Harry watched with a satisfied grin on his face as Angelina attempted to control her laughter.
She'd been at it for several minutes now, as had Ron, and even Ginny despite herself. The youngest Weasley was a bit more restrained than the other two, attempting to mask hers under a cough at Hermione's disapproving looks. But it was to see Angelina's beautiful face light up with amusement that Harry had decided on his impromptu imitation of Umbridge during their brainstorming session in the common room that Sunday. They had spent most of the morning comprising a list of candidates to fill the empty team spots. Among the kids that would try out for Angelina at Tuesday's drill would be Ginny. The process had been a bit arduous, if not entirely stressful.
It had just popped into his head—how ridiculous this was, and how if one really thought about it, Umbridge was pretty comical with her hideous outfits and that little bow in her hair. Everyone was being quiet and seemed off in their own worlds; even Hermione, who had stopped reading her Ancient Runes textbook and looked off out the window. They were all worried about Quidditch, and simultaneously excited about the meeting they were to have that night. Hermione and Ron had finished spreading the word, with help from Angelina, Ginny, and the twins. Now all they could do was wait until it was time. Harry admitted to himself that he was rather nervous about it. It was to relieve these nerves, and bring up the mood in the room, that he'd decided to do the impression.
"Oh, do it again, Harry!" Angelina urged, ignoring Hermione's frown. "What else did she say?"
Harry cleared his throat and adopted a look of sticky-sweet evil. "Violence begets violence!" Ron cackled girlishly, his freckled face turning pink with laughter as Harry shook a disapproving finger in Hermione's face. "These rotten apples must be removed from the bunch!" He said in a high-pitched Umbridge-meets-Grubbly-Plank voice. Hermione swatted at Harry's finger and attempted to look stern, failing miserably when Harry simpered: "There'll be no need to talk! Temper, temper, Miss Granger! Ten points from Gryffindor for being smarter than me!"
Soon Harry had the lot of them giggling madly, and he joined in. They were drawing curious looks from some of the other Gryffindors lounging around. When the noise died down and they'd all caught their breath again, Ron wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and sighed happily.
"Ah. Bloody brilliant, that was, Harry."
"Thanks." Harry settled down in his chair again, glancing at Angelina, who was watching him with a content smile on her face. He was glad to see it—making her feel better was important to him today. He knew she really had a lot on her plate, thanks to him. Ron asked what everyone reckoned Umbridge would do if she ever caught them doing the impression.
"Probably draw up another idiotic decree…" Ginny offered, rolling her eyes.
"Educational Decree number one-hundred and one!" Harry squeaked, sounding a bit like Dobby the house elf that time. "No student shall ever make fun of the all-powerful Delores Umbridge or else!"
"Well you'd better stuff it before she comes in here," Hermione said seriously.
Harry shrugged but did as he was told. They all resumed their studying; Harry giving Snape's essay one last try. He read the same sentence over and over again, not really taking any of it in. He rather enjoyed having the book, though, because it afforded him secret glances at Angelina without being obvious. He had not forgotten their little 'study session' the night before. It had kept him up half the night, to be honest. After he'd told Ron about his scar hurting in the shower, the lanky Weasley had been concerned and had told him that he should go straight to Dumbledore, but soon could not resist asking what he had interrupted when he'd come in to tell Harry about the Headmaster's return.
"Nothing…" Harry had replied, smiling to himself. Ron had called him a ruddy liar.
Harry tossed and turned as he had many other nights, thinking about Voldemort and his scar, and Dumbledore…and Sirius. But at the tip top of his mountain of worry was a cheery, snowy peak—this new and rather unexpected development with Angelina Johnson. He had been surprised by himself more than once when it concerned her, but last night he'd hit the all time pinnacle of startling behavior on his part. Last year, Harry had found it damned difficult to gather the courage to even speak to Cho Chang, let alone ask her to the Yule Ball. And of course his experience with Angelina that night had elevated his confidence level, but he had chalked it up to being drunk off his arse on fire whiskey, nothing more. Discovering that Angelina liked him had forced him to examine some things about himself more closely. He was, in his opinion, just a sloppy fifth year with too many personal problems to be believed, but she liked him, didn't she?
Ah, girls... He liked them very much. He loved the softness of their skin; their pleasant smell. He liked the way they used their hands and faces when they talked. Angelina had a cute little thing she did with her lips that made his heart race when she was talking about something she loved, like Quidditch. She would bite her lower lip and run her tongue along it as if she were hungry to get out on the pitch and fly. She moved her hands gracefully, touching his arm, or resting her chin in her palm as she spoke. He liked to watch her when she was listening to him talk, too. Her eyes held so much in them…interest and heart-felt sympathy and stubborn passion and…Harry sighed a little too loudly, causing several people to glance up at him. He cleared his throat and buried his face in his book again.
Sure, he was still a little awkward, especially around Angelina—he didn't know what he was going to say from one moment to the next, and it was funny because only last year that had been Cho. But, underneath that awkwardness, he was beginning to pay more attention to things he'd missed before for some reason. It seemed his senses and thoughts had changed concerning the lot of them, girls, and it was quite thrilling when it wasn't a little odd. For instance, he found that Ginny was coming on to be quite the attractive girl. Her hair, in particular, was beautiful. He'd been around the Weasley's long enough; red hair was nothing new to him by now, but hers shone with a kind of effervescence that the others' simply didn't have. And Cho was still beautiful, of course. He hadn't seen her today, or the day before, but he remembered fondly how great she always looked.
Harry was paying more attention to himself as well. Certain parts more than others…
Maybe this was a normal thing for any fifteen-year-old boy but it certainly hadn't been for him until now. It wasn't having these thoughts that concerned him—it was the thing that happened to him when he had them. Like when Angelina touched his scar, and ran her slender fingers through his hair. And when he pulled her closer to him and felt her soft flesh…those two supple, ample breasts pressing against him…
Harry adjusted himself in his seat, hoping that his school things were arranged properly in his lap.
He chanced another look in her direction. She was deep in thought, her hand poised over her parchment. The quill was slipping from her grip slightly, and Harry got the funny feeling she was on the same thought-pattern as him. He smiled faintly.
Kissing…
That was something he hadn't done a lot of—well, any of—until this point. It was bloody great. Harry mused that whoever thought up kissing was brilliant. The first couple of times Harry had been too stunned to really feel anything other than disbelief. When she kissed him in the common room before dinner the third time, he woke up to the possibility that if he played his cards right he might get to do this with her all the time. It was so nice. Almost like flying; he felt free and above it all when her lips where on his. Perhaps it had been the immense relief he felt that she was even still talking to him last night that made him react to her the way he did. Finding her in his room when he returned from the showers had been just what he needed, and he hadn't even realized it until the moment he saw her. Despite the fact that he was still reeling from that horrible pain in his scar, Harry was so glad to see her that he almost forgot he was half-naked.
He could feel her eyes on him the whole time…yeah he knew with certainty that he wanted to kiss her when she touched him. It had been the perfect thing; almost erasing all that muck in his head as he attempted to hold onto the feeling for as long as possible. He held on all right—to her. Harry covered up the huge grin now spreading across his face with his book as he let his eyes trace the lines of her lean body folded leisurely on the couch.
"That's it," Ginny sighed and stood up, stretching. "I'm going for a walk. I can't sit indoors all day."
"That's a good idea." Hermione stood up, too. "Mind you, this book is fascinating, but I think it might be time for a little break from it."
She reached over and hit Ron across the back of his head—he'd been dosing off, pretending to read one of the books Professor Bins had assigned them. When he jerked awake he rubbed the back of his head and squinted up at her with annoyance.
"Whaddaya want?"
"Fancy a walk?"
"Sure." Ron yawned and flipped the book closed. He stretched and stood up. "Coming Harry?"
Harry didn't think it would be a good idea to stand just then. He nodded, distracted by Angelina, who was crossing out names on her parchment. "Uh….yeah, be with you in a bit." He lifted his essay for them to see. "Just about done."
"All right, meet us by the lake, will you?" Hermione patted him on the shoulder, seemingly proud that he was choosing to finish his homework before joining them.
"Go on."
The three students left and there was now only Harry and Angelina sitting opposite each other in the quiet common room. Other students who'd been studying around them earlier were now walking towards the portrait hole or heading up to their rooms, having either finished what they had been working on or choosing to take a break like Ginny had. There was one lone third year, snoozing in an oversized chair by a window.
Harry sat still for a moment, watching the third year, before deciding that the kid was definitely asleep. Lazy Sunday afternoons were one of the things that he loved about being at Hogwarts. Back on Privet Drive, his Aunt Petunia would have him doing tedious chores all day to keep him out of his uncle Vernon's hair. Harry watched a beam of sunlight arch its way through the window and land on Angelina's face. She squinted away from the light and shifted in her seat, still hovering over the parchment she held with the list of candidates.
"How's it coming along?" he asked, startling her out of her thoughts.
"Oh, um…" she sighed distractedly. "All right I guess. I just wanted to narrow it down a bit before Tuesday."
"It's good though, right? That so many people signed up to try out?"
"Yeah I suppose." She furrowed her brow sighed. "Though most of them are first years that've never even ridden on a broomstick before…"
"Oh." Harry scratched his head with an apologetic frown. He stood up finally and walked across to her, taking a seat next to her on the chaise lounge. "I'll bet someone good turns up. You might even find some better players than we were…"
She scoffed at his weak attempt to humor her. "I'm done for. Just say it."
"No you're not. Just have the tryouts and then practice as much as you can before next Saturday's match. You'll be fine."
"What about the…you know…" she glanced around to make sure they wouldn't be overheard, "…our meetings?"
"We'll make it work, don't worry."
She bit her lip skeptically at his optimism, but nodded. Harry had an overwhelming urge to touch her just then, and he did, reaching out to dance his fingers off a lock of her hair. It was shining brightly in that stubborn shard of light coming in from the window. Angelina watched his hand travel uncertainly down to rest on her knee. It was weird—he didn't feel quite confident enough to be doing this, but at the same time he couldn't help it.
"Harry-?"
"You wanna go for a walk with me?" he cut her off, his heart pounding annoyingly through his shirt and jumper. "It's getting a bit nippy, but the sun is shinning."
She smiled at him. "Sure."
"I've been meaning to ask you…" Harry began as they made their way down the last set of stairs that led to the entrance hall, where the great doors had been thrown open. Sunlight was winking at them from just above the doors' threshold, though there was a slight wind that made some kids wear light jumpers or jackets. Harry shoved his hands in his pockets, momentarily stuck for how to phrase his question without being too forward or…hasty? He cast a sidelong gaze at her as she zipped up her royal blue hoody, appreciating the contrast of the dramatic color with her skin.
"Ask me what?" she prodded when he still hadn't finished his thought after they stepped out into the sun.
Harry breathed in. He'd been thinking about it all last night and all that morning. "Well, now that I've been sacked from ever playing Quidditch again," his voice took on a bitter edge when he said those words, "I was wondering if you think it really matters if we…er...you know…"
"Hold hands? Kiss in public?" she finished for him. He blushed furiously and nodded, planting his gaze on the path ahead of them. It was Angelina's turn to be silent for a while. They walked on, following the path that led them to the lake, where he could just make out Ginny, Ron, and Hermione throwing stones across the water. The surface rippled several times, and then finally a giant tentacle emerged, catching Ron's stone and swinging it back at him. Harry was beginning to think that maybe she didn't want to talk about it; after all she had so many other things on her mind, and so did he for that matter. But he felt her warm hand slip softly into his and their fingers entwined. "I don't see what we've got to hide. It's not a crime to like someone…"
Harry smiled, but thought that maybe it was. He didn't like to imagine what kind of things Malfoy and his gang would torment her with once they found out. She gave his hand a soft squeeze. Another question manifested in his mind, and he hesitated a bit before asking it.
"So does this mean that we're…?"
Angelina stopped walking and turned to face him, her hand still in his. They were standing under a familiar-looking tree. Harry remembered sitting under this tree by himself last year, fuming over his period of not talking to Ron before the first task of the tournament. They were partially hidden in shade from the others. She stared at him for an awfully long time, and he thought perhaps he had asked too many questions; pushed the matter a little too far. But then she reached up with her other hand and took hold of his collar, forcing him to step closer to her. She was taller than him, but only just, and looking into her eyes he found no traces of annoyance or hesitation on her part.
She kissed him. This one was different from the others only because he truly felt that he had a right to kiss her; that she was sort of reserving that right for him. It was the answer to his question. Angelina, with the simple gesture of capturing his lips with hers and allowing him to assert himself in any way he pleased, had told him that she wanted to be his girlfriend. The full question needn't have escaped him. Harry chose to cup her face with his hands, almost smiling against her lips at how warm and soft her skin was. He felt a flurry of excitement stir in him when she gripped his shirt collar tighter after he did this.
When they released each other they smiled like idiots for a moment before she suggested that they join the others.
"Hey," Ron nudged Hermione in the arm and nodded in the direction that Harry and Angelina were approaching them from, hand in hand. "Would you look at that?"
"What?" Hermione pretended that she saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Ron glanced at Ginny but shrugged, turning to pull up a handful thick grass from the ground. Harry and Angelina stopped walking when they reached the other three, still holding hands. Harry wore a happy but acutely aware expression on his face. Angelina simply reached up to shield her eyes from the sun, squinting out across the lake.
"I think this'll be the last sunny day we have for a while, mates," she said to them. "Pity. Gloom is following me everywhere."
"Not everywhere…" Harry couldn't help saying. He rubbed his thumb over hers, ignoring Ron's gape and Hermione's pleased-as-punch expression. Ginny seemed not to really notice; she was crouched at the bank of the water, swishing a twig around in her reflection.
"So, Harry," Hermione spoke, adopting a serious attitude. "I was thinking about some things we could do about making sure we don't get caught."
"Oh yeah?" Harry released Angelina's hand long enough to sit down. They all followed suit. Angelina sat with her elbow on Harry's knee, and Ginny came up from the edge of the water and sat with them, smiling as Hermione started to explain some of things she'd come up with. They all listened, and Harry was especially impressed at her idea for handing out fake Galleons to everybody that were magicked so that they were all connected. They sat and talked for a long time; until the sun was slowly slipping down behind the net of trees that made up the Forbidden Forest.
Angelina shivered slightly and sat up straight, checking her watch. "Wow, it's almost time for dinner."
They all looked at each other excitedly. None of them were particularly famished, but they were all on pins and needles waiting for the first meeting of their secret defense class. And Harry was going to teach it. Suddenly that knowledge made him extremely uneasy. They began their walk back up to the castle and the sun went down when they were about half-way across the grounds. The only real light was coming from the warm glow through the many windows ahead of them. Angelina leaned in and gave Harry's arm a squeeze.
"Nervous?" He nodded, not looking at her. "Don't be."
"Yeah, don't worry mate," Ron chimed in, turning from his position ahead of them to offer Harry a reassuring smile. "Fred and George said they'd rather learn Defense Against the Dark Arts from you than anybody."
"Right," Ginny added. "And if you've made those two actually want to learn something, you're doing great already!"
Harry spared a hoarse laugh.
What they said felt great, but in truth it was actually Angelina's presence at his side that made him feel more confident. Ron and Ginny went on verbally abusing the twins as they entered, and Harry chuckled along with Angelina and Hermione.
Just before they entered the Great Hall, the two of them exchanged glances that told each other they weren't quite ready to show themselves off in front of the whole school. They had only just agreed that they were dating, after all. Harry knew that Angelina really liked him, but he didn't think either of them needed to hear Malfoy's mouth just then.
"Maybe after you win the match?" he whispered, leaning very close to her as they slowed their steps. She returned his warm smile, but rolled her eyes at the prospect of winning without her best players. Their fingers began to slip apart as he promised: "I'll give you a victory kiss."
"Okay…"
Reluctantly they pulled away from each other and went to join their respective groups of friends at the Gryffindor table.
Ron didn't even wait for Harry to sit down properly before he started in on his messy-haired friend. "Blimey, Harry, you work fast!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry frowned at Ron's mischievous grin and reached for the pumpkin juice.
"Oh, nothing…just that yesterday you had her up in our room and today you're holding hands all cozy-like. She must really like ya, that's all. Wish she fancied me enough to stop yelling at me so much. She's like my mum sometimes…"
Hermione shook her head at Ron with a mixture of irritation and sympathy.
"I'll thank you not to say stuff like that too loudly, Ron," Harry said, glancing warily around them. "We haven't exactly told anyone besides you guys."
"That's smart," Ginny said unexpectedly. She bit hungrily into a turkey leg and eyed him thoughtfully while she chewed. He raised an eyebrow at her, waiting until she swallowed. "Malfoy is just itching to find something else to harp about to Umbridge, I'll bet."
"Yeah, but do you think it matters?" he asked. "I've been banned from playing…technically Angelina isn't my captain anymore. Umbridge can't possibly do anything to her for dating me." Harry felt a little strange using the words "Angelina", "dating" and "me" in the same sentence. On top of that, talking to Ginny about it didn't seem quite right. He couldn't decide if it was because for so long she had just been Ron's little sister to him and now he counted her as one of his good friends, or if it were the fact that she used to have a crush on him. Either way, what she had said bothered him.
"That's true…but I wouldn't put it past old toad-face to find a loophole and suspend Angelina just like she did you and my brothers."
"That's complete rubbish!" Ron fumed through a mouthful of cranberry sauce and turkey breast. "Is nothing sacred to that woman?"
Harry didn't say anything. He stared at his plate, thinking hard. He was relieved that he and Angelina had decided not to enter the Great Hall holding hands. Something suddenly occurred to him and he looked up at the staff table.
Professor Dumbledore was sitting in his usual seat in the center of the table, having a quiet conversation with Professor McGonagall. As if fully aware that Harry was looking at him, the Headmaster turned from Minerva long enough to give the boy a slight nod and a kind smile, his eyes twinkling as ever beneath his half-moon spectacles. It was odd—Dumbledore was absent a lot lately, but whenever he came back it was always as if he'd never left. Did he remember keeping Harry out of the loop that whole summer? His eyes twinkling…it seemed as though he did not. The old man was odd indeed. Harry made up his mind to find the time to go and pay him a visit soon. He figured it was about time to get some answers, starting with the possible meanings behind those dreams he'd been having. Licking his lips hungrily, Harry dove into his dinner.