. Although I'm sure your Gran would have a heart attack if you started dating a Slytherin." Both boys laughed a little nervously before Neville coughed and groaned a little.
"I just can't imagine many people would even want to be with me given the other guys in the school. I mean….what have I really got going for me?" Neville groaned and lay back on his bed staring up at the top of his bed. "Compared to you and the others I don't really match up much, do I?"
Harry shook his head a little and sighed gently. "Listen to me, you're a wonderful guy, you really are, you just need to have a little more confidence in yourself. I'm not suggesting that you go strutting around the school like Ron or Malfoy." Both boys chuckled a little at that, shooting a glance at the redhead's bed, but he was already snoring loudly. "Plus, have you seen some of the guys in Slytherin, besides pretty boy Malfoy there's not much competition there."
Neville laughed a little and nodded somewhat. "I have had my eye on a Hufflepuff in our year, but I can't ever get up the courage to ask her out. And I do have to admit that some of the girls in Slytherin are rather attractive." His eyes flickered around the room as if he expected someone to come out and start shouting at him.
"I might be able to help you with that, and I will ask nothing in return." Harry smiled a little as he patted the boy's shoulder again and moved over towards his own bed. "Remember, Nev, bravery is about doing what is right, not what is easy."
Neville sat up a little at that and his face scrunched up in thought. "I've heard that before, but I can't really place it. Where did you hear it?"
Harry smiled and shrugged as he finished changing into his bed clothes before jumping under the sheets. "Some old guy, really wise."
Neville shrugged and slipped down into his own bed, pulling the hangings closed as he settled down. Harry for his part stared up at the top of his bed for a time before rolling over and extinguishing the last light in the room. In the pitch darkness he thought about what the rest of the year would be like with two less friends, but smiled as he thought of the many more that he had already made. With that thought in his head he slowly slipped into sleep and unconsciousness.
XoXo
Voldemort paced back and forth on the raised black dais of the throne room that he had occupied for most of the time since his resurrection. The room around the throne was undecorated and a perfect circle of stone with torches set into the wall by sconces at periodic intervals. As his pacing brought him back towards the left side of the dais there was a knock on the heavy wooden doors that were set into the curved wall just before the throne. Without even turning around he waved his wand at the doors and they slammed open to admit four figures clad in black.
The two figures on the outside were standing upright and strode purposefully into the room while the two in the middle cowered and quivered as they took each step. Each, upon reaching the base of the dais bent low into a kneel and dropped their heads towards the ground. It was hard to tell given the masks of bone white what each of the men were thinking about, but they waited patiently for their lord to give them permission to rise. After a full five minutes, however, Voldemort had not taken notice of them as he continued his pacing.
Circling about the dais he came back towards the front and noticed the men now prostrating themselves on the floor. "Rise, and speak, why have you disturbed my thoughts?" He slowly slid down to sit on the marble throne as he kept his wand twirling between his fingers.
"Master, these worms have returned empty handed once more on the important mission that you have given them the honor of doing for you." The silky voice came from the man on the left pointing at the two that were still kneeling on the floor with their heads bowed low.
"Insufferable scum." The black wand sliced out from his hand and shot a yellow curse at the man on the right whom fell down screaming and starting to froth at the mouth. After a few seconds he released the spell and sat back down on the throne. "Now tell me why you have not come here bearing what I have instructed you to retrieve, and be quick about it."
"Master, the artifact was not where we were told it was." He flinched expecting to be cursed, but when it did not come he continued to speak. "The guardian spells were in place and were much more difficult than we had anticipated."
"Fools!" Thrusting forward from the throne, Voldemort seemed to fly down to the two men before forcing one of them to stand, the one that had not been speaking. Staring into the man's eyes for a moment he let the man crumple to the ground. "You're lucky that you saw much of the enchantments."
"Master, I will head the team this time to extract the artifact for you." The man on his other side had stepped forward with his wand over his heart and his head bowed. Voldemort considered the man while he strides up towards the throne and sat back down.
"You seem quite eager to make up for your wife's failures, Rudolphus." The man quivered slightly under the malicious smile that he received, but then Voldemort waved at him. "Very well, you will lead a new team to search the coordinates that we were given. Malfoy, have your wi…" He slammed his fist into the stone throne, pieces of it coming off where his hand hit. "Find us new translators, someone that can write and read as well, I have a feeling that this will not go easily."
The two men before him bowed low and then dragged the other two out of the room. One of the men had already gone catatonic from the curses being thrown around while the other muttered incoherently about random things from last night's Quidditch scores to a large beast that they had encountered. Voldemort paid neither of them any mind as he resumed his pacing back and forth along the dais around the marble throne. The wand made another appearance in his hands as he twirled it around and looked at it blankly for a moment before going back to his pacing.
A loud knock came once more at the massive wooden doors and at a wave of the wand the doors banged open to admit a regal looking woman. She was old displaying a sheet of white hair that reached down to her shoulders with bags and wrinkles under her eyes. Her brown orbs stared directly at the menacing pacing creature before her before moving towards the throne. Unlike the others she kept her head up as she walked and was clothed in a flowing red robe with gold piping along the collar and down one of the sides. An insignia was on the left breast of the robe depicting a phoenix in flight surrounded by blue flames.
As she neared the throne she bowed low, keeping her eyes level with the throne and not looking at the man pacing. "My Lord, you sent for me."
Voldemort stopped his pacing to come around and stand next to the throne, a skeletal hand stroking the top of it as he stared at the woman. "Yes, you lied to me. You told me of the protections around the artifact and yet my men were unable to retrieve it."
"Your men are incompetent. I gave you all the information that I and the others possess." She kept her tone respectful, but her voice was still harsh and contained a slight bite to it.
"Do they suspect you?" He came down towards her and stood directly above her on the final step of the dais, staring into her eyes.
"No, my Lord. The others are well set in their ways and do not know of your plans, nor my involvement. I have kept the others busy with fruitless quests to divert their attention."
"Are there any incursions to the artifact from anyone else?"
"There have been no inquiries as to it since your request of me, my Lord." She bowed low, keeping her eyes lowered and the back of her neck exposed.
"Very good, you will keep up your good work and report back to me if anyone begins asking too many unnecessary questions."
"Pardon, my Lord, but I can handle them myself. You know of my own power and what I yield at my command." She straightened up and stared the man in the eyes, making both of them visible shudder from the brief contact.
Voldemort moved back up the dais to sit on the throne, putting his wand across his lap a little with his right hand touching the handle. "I do not doubt your abilities, but inquisitions must be dealt with harshly. Go now and report back when you have something new."
At a wave of his hand the woman bowed once more and then turned and left back through the old wooden doors, having them slam shut behind her. The room was once again bathed in the soft flickering glow of the torches along the walls and the evil smile on Lord Voldemort's face. His wand twirled around his fingers as he stared at the doors where the woman had just vanished from.
"Soon, very soon and I will have what I truly deserve."
XoXo
Harry woke up with a start the next morning to a loud banging noise. Sitting up quickly he pulled the curtains away from his bed and his wand was in his hand before he even looked out. Even without his glasses he could see dark shapes moving around the room already, four to be sure and was concerned that one of them was nearby. With his wand in his right hand he reached out with his left and slipped on his glasses. In an instant the world came into focus and he lowered the wand.
His roommates were all up and moving around, somewhat eager to start the new term and the new day, most of them at any rate. Ron was kicking at his trunk as he dug through it for something or other while being ignored by the other boys in the room. Harry let out a sigh of relief as he slipped out of his bed and went to the bathrooms to take care of his morning routine.
After showering and brushing his teeth he dressed in his Hogwarts robes and headed downstairs towards the common room. Most everyone was starting to get up now anyway and the room was full of various years mulling about talking to one another. As he waded through the crowd to get to the portrait door he could hear snippets of conversations here and there, most were simple introductions of old friends or stories about their summer vacation. A few made him pause and stored information away for future use, but he continued on.
"….tter fought him, that's what I heard. Bet he will lead a charge s.."
"….pelled for what he's brought on this house, all the points that he's lost us over the yea…"
"…ark Lord, you just wait and see, we've all seen what he can do."
Brushing away the comments he headed down the hallways and towards the Great Hall, not really looking or caring where he was going. It was this lack of looking where he was going that forced him to collide with a blonde body and sent them both spiraling down towards the floor. He was able to twist his body enough so that he was the one that landed hard on his back with the girl landing on top of him. After a moment he smiled and put a hand on the small of the girl's back.
"Are you all right, Luna?" He asked as he raised his head from the floor a little to look at the lithe girl that was atop him. She smiled and nodded before sitting up, still straddling him slightly before pulling herself to her feet.
"It would seem the wrackspurts have not left you completely, Harry Potter." Harry smiled as she helped him up off the floor and he dusted them both off. The Entrance Hall was mostly empty at that point in the morning so any students would have been in their dorms and did not see the slightly embarrassing scene.
"Yes, I do seem to have a rather interesting infection here and there of them, don't I? Perhaps we should discuss them at length over a little breakfast?" Harry offered her his arm as she giggled and waved his other towards the Great Hall.
Luna giggled some and then curtseyed to him before linking her arm with his and starting to walk forward. "Why thank you good sire, shall be my pleasure."
He laughed a little and shook his head smiling as he started to walk towards the Ravenclaw table. "Actually, it's good that I ran into you." She looked up and gave a small smile. "No pun intended of course, but I had a question I needed to ask you."
He slid down into a seat across from her as she sat down and stared at him. "You know that you can ask me anything Harry."
He nodded and then looked around the nearly empty Great Hall before leaning forward across the table. "It has to do with a prank I want to pull." She raised her eyebrows and waved her hand for him to continue. "It has to do with Mi." Her eyes widened a bit as he slipped around the table and started to talk in low whispers near her ear.
XoXo
The Great Hall was starting to fill up with students and professors after a little while. It was going to be the first full day that the school was open and the first day of classes as well. No students really understood why the Headmaster had chosen to have classes start so soon once they had arrived, but it had been like that for years and no one questioned it. Within a few hours the entire Great Hall was filled with chattering students talking about their summer holidays and what the next year was going to hold. Over at the Gryffindor table the conversation was slightly different from those around them.
Harry had given a soft smile to Luna before hugging her and joining the Gryffindor table not saying anything just yet. Both teens had a wide smile on their faces as they sat down to breakfast and Harry couldn't keep the small laugh that he had spilling out every once in a while. Once the hall was a little more filled his friends slowly filed into the room, Hermione, Parvati, and Lavender joining him at the Gryffindor table while Padma went to join Luna.
"How was your first night having to deal with the redheaded git?" Parvati sat down across from him as he pushed some food around on his plate for a moment, still not drinking anything at the table.
"It was ok, he accused me of a number of things here and there, but I can't really say that I'm too surprised." He smiled a little as he looked around the hall. "I actually got a rather good idea from what Hermione told me last night."
"Me? What did I tell you that could possibly gain such a malicious grin?" Hermione slid into the seat next to him and started to spoon some eggs onto her plate. Her eyes caught Luna at the other table and blushed as she looked down at the table again.
Harry tried his hardest not to laugh as he saw the interaction, but moved his hand to gently rub her back. This action was of course seen by the pair of redheads that had just entered the hall, but Harry paid them no mind. "Remember what you told me about what you heard Ginny saying last night?"
Hermione dangled a fork from her mouth for a second staring at him before she nodded and swallowed before speaking. "Yes, but what kind of idea would you get out of her delusions of being able to snag you on the first day back."
Lavender sat back a little and surveyed the pair of traitors that had sat down near the Head Table. "I do find it rather odd that she would expect you to go out with her after everything that she and her family have done to you after all this time."
"Exactly what I was thinking last night, but then I remembered what happened at the feast." Harry spoke as he leaned forward and grasped the goblet sitting at his place and felt the slight vibration and warming around his ring finger of his right hand.
Hermione saw the small flash of metal that appeared and reached for his hand just as Cassie came in and sat down on Harry's left, giving a large yawn. Her hair was still the normal shade it had been the day before, but now it was messed up and her robes were rather crumpled. It looked as if she had slept in them the night before and she was rubbing at her eyes as she reached for a jug of pumpkin juice.
"Morning, all, what's Mi freaking about this morning?" She gave a large yawn as she spilled some of the pumpkin juice onto her plate, but she didn't do anything about it.
Shaking her head, Lavender made the excess juice vanish with her wand before stowing it away. "She just freaked out when Harry touched his goblet, she did that last night as well, but I think Harry was going to explain what is going on before you interrupted."
"Oooh….one of Harry's closely guarded secrets I hear, let's see then." Cassie rubbed her hands together as she looked down at Harry's right hand, but there was nothing there now. "Are you sure you saw right, Mi?"
Hermione groaned and rolled her eyes, rubbing her finger around where a ring would be located. "I can feel it's there, but I can't see it."
Harry laughed a little and snatched his hand away, looking around he put it on the table and a small band of silver materialized on his hand. The band was approximately a quarter of an inch in diameter with a black band that ran down the exact middle. At the moment the band was doing nothing, but when he moved it to touch his goblet the black band turned red and the enter ring started to heat up. The girls watched in rapt fascination as he moved his hand away and the ring returned to normal.
Cassie groaned and put her head in her hands, her elbows on the table. "Oh Merlin, the legends are all true, and you now have it. I can't believe this is happening, I have to tell mum."
Hermione shook her head to clear away the image of the ring before she turned to Cassie fully. "What's going on?"
"Don't you see, he has the ring that means…" she groaned and slammed her head into the table top for a moment. "Of course, how could I forget…"
"Harry, you want to explain why Cassie seems like someone killed her pet kneezle?" Lavender waved a fork around before slipping it into her mouth and chewing thoughtfully on her eggs.
"The ring is a Black family legend, no one knew if it was real." Cassie's small voice came out from the curtain of hair that was still on the table top. "It's said that my mother's great-grandfather created a ring that would protect him from his enemies. In those days there were a rather large number of assassinations and back-stabbing going on."
"Doesn't seem like much has changed." Parvati smiled as she popped a sausage link into her mouth.
Cassie rolled her eyes at the antics of the other girl, finally sitting back up to finish the story. "It is said that he imbued his ring with all sorts of properties from identifying potions and poisons in his food and drink to even creating a personal shield if he were ever attacked. Of course these were only rumors and legends and after a few years they grew even larger in scope. I think my mother told me once that there was a rumor that the ring was a pork-key to some exotic far away island that could be used as a base of operations."
Harry tapped his chin with his forefinger in thought. "I haven't tried out the whole port-key function, but I do know thus far that it has prevented me from being poisoned."
Parvati gasped as she stared at the goblet still sitting in front of Harry's place setting. "The feast last night, you didn't touch your goblet after we got in and even now you're not drinking."
Hermione leaned over to look at the juice within, but it looked normal enough, as she was sitting around she glanced quickly around the room and then slid easily back into her seat. "No one react, we're being watched by more than two pairs of eyes. I can see the Weasleys are very interested in what you're doing, as well as some seventh year Slytherin."
Harry moved his hand to grip Cassie's wrist, but kept talking in low tones. "The ring not only warns me about whether or not the thing is poisoned, but also what it is poisoned with."
Hermione gasped a little and put a hand to her mouth, whispering so low that almost the four of them couldn't hear. "Ginny, last night she said that you two were going to have a date tonight. She expected you to show up even after everything that's happened."
"I don't get it, what's going on? And why are you holding me down, Harry?" Cassie batted her eyes at Harry and laughed a little.
"Don't you get it?" Lavender leaned over the table towards the other girl. "Ginny was trying to dose Harry with a love potion; we all saw the color his ring turned."
Cassie growled and started to move, but Harry had gripped her wrist and pulled her back down into the seat. She struggled against him for a few moments, before collapsing down into the bench and then leaning against his side. His hand let go of her wrist, but moved up and made small circles on her back. Slowly her eyes closed and she was almost purring into his shoulder.
"How do you do that, Harry?" Cassie moaned as she tried to sit back up after a moment. "Ok, ok, I won't hex the bit-"
"Language." Hermione hissed as she leaned across Harry.
"We would all like to hex her from here to hell and back, but we can't." Lavender sighed as she put her utensils down. "If we did that they we're likely to end up in Azkaban just like her."
The girls all nodded, but Harry was surprisingly silent as he stared down at his goblet and his plate before a large grin slowly split his face. "Hermione, do you have some parchment and a quill that I can borrow."
While the bushy haired girl was digging around in her bag for the offered items Harry turned over towards Cassie, but she spoke before he could say anything. "I know that look, I've seen it before. What are you planning?"
"If Ginny wants a date for tonight then she's going to get one." Taking the parchment Harry held up his hand to forestall any arguments. "It just might not be with the man she's thinking of."
Lavender perked up and looked around the room a little. "If we do this right, Parvati and I could start a rumor and be confirmed with the little date tonight. Who are you going to use then?" The Indian girl sitting next to the blonde smiled and nodded enthusiastically.
"My original thought was to use Mi here." Harry waved the quill around and ignored the indignant look from his friend. "But I knew that it would only hurt us as well as a certain someone." He didn't have to look up to know that the girl's eyes flicked over to the Ravenclaw table briefly before looking back to her friend.
"You were going to drug me without my consent?" She hissed.
"Actually, I was going to ask you to pretend to be drugged, but I didn't want to be cruel." Folding up the parchment he copied it into a different handwriting and folded it up as well into the shape of a small bird.
"Excellent origami skills, kiddo." Cassie smiled, nudging him with her elbow.
"Thank you, and remember we're the same age now." Turning back to Lavender and Parvati across the table he addressed them more fully now. "Who's it going to be then? I had thought that the most damage would be done with a Slytherin, but I'm not all that sure."
"Well…." Lavender tapped her chin with a well manicured nail for a moment. "If you're going for shock value then I think you should go with either Goyle or Zambini."
Parvati nodded for a moment and then looked around the room quickly. "The most damage to her reputation would probably be if it wasn't a guy. If that was the case I would go with Parkinson."
Harry nodded and then smiled a little. "Ron got quite upset last night when I happened to mention that Ginny had a date tonight, perhaps we can kill two birds with one stone." He nodded a little and then turned to Cassie. "As the most senior member here, would you like to do the honors of the switching spell?"
The girls all giggled as the one in question stuck out her tongue and brandished her wand under the table. Sneakily she waved it in a complicated manner and before too long the liquid in the goblet drained out only to be replaced again with the same thing. Sliding her wand back up her sleeve Harry reached forward and touched the goblet, when no buzz or warning of warmth came from his ring he drank it slowly.
Hermione had positioned herself in such a way that she could keep an eye on the Weasleys from down the line of the table while Harry was drinking. She watched out of the corner of her eye as a wide smile spread across Ginny's face as she nudged Ron a little. The boy didn't seem to really care what was going on around him and moodily poked at his eggs and sausage as he glared at those around him. Hermione herself hid a small smile as she watched Harry smack his lips in delight before waving his own wand at the two parchment birds in front of him.
Parvati twisted around in her seat to watch one of the birds take flight and dive bomb through the various students towards the green and silver table at the far end of the hall. With so much going on many people didn't seem to notice it as it settled down in front of a dark haired girl sitting near the end. She was relatively alone and not speaking to anyone, but when she picked up the bird it slowly unfolded itself into a letter. The girl's cheeks turned a slight pink and a short giggle escaped her lips before she stood up and dashed out of the room heading towards the dungeons.
Lavender and Cassie watched the other bird as it took flight a few seconds after the first, but stayed low to the ground and flitted up the outside aisle behind the students towards the front of the table. As the bird got closer to its target it moved up slowly and settled down on the bench next to Ginny Weasley. She, like the Slytherin girl, took up the bird and read the accompanied note; unlike the stoic Slytherin she didn't hide the girlish squeal that came out. Her brother stared at her and noticed the note, but he couldn't read whom it was from before the girl snatched it away from him and hurried out of the Great Hall.
Just as Ginny was passing by their seat she gave a saucy wink to Harry and swayed her hips in what she might have thought was a sexy manner. It only further put off the appetites of those at the table, pushing their plates away and then laughing when the red head was out of sight. The girls all turned a slight pink as they continued to laugh, holding their sides with mirth.
"I'm almost sorry we can't be there to see what happens." Cassie got out between giggles and fits of laughter as she held onto the bench.
"Maybe we can…" Harry leaned back a little and put his arms behind his head. "Oh well, what's first for today?"
Hermione scanned down her schedule and groaned a little. The small slips of parchment had been given out at the beginning of breakfast to give the students ample time to get to their classrooms on time if they needed to go anywhere long distance in the castle. "Defense with that horrible woman once again."
Harry moved his hand to her shoulder and gently rubbed it. "Relax, it could be a lot of fun, you never know."