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SIYE Time:12:07 on 28th March 2024
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The Refiner's Fire
By Abraxan

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Category: Post-OotP, Buried Gems
Characters:All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Fluff, General
Warnings: Death, Sexual Situations, Violence
Story is Complete
Rating: R
Reviews: 618
Summary: In the summer before his sixth year at Hogwarts, Harry Potter learns to come to terms with the death of Sirius. As he heals and grows emotionally, he learns how to enjoy life again. But there's a war on, and Voldemort's primary objective is to kill Harry Potter, by any means necessary. As a result, Harry and his friends have a very adventurous sixth year at Hogwarts. Canon-based with some OC. HG, RHr, RT.
Hitcount: Story Total: 380703; Chapter Total: 16364







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DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author notes: Many thanks to Kelpie, my brilliant Brit-picker, and to Blakevich, Starfox, Pilar and Shawn for beta reading!

You can join the Yahoo! Group for this fic at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPRef inersFire



Chapter 31 - Gifts



The weather was warming, flowers budding, birds singing as spring covered Scotland’s craggy hills with greenery and wildflowers. The giant squid could be seen sunning his tentacles and gently accepting bits of bread from students. The Gryffindors last Quidditch game was coming up in just over a month, and Ginny was valiantly trying to get school brooms to do what she needed them to. She tried broom after broom, and all of them had problems. They’d stall if you climbed too steeply, lose control in dives, shudder if you tried to fly them at maximum speed, and wobble so horribly if the rider did an evasive rollover move that the rider was very nearly unseated every time. After trying several brooms during one practice, she slammed the latest offending broom on the ground and collapsed in tears of frustration. Harry sat beside her, his arm around her back, trying to console her.

“Ruddy damned Voldemort! I’m glad you hurt him! Destroying my beautiful new broom! And making me lose my wand so my parents had to buy me a new one. No way can they afford a broom AND a wand. DAMN that monster, anyway!” she raged.

“That’s my warrior princess,” Harry said with a warm smile in his voice, squeezing her shoulders comfortingly. “How many brooms are left to try?”

“Three,” she grumbled.

“Let’s have a go, then,” he said, hoping one of them would do the job for her, but knowing in his heart they wouldn’t. As he’d feared, the last three were no better than the first seventeen, and these were the best of all the school brooms. All were worn out, messed up, shuddering, stuttering, slow monstrosities only good for teaching first years how to fly, not for serious Quidditch.

That evening after dinner, Harry caught Remus as he left the Great Hall. “Remus? May I have a word?”

“Certainly! How was your day, Harry?” Remus said with a smile.

“Fine until we got to Quidditch practice. Ginny really needs a new broom. None of the school brooms are worth using for Quidditch. Do you think Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would mind if I bought her a broom? I suggested to Fred and George that they buy her the one she lost — I don’t want to ask them again. I think I can afford it, don’t you?”

“Yes, you can afford it,” Remus said with a smile. “You can afford to outfit the whole team if you want.”

“I don’t want to do anything Malfoy does,” Harry said, his nose wrinkled in distaste. “His dad did that second year, and bought Malfoy onto the team that way.”

“Well, I could point out that you’re already on the team,” Remus said with a chuckle, “but I suspect you’ve already noticed that.”

Harry grinned. “Yeah, I noticed. I’d like to ask the Weasleys’ permission to buy Ginny a good broom myself. Do you think they’d be offended?”

Remus considered Harry’s question carefully. He knew how the Weasleys had to struggle financially, and any broom at all was a fairly large expense. “They love you, Harry, and have tremendous respect for you. I think they’ll take it all right. I think you’re wise in wanting to ask them, though.”

“May I use your fireplace to contact them?”

“Go ahead. You know where the floo powder is. I have some work to do in the library, so you’ll have privacy for a while, as well. Let me know how it turns out, all right?” Remus said with a smile.

“I will. Thanks a lot!” With that, Harry took off at a run for Remus’s office. When he was there, had the door closed and Colloportused so he’d have privacy, he took a pinch of floo powder in his hand and held it hesitantly above the fire. He knew what to say. He thought it was the right thing to do. So why was his stomach so full of butterflies? Forcing the butterflies to at least fly in formation, he knelt on the hearth rug and tossed the powder into the fire. Green flames licked up and he stuck his head in the fire, calling “The Burrow” in a clear voice. He closed his eyes as the Floo Network made its dizzying connections. Soon he was looking into the Weasleys’ cosy kitchen. “Mr. Weasley? Mrs. Weasley?” he called.

“Who’s there?” Molly said as she bustled into the room, her hands full of knitting. “Oh, Harry! Is everything all right?”

“Yes, everything’s fine. I wondered if I could speak to you and Mr. Weasley for a moment?”

”Of course, dear!” She turned toward the archway to the living room. “Arthur? Harry’s in the fire.”

“Hello, Harry! Everything all right at school?” Arthur said, smiling as he came into the room. The Weasleys sat in kitchen chairs facing the fire, waiting to see what Harry wanted.

“Yes, thanks,” he replied quickly. Then his mouth got dry and his throat closed up. He crossed his fingers behind his back, hoping he could get through this without offending or upsetting them. “Erm. . .” Harry stopped and cleared his throat. “I need to talk to you about something. Um. . .well. . .it’s actually kind of my fault Ginny lost her broom. She’s tried every broom the school has, and they’re all horrible. I would like to buy her another broom, but I wanted to make sure it was all right with you first.”

“Oh, Harry, that’s very generous of you,” Molly began, “but it’s so expensive. And it isn’t your fault her broom is gone. You shouldn’t feel like that about it.”

“Molly’s right, lad,” Arthur agreed. “It isn’t your fault at all. And you do have your own expenses to take care of.”

“I can afford to buy her a broom, honestly. It’s important to me. She saved my life. If she hadn’t been on my Firebolt when I fell, I’d be dead now.” His earnest expression touched their hearts.

“But Harry, dear, you’ll spoil her if you keep giving her expensive gifts,” Molly warned. “She’s still a young girl. You’ll turn her head with such things.”

Harry blushed, a slow smile crossing his face. “I like spoiling her,” he said quietly. “And I want to protect her. Having her ride a good broom is one way to keep her safe.”

Arthur and Molly were quiet for a few moments. Harry looked from one to the other hopefully. “What did you have in mind?” Arthur asked.

“I thought about a Cleansweep 7 like she had, or the new Cleansweep 11, but honestly, she handles my Firebolt as if it was made for her. The look on her face when she’s flying it is . . . well, I know how that look feels. I feel the same way flying that broom. I’d really like to get her a Firebolt, if you don’t mind.”

Arthur looked at Harry’s eager, nervous, hopeful face, then at his wife’s. He understood Molly’s anxiety. Growing up in a family where second-hand things were the norm, having a wealthy boyfriend was liable to affect Ginny’s personality at some point, especially since he was so generous to her. He’d bought her beautiful jewellery with protective charms included, and now wanted to buy her an international quality racing broom? Arthur sighed, wanting to please Harry, yet wanting to make sure his daughter kept the values they’d tried to instil in her.

“Please, Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley. It would mean so much to me to be able to do this for her,” Harry said, his love for Ginny shining in his eyes.

Arthur looked at Molly and read her thoughts. They both loved Harry dearly. As grief-filled as the boy’s life was, Ginny was a bright spot of joy for him. His life was so hard in many ways. He deserved to be happy as much as possible. And Ginny was quite a sensible girl most of the time. Seeing Molly’s agreement, Arthur turned to Harry and smiled. “All right, lad. If that’s what you want to do, then you have our approval.”

Harry’s face lit up, his grin huge, his eyes dancing. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“Thank you for asking before you did it, Harry. That was very kind of you. This gift to her is very kind, as well,” Molly said, leaning forward and wishing she could hug him. “When will you give it to her?”

“I’ll send Hedwig out with the order first thing in the morning. Ginny should have it in a day or two,” Harry said excitedly. “Please don’t tell her! It will be a great surprise!”

“I wish I could see her face when she opens it,” Arthur said with a grin. “I know she’ll be delighted.”

“Thanks again. It’s great to see you both. Bye!” Harry said, his face still alight with pleasure.

“Goodbye, lad. Take care,” Arthur said fondly.

“Bye, Harry, dear. Give Ginny a hug from us, will you? And give Ron our love as well,” Molly said.

A few minutes later, Harry was bounding up the stairs to his dormitory. He got out a piece of parchment and wrote out the order for a Firebolt to be delivered to Miss Ginny Weasley, Gryffindor House, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as soon as possible. Dashing back out the portrait hole, he raced up to the Owlery.

“Hedwig! Come here, girl!” he called, holding out a hand with an owl treat in it for her. She landed on his arm and took her treat, then nuzzled his hair affectionately. “Take this to Quality Quidditch Supplies in Diagon Alley first thing in the morning, girl, all right?” Harry said, tying the parchment to her leg. She nuzzled his hair again and nibbled at his ear. He gave her another owl treat and she flew off to her perch to wait until morning to fly to London and deliver Harry’s message.

As he pranced up the stairs to the dorm again, he passed Ron. “What’s up, mate?” Ron asked. “You look awfully happy.”

“Life’s just good sometimes, you know?” Harry said with a laugh.

“OK, what’s happened to make you so giddy?” Ron said, chuckling as Harry hung one-armed from a beam over a dormitory doorway and swung back and forth like a monkey at play.

“Can you keep a secret?” Harry asked, his eyes dancing. “Oh, I know you can! C’mon, I have something to tell you!” He raced up the stairs to their room and bounced on his bed.

Ron laughed as he followed him. Whatever the secret was, it had to be something rich. Harry wasn’t often this silly anymore. He sat on a corner of Harry’s bed, bouncing along with the motion created by Harry’s excitement.

“So? Spill!” Ron urged, amused.

“I just talked to your mum and dad,” Harry said, his eyes sparkling merrily. “They sent their love to you, by the way.”

He talked with Mum and Dad? He didn’t ask for Ginny’s hand already, did he? She’s just fifteen! Ron thought, aghast. Something of his feeling must have shown on his face, because Harry dropped his gleeful expression and looked concerned.

“What?” Harry said.

Ron shook his head, forcing himself to calm down. “Nothing. You were going to tell me something. Go on,” he urged.

“I asked them for permission to buy Ginny a new broom,” Harry said with a grin.

Ron heaved a silent sigh of relief. “Oh! That’s great! What did they say?”

“They had to think about it a while. They said I was spoiling her, and that I’d turn her head, but I talked them into it. They agreed!”

“Cool! What are you getting her?” Ron said, thinking he’d like to try a Cleansweep 8 or 9 if Harry got her one of the newer models.

“A Firebolt like mine,” Harry said, a look of great satisfaction on his face.

Ron’s face fell before he could conceal his feelings. “A. . .a Firebolt?” Ron’s heart constricted. He’d give anything for a Firebolt, and here his sister was being given one as a gift!

“Yeah. What’s wrong?” Harry asked, his head and heart full of thoughts of Ginny, which prevented him from understanding Ron’s reaction.

“Uh. . .nothing. That’s great. She’ll be thrilled,” Ron said, putting a brave face on things. If I ever have any money to speak of, I’m getting a Firebolt too, he vowed. Why couldn’t Harry have just outfitted the whole team with Firebolts? That would’ve been nice. I’ll bet he could afford it! Realizing how unkind his thoughts were, Ron did his best to squelch them, but they niggled at the back of his mind.

“Yeah, I told your folks I thought she’d be safer on a fast broom, and it’s my fault she lost hers, so I wanted to replace it,” Harry said, still wrapped up in delight that the Weasleys had agreed, and envisioning Ginny’s face when she opened her gift.

“Yeah, that’s good,” Ron said in a dull voice.

Harry finally noticed Ron’s lack of genuine enthusiasm. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Ron picked at his shoe laces disconsolately.

Harry leaned down to try to see Ron’s eyes below his fringe of wavy red hair. “No, not nothing. Do you think I’m spoiling her?”

Ron sighed, then did his best to be upbeat. “No, I think she’ll be fine. It’s great. It’s nice of you to do that for her.”

“You’re not upset about this, are you?” Harry said astutely. “You are. Oh, I’m sorry, mate! Remus said I could get new brooms for the whole team, but that’s such a Malfoy thing to do. . . .” His voice trailed off awkwardly. He studied what little he could see of Ron’s face for a moment, then went on uncomfortably. “When Malfoy tried to shoot me down and hit her instead, and she fell. . .the Firebolt saved her. When I was a raven and had that scar pain and fell, the Firebolt saved me. Ron, I . . . I love Ginny. I want to protect her. I want her to be safe. And the best way I can think of for her to be safe on a broom is to ride a Firebolt. I’m not buying it for her because it’s a fancy, fast, exciting broom. I’m buying it because I love her and I’m trying to protect her. You can understand that, can’t you?” He waited uneasily for some reaction from his best mate.

“You love her? For real?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, blushing but glowing at the same time, his love for Ginny shining in his eyes.

“I thought so,” Ron said quietly. “She told me you two loved each other when she came up with the Weasley Plot idea.”

“We didn’t want to tell anyone for a while. You’re the first person I’ve told,” Harry replied, then blushed, “besides Ginny, that is.”

“I’m happy for you, mate,” Ron said sincerely, then fell into silence. He studied his laces a while longer, pondering what Harry had said about the broom. Finally, after a painfully long time in which Harry got more and more nervous, Ron raised his head and said, “I think it’s brilliant, you buying her a Firebolt. Sorry I didn’t react well at first. It was just. . .kind of. . .a shock, y’know?”

“Yeah, I guess I did kind of spring it on you,” Harry said apologetically.

“Nah. I just have a short fuse in some areas. I wish I had the money to buy nice things for Hermione. I wish I had the money to buy myself a Firebolt. But wishing won’t make it so.”

“You’ll have it someday, mate. I know you will. You’ll make good money as an Auror,” Harry assured him confidently.

“You think? I’ve never checked what they make, actually,” Ron said, glad to have a somewhat different topic of conversation.

“I’ve read that they get combat pay,” Harry replied.

“Even when we’re not at war?” Ron was dumbfounded.

“Well, yeah. Aurors capture law breakers, y’know? They have to fight, to spy, to sneak around, to do lots of dangerous things. Didn’t you know that?”

“Yeah, I did. I just never thought of it as a ‘combat pay’ kind of thing. Well, maybe I will make good money then!” he said with a grin. “So you’ve already got the Firebolt order set up, ready to go?”

“It’s tied to Hedwig’s leg now. She’ll leave at first light and be there when they open.”

“Wicked,” Ron said with a sincere smile, finally happy about his sister’s good fortune.

“It’s a secret, though. I want her to be surprised, so don’t let on, OK?” Harry said with a grin, glad his friend’s mood had changed so quickly.


* * * * *


“Oh, no!” Hermione gasped the next morning as she read her Daily Prophet at breakfast.

“What?” Ron asked.

She looked up at him, then across the table at Harry and Ginny. “Lucius Malfoy has escaped.”

”What?” Harry cried, snatching the paper from her hands. “Escape from Azkaban!” the headline read. “It says here five Death Eaters escaped before the Aurors were able to close up a hole that suddenly appeared in the wall,” Harry said, skimming the article. “Sounds like Voldemort was there himself,” he added grimly. “Sirius told me there are strong wards on the walls to protect them from spells. You can’t just blast a hole in them with a Reductor curse, for instance. You’d have to remove the wards first, or use some very Dark magic to break through them.” He looked up at his friends, then over at Draco Malfoy, who was no longer looking nervous and uncertain, as he’d done since his father’s arrest. No, Malfoy was looking cocky and aggressive, back to his old bullying self. “He knew,” Harry breathed. “He probably knew even before the breakout. Look at him. He knew.”

“Yeah, his dad’s probably already contacted him, the evil git,” Ron rumbled darkly. “He’ll be out for revenge now that his daddy’s out of jail and can back him up.”

Remus appeared at Harry’s shoulder just then. “Good morning,” he said with a warm smile.

”It was until we read this,” Harry said, holding up the paper so Remus could see the headline.

”Ah, yes. That’s what I came to talk to you about. Budge over.” Harry and Ginny slid over to make room for Remus. “Be extra careful around the Slytherins. They have been warned by Severus to not bother the four of you, or anyone else, actually, but with this breakout, they’re going to feel more confident.”

”Yeah, Malfoy has his bully face on again,” Ginny commented.

“Exactly. But you all know many more hexes than he does, and you’re simply better fighters than he is. If you can find a teacher to defuse a situation, that’s great. If not. . . .” He shrugged expressively. “Well, anyway, stick together in the halls as much as possible. Ginny, since you don’t have classes with these three, make sure you walk with other D.A. members — and you might alert them to the danger, if they haven’t worked it out already. I don’t want there to be any fights in between students, but if you’re attacked, defend yourselves. I’ll back you up.”

”Thanks, Remus,” Harry said sincerely, comforted by his godfather’s concern and advice.

“Have a good day, you lot,” Remus said, rising from the table. “See you in class.”

“See you, Remus,” Harry answered, then seeing Snape giving him an evil look, corrected himself, “I mean, Professor Lupin.” Remus grinned at Harry, earning a grin in return.


* * * * *


At breakfast two mornings later, Hedwig flew in during the morning mail delivery and dropped a long, thin package in front of Ginny. Since she and Harry were seated next to each other, she thought Hedwig was bringing the package to him. “Who’s it from?” she asked him.

“Dunno,” Harry said, trying to maintain a casual attitude. “Let’s see the tag. Hmmm. It’s not addressed to me,” he said, giving Hedwig bits of bacon from his plate.

“But Hedwig brought it,” Ginny began, her boundless curiosity making her simply itch to reach out and investigate the package for herself.

“Yes, but it’s addressed to someone else. I guess she was just looking for something to do,” Harry said, shrugging, toying with the package idly.

“Owls don’t look for something to do — do they?” she said, confused. “Who’s the package for?”

“You’re a nosy little witch, aren’t you?” he teased. He turned the package over slowly, not letting her see the address, humming under his breath, knowing her curiosity was driving her mad.

Hermione bent her head to look at the address to satisfy her own curiosity, but Ron trod on her toes under the table, then winked at her. She looked at him, then at Harry’s face, which was becoming more amused as Ginny grew more frustrated, then understood.

“All right, Potter. Who’s it for?” Ginny demanded. “What is it? You’re making me crazy!”

Harry grinned and turned it over, revealing her name on the package. “It seems to be addressed to you,” he said as casually as he could. By this time, Gryffindors were gathered all around them.

“Who’d be sending me. . .but it looks like. . .it can’t be. . .a broom?” she said, ripping into the paper with glee. Soon a gleaming new Firebolt emerged from the wrappings. Ginny’s mouth fell open in shock when she saw the broom and realized what it was. Then she burst into tears.

Harry was shocked. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s. . .it’s. . .it’s a Firebolt!” she said through her tears. “Mum and Dad can’t afford this,” she said in a low voice only Harry, Ron and Hermione could hear. “I’ll. . .I’ll have to send it back.”

Harry chuckled and pulled her into a hug. “You didn’t look at the tag.”

She looked up at him for a moment, then dug through the papers to find the tag. “For my warrior princess. With love from your speed demon,” she read. “It’s from you?” she said in disbelief, turning to Harry. “I can keep it?”

“With your parents’ blessing, I might add,” he said with a grin. “It’s all yours, sweet girl.”

“But. . .but it’s not my birthday or anything. . .” she said, still a bit dazed.

“It’s an unbirthday present, then,” Harry said, pushing her glossy red hair away from her face and kissing her forehead. “Happy Unbirthday!”

Ginny laughed aloud, throwing her arms around his neck and saying, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” before kissing him soundly. The gathered Gryffindors laughed, cheered and whistled at her performance. Ginny and Harry both blushed madly for a moment before Harry returned her attention to the broom by holding it up and showing her the registration number and the attached paperwork showing her as the registered owner. “Wow,” she said as she ran her hands over the broom, examining every beautiful inch of it. She looked up at her brother and saw his eyes shining in happiness for her. “A Firebolt!” she breathed.

“Yeah. Can I have a go later?” Ron asked.

“Of course!”

Soon the other Gryffindors were asking to try the broom, “after you and Ron, of course,” and a happy House headed upstairs to get their books for the day’s classes.


* * * * *


“I’m so sick of studying!” Ginny said, stretching and rolling her shoulders to get the kinks out of them. The O.W.L. exams loomed large in her future and she was surrounded by books, notes and other fifth year students going through exactly the same stress as she was. She got up from her table in the library and walked over to the one where Harry, Ron and Hermione were working on their own revision. She sat next to Harry and leaned her head on his shoulder. He glanced at her, kissed the top of her head and said, “Hang on,” then finished what he was writing. Then he turned to her and gave her his full attention.

“What’s up?” he said.

“I’m tired of studying. I need a break. How about you?” she said, dark circles of exhaustion under her eyes.

“Yup, me too,” he agreed.

“Can we go for a walk or something? I need to get some fresh air, see the sun, remember there’s something to life other than O.W.L.’s,” she whinged.

He chuckled. “Yeah, I could do with stretching my legs too. C’mon,” he said, as he got up from his seat and gathered his papers.

“Harry,” Hermione chided him, “we’re not finished!”

“I can’t see straight anymore. I’ve read the same paragraph five times, and finally had to write parts of it down to make any sense of it,” Harry grumbled. “A break will refresh my mind and my eyes so I can work better.”

“Sounds logical to me,” Ron said, his face lighting up with hope that Harry could convince Hermione of the wisdom of relaxing a while.

“Ronald. . .” Hermione said warningly.

Ron sighed dramatically. “You two go ahead. Remind me what sunshine feels like when you get back, OK?”

Harry laughed. “OK.” He leaned down to speak to Hermione. “All work and no play makes Ron’s brain lock up — give him a break sometime soon, OK? Look at the poor bloke, his eyes are glazed over already! We simply aren’t as hardy as you are when it comes to studying.” He ruffled her curly hair a bit as he stood up, then ducked, laughing, as she tossed a roll of parchment at him. “See you two later.”

When they got outside, Ginny spread her arms wide and turned in slow circles, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. “What a beautiful day!” she said, spinning faster and faster until her hair flew behind her like a silken red sail. Harry stood smiling at her, enjoying her exuberance. He decided to join her fun and grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her, spinning the two of them until they fell in a laughing, dizzy heap on the grass. Ginny lay on her back where Harry had put her on the lawn, her hair spread out around her, one hand on Harry’s hand, which was lying on her stomach, the other twining in his hair. Harry lay propped up on one elbow next to her, smiling down at her. When they’d caught their breath, Ginny said, “What do you want to do, Harry?”

“Well, I know what I’d really like to do,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her comically.

Ginny’s laughter echoed across the valley below the castle. “Harry, you rogue!” she said, flirting with him outrageously. She turned her head and kissed his arm, her fingers running tantalizing races up and down his chest. “Me, too. I wish we had a place with some privacy. I’m just not the Astronomy Tower type.”

“Me neither. However, m’lady, I have been thinking about this problem. I may have a solution.”

Her eyes lit up. “Really? Where?”

“It will take a bit of work to clean it up, but I think it will suit us just fine once that’s done,” he said with a warm smile.

“Let’s go!” she said, getting up, grabbing his hand and trying to pull him up as she looked down at him expectantly.

“I need to go and get my dad’s Invisibility Cloak. Come with me to Gryffindor Tower, then we’ll go.” He got to his feet and held his hand out to her.

“Oh, an Invisibility Cloak adventure! Yay!” she chortled, holding his hand and skipping along next to his long strides as they went back into the castle.

A short time later, the two of them were huddled under the Cloak, making their way across Hogwarts’ broad lawns. “Wait here,” Harry said, leaving Ginny under the Cloak and behind some bushes. He changed into a cat and raced across the clearing to the Whomping Willow, then pushed on the knot that made the tree immobile. He turned and looked back at the spot where he’d left Ginny waiting, his long black tail impatiently lashing the air. He soon felt an invisible hand grab him and carry him into the passageway below the tree. Once they were inside, Ginny put him down, removed the Cloak and waited while he changed back into Harry.

“This leads to the Shrieking Shack, doesn’t it? Ron told me about it,” she said a bit uneasily.

“I told you it’s not haunted. It was Remus making all those noises. It’s sort of a nice house inside, if a bit beaten up and dirty. We can clean the bedroom and just use that — if you want to, that is,” he said, suddenly worried that she might not want to go on this particular adventure.

“OK,” she said, taking his hand and looking up at him trustingly. “Are you positive nobody goes there?”

“Remus doesn’t use it now that the potion works for him. And when he does want to go out, I turn into the wolf, and turn Ron into a collie, and we run around the grounds with him.”

“You didn’t tell me you and Ron were doing that!”

“I didn’t want to worry you. He won’t hurt us as long as we aren’t human, and we steer him away if there are any humans around. But we’re careful to go out so late, there usually aren’t any people around,” he said.

“That explains why you and Ron are so tired when it’s full moon, then.”

“Yeah. It’s great being able to help Remus that way. The potion makes him calm, and usually makes him sleep. Ron and I stay with him in his office then, as the dog and the wolf, but sometimes he gets restless and wants to go out and run, so we go with him.”

By this time, they’d reached the end of the tunnel and were climbing into the Shrieking Shack itself. Ginny looked around, awed at the former beauty of the house, and shocked by the destruction of it by Remus in werewolf form, when he was normally such a gentle, quiet man. In the bedroom, they found the bed was nearly intact, but filthy with dust. After quite a few Scourgify spells and other cleaning spells on the room and the bed itself, and some repairs on the bed frame, the room was habitable. The floor was clean enough, and the bed not only cleaned, but the mattress turned to get as fresh a side as possible.

“It’s not what I’d want to offer you, if I had a choice,” Harry said quietly, “but it’s the most private place I can think of for us.”

“It’s fine, Harry,” Ginny said, smiling up at him and suddenly shy.

Now that their preparations were made, both of them were nervous. They hadn’t had a chance to be alone together since they’d returned to school nearly a month ago. Harry smiled down at her, his hand slowly tracing the line of her cheek, smoothing a tendril of russet hair behind her ear, then outlining the shell of her ear with one gentle finger. He put his hands softly on either side of her head and bent to kiss her forehead, each eye, the tip of her nose, each cheek, her chin, and finally, after tantalizing her deliciously this way, her lips. He kissed her softly at first, then chuckled deep in his throat as she opened her mouth beneath his, her tongue searching for his. He folded her in his arms, kissing her deeply, holding her close. When they finally broke the kiss, his lips slid down the side of her neck, brushing her jawline, the V of her collarbone, the soft skin behind her ear. He tasted her earlobe, his tongue playing with her earring a moment before moving on.

Ginny moaned in pleasure, her hands pulling his sweater up and his shirt out of the waistband of his jeans. Her hands glided over the skin of his back, tracing the exquisite flowing shapes there, teasing him, tickling him enough to make him laugh as he kissed her throat, then moving to his bum. She ran her hands deliciously that lovely well-muscled shape, squeezing the muscles and chuckling at his mild squeak of protest. Before long, clothes had been discarded and they lay on the bed, exploring each other with delight. Sunlight filtered through the cracks in the boards over the windows, outlining their bodies in a golden glow.

“I’ve missed you,” Harry said as he nuzzled her breast, his hands exploring elsewhere.

“Mmmm, me too,” she murmured, lost in delight.

“You’ve missed you too, eh,” he teased, nipping her playfully.

“Watch it, Potter, or I’ll hex you,” she replied throatily, grabbing his head and drawing him to her, her fingers laced in his tousled hair. She kissed him deeply as she pulled him on top of her. “By the way? I love you,” she murmured as she nibbled his ear and played with his earring with her tongue.

Harry’s hands and lips moved over her body, filling her with heat and ecstasy. She threw her head back and moaned in pleasure as they finally became one.

“I love you, Ginny. I love you, I love you, I love you,” he said breathlessly.

“I love you, baby,” she sighed blissfully, nuzzling his hair as he rested contentedly on her shoulder.

A while later, Harry lay on his side, his head propped up on one elbow, his hand tracing the contours of Ginny’s body as she lay smiling up at him. “I like your idea of a study break,” he said mischievously.

“Yeah, me too,” she agreed, stretching languidly. She turned on her side and ran gentle fingers down the side of his body, exploring the intriguing planes of his muscles. She rested her palm on his hip bone, her fingers teasing his bum. “What’s that?” she said suddenly.

“What?” he replied, twisting to see what she was on about.

“This ridge. What is it?” She got up on one elbow and leaned across his body, looking to see what her fingers had found. “It’s an old scar, kind of crescent-shaped.” She looked up at him. “I’ve noticed it before, but I was a wee bit too distracted at the time to ask about it.” She grinned as he snorted with laughter. “Seriously, what happened here? My poor sweetie,” she murmured as she kissed the long, rough scar.

Harry giggled as she kissed the scar again. “That tickles! That’s the one Pomfrey uses as her password.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” she said, now lying across his waist in order to study the scar better, as well as tantalizing Harry even more. “How did you get it? She said you had it the first time she took care of you.”

Harry ran his hand down her smooth back, pushing her long red mane aside to get to her skin. Her hair tickled him where it fell across his body. He didn’t want to talk about scars, he wanted to. . .but she was giving him that “tell me now” look, so he’d better get it over with. He sighed heavily, then answered her question.

“I got it when I was three or four. Dudley had some toy earth-moving equipment, big metal trucks and bulldozers. I wanted to play with them too, but of course, he wouldn’t let me. I found one he’d already broken and started playing with it. He came over and started hitting me, and pushed me down on it. The bulldozer’s blade made that cut.”

“Poor baby Harry,” Ginny said, kissing the scar again. “It must have been awful. It healed all crooked.”

“Yeah, well, they didn’t take me to a doctor. Aunt Petunia just yelled at me for bleeding on the kitchen floor and handed me a bandage for it. I suppose it should have had stitches.” He rolled onto his back and pulled her up the length of him until they were face to face again. “I’d really rather not talk about my scars right now, if you don’t mind.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Ginny’s face was sad. She hadn’t meant to make him relive old traumas. She’d be more careful when she felt like asking about scars in the future.

He cradled her head in his hands, lacing his fingers through her thick, radiant hair, and smiled at her. “It stopped hurting a long time ago. It’s just another scar. I survived it. But I won’t survive you lying there and wiggling on me for long,” he said with a sudden laugh. He pulled her down into a tender kiss. “You taste good,” he said between kisses.

“Mmmm, are you starting things all over again?” she purred. “I’m ready if you are!”

“Oh, you are, are you?” he said with a grin. Suddenly, he stilled, instantly alert, putting his hand on her lips to keep her quiet. “Get dressed. Somebody’s coming,” he whispered. They dressed quickly and pulled their wands out, listening as hard as they could.

“They’re outside,” Harry murmured finally, relaxing a little. “I heard voices and . . . .” He was suddenly silent again. Now he recognized the voices. Lucius and Draco Malfoy were standing just outside the house, under the window next to Harry and Ginny. They looked at each other nervously. Harry held his hand up, indicating Ginny shouldn’t move. The voices were mumbles beneath them. Ginny reached into her pocket and pulled out two Extendable Ears that Fred and George had given her. Harry grinned at her, glad she was so resourceful. They put the ends of the Ears on the window ledge next to a crack in the frame. Now they could hear the conversation below quite clearly.

“The preparations are complete,” Lucius was saying. “You know your part?”

“Yes, Father. I’ll take care of it,” Draco replied eagerly. “I can’t wait to see the look on Potter’s face!”

“You will, lad, you will,” Lucius said complacently. “The Dark Lord is pleased with this plan. He’s very angry that none of Bellatrix’s schemes have worked so far. She had some other preparations ready when she died. If whatever else she had set up works, this one won’t be necessary.”

“But it’s so cool! I hope her plan doesn’t work so this one will be used,” Draco whinged, sounding like the spoiled brat he was.

“Cool or not, it has to work, or the Dark Lord’s wrath will be on our heads,” Lucius said seriously. “I’ll be in touch a few days before, to give you what’s needed.”

“All right.” Draco paused a moment, then went on in a completely different tone. “Can I have a new broom? Potter just bought that cow he goes out with a new Firebolt. I want the new Firebolt Mark 4 — he just got her the same model he has. The Mark 4 isn’t on the market yet, but I’m sure you can talk them into letting me have one, can’t you, Father?” he wheedled.

“I bought your entire team new brooms not that long ago. They should be fine in competition against the rest of the school teams,” Lucius said dismissively.

“Not with Potter and his stupid weasel bitch on Firebolts!” Draco cried petulantly.

Harry was so angry, he was grinding his teeth. He touched Ginny on the shoulder, willing her to not be hurt by what Malfoy was calling her. He was relieved to see she was full of fiery temper too, not the least bit upset They smiled at each other briefly, then concentrated on the conversation again.

“No, Draco. You’ll be out of school in another year. Your broom is fine for school use. If you do very well in your N.E.W.T. exams next term, I will consider buying you a new broom to celebrate,” Lucius said dryly. “I have to go now. Try not to be seen on your way back to school, since this isn’t a Hogsmeade weekend.”

“Right. Goodbye, Father.”

“Goodbye, Draco.”

Harry and Ginny heard soft footsteps moving away from the building. Harry risked putting his eye to the crack in the boards to look outside and see if anyone else had been present. Nope, just Draco trudging back toward school. He still wasn’t very good at Apparating and was afraid of splinching himself, so instead of Apparating to the school gates as anyone else his age would have done, he was walking. Harry had to stifle a laugh over this. Lucius watched his son leaving, shook his head with a disgusted expression, then Apparated with no problem.

“C’mon,” he said quietly. “We need to get back to school.”


* * * * *


“He said what?” Hermione cried, stunned.

”Apparently the Malfoys have some new plan cooked up to get me,” Harry said grimly.

”Where were you? Was Mr. Malfoy on school grounds?” Hermione pushed.

Harry and Ginny glanced at each other and blushed. “Erm, we weren’t exactly on school grounds when we heard this,” Harry explained, hoping they wouldn’t demand more details.

“Where were you then?” Ron asked, his face twisted up in confusion.

”If you must know, we were in the Shrieking Shack,” Ginny snapped.

”What were you doing there?” Ron said, totally flummoxed.

“None of your business,” Ginny growled, her eyes fiery. “Listen to the NEWS we’re sharing and don’t get nosy about other things!”

Ron stared at her a moment, then his face lit with comprehension. “Ohhhh. I get it,” he said, nodding.

Ginny glared at him, daring him to tease her or step out of line in any way at all. Harry watched her with fond amusement. Nobody got away with meddling with Ginny.

“So anyway,” Harry said, trying to get things back on track before Ginny and Ron started throwing hexes at each other, “what do you think we should do about this?”

”Well. . .” Hermione began, “since we’re in the Order now, you should share the information with them.”

Harry looked at her, astonished. “Whoa. You’re right, Hermione. I didn’t even think of that. OK, I’ll talk to Remus.”

As Harry and Ginny got up to leave, Ron followed, touching Harry hesitantly on the arm. “Erm. . .Harry?”

”Yeah?”

”You and Ginny cleaned up part of the Shack to use it, didn’t you?” Ron said diffidently.

”Uh. . .yeah,” Harry said carefully, glancing at Ginny, who was still looking at her brother with a steely glint in her eye.

Ron glanced at his sister nervously, then soldiered on. ”So you found a place to be alone?”

”Yeah.” Harry blushed and was rewarded with a blush from Ron as well.

“Hermione and I could use a place like that too,” Ron said carefully, watching Harry’s face closely.

Harry looked down at Ginny. They were so pleased to have a place to call their own. Did they really want to share it? He looked up at Ron and then back at Ginny. Ron was his best mate. He always enjoyed sharing things with Ron, but would Ginny agree? “OK with you?”

She studied his face a moment, then nodded. “Yeah.”

Harry gave her a squeeze and smiled at Ron. “We’ll have to work out a system so we don’t both wind up there at the same time.”

”Great! Thanks!” Ron said, his face lit up with excitement.

”Why don’t you suggest to Hermione that you two need a study break right now?” Harry suggested. “There’s still some daylight left. The Invisibility Cloak is in my bag — go ahead and take it, in case she agrees.”

”Cool! You’re the best, Harry!” Ron said, all smiles. “Thanks, Ginny!”

Harry and Ginny watched Ron approach Hermione and start trying to convince her that there was more to life than books. When they saw her face change from irritation at her studying being interrupted to delight, they left to go and find Remus.


* * * * *


“I don’t know what we can do about it other than to be extra cautious,” Remus told Harry and Ginny. “If we try to use Veritaserum on Draco, the Shrieking Shack will be revealed as not being haunted, won’t it?” His eyes crinkled in a knowing smile as he looked from Harry to Ginny and back again. “And I suspect you don’t want that secret known any more than I do, right?”

“Uh. . .right,” Harry said, blushing madly.

“That’s what I thought. We’ll just have to keep an eye on Draco, see what he’s up to. I’ll talk to Albus about this. Thanks for letting me know.”

“Erm. . .do you need to tell him how you found out?” Harry said uncomfortably, blushing even more.

“I’ll be as delicate as I can, Harry, but if I have to tell him, I will,” Remus said honestly. “He’ll understand. Believe it or not, even Albus Dumbledore was young once.”

Harry and Ginny burst out laughing at Remus’s comment and the twinkle in his eye. “Yeah, I guess so,” Harry replied, still snorting with laughter. “It’s hard to imagine him as a teenager, though.”

“I’m sure he was one once, a century or two ago,” Remus teased.


* * * * *


April was awash in colour, flowers running rampant through the meadows and hills, water lilies in full bloom at the edge of the lake. Baby ducks and geese followed their parents happily paddling around the pond Harry had created with his explosion months earlier. The sunlight poured through the castle windows, warming the always chilly corridors enough for the students to loosen their robes and their ties as they hurried between classes.

After a truly awful and exhausting day of double sessions of his least favourite classes on one such glorious day, a very grumpy Harry saw Ginny walking ahead of him with some other girls on their way to the library. While one of the other girls was talking, Ginny was picking at a top she rarely wore, her oldest and most hated piece of clothing. Harry’s dark mood lifted a bit when he saw her. He smiled sympathetically, knowing how much she loathed that top, and that, for her to be forced to wear it, there must be a good-sized pile of laundry in need of washing that she hadn’t put out for the house elves to care for. As he neared them, he could hear her speaking.

“I just hate this tatty old thing.”

One of the other girls mumbled something Harry couldn’t understand, and Ginny stiffened, then responded, “Really? Well. . . .” There were more comments from the other girl, followed by a burst of laughter from everyone but Ginny, and then Ginny replied, “Yeah, I know. I hate shopping there, but. . .well. . . .” She sighed, straightened her shoulders and went on, “When Harry and I are married. . . .”

Her words became unintelligible to Harry again as another group of chattering girls passed in the other direction. He smiled, warmed by the thought of him and Ginny being married. Yeah, it could happen, he thought, his heart lifting at the prospect. Then he heard Ginny’s clear, light voice again.

“Yes, he’s the one who bought me the Firebolt. No, of course he didn’t empty his vault to buy it for me. He’s not stupid. What? Oh, didn’t you know? He was wealthy already from his parents’ estate, but then he inherited Sirius Black’s fortune as well. Yeah, Sirius was his godfather. No, he wasn’t a murderer. He was framed. Anyway, Harry’s got more money than the Malfoys now, and a big house in London. He asked me to redecorate the house, you know. I can buy whatever I want for it. When we’re married, I won’t ever have to wear tatty clothes again.” She prattled on happily, not realizing that, behind her, Harry’s face had gone stony.

Does she only care about me because of my money? he thought, aghast. His temper flared and he caught up with her in three long strides. He grabbed her shoulder and whirled her around roughly. “Is that the way it is? You only care about me because I have money? What are you, a fan girl? I thought you were better than that,” he growled, his chest heaving as he tried to quell the rage building up inside him.

“Harry! I didn’t see you there,” Ginny began, her face bright red with embarrassment.

“No, you didn’t. So that means I heard what you really think, and it isn’t pretty,” he snapped. “We’re through.” He stormed away, leaving a stunned Ginny and a gaggle of gossiping girls in his wake.

“Harry, wait! You don’t understand!” she cried, throwing down her books and running after him, tears streaming down her face. “Harry! Wait!”

Harry lengthened his stride until he was running, bursting out of the front doors of the castle and racing across the lawn, heading toward the woods beyond Hagrid’s hut. Ginny kept following him. “Harry! Harry, wait! Please! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it that way! Harry!” She finally stopped calling when she saw a raven flying straight at her. The raven dive-bombed her, droppings splattering her robes. “Harry?” she said meekly through her tears. “Harry? Please talk to me! Harry?”

The raven circled for a minute more, glaring at her with its startling green eyes, then flew away as fast as it could go. Ginny sat down hard, wrapping her arms around her legs and burying her face in her knees, sobbing so hard her body shook. Hagrid found her that way a while later, still crying.

“Ginny! What’s wrong? Oh dear, some bird nailed ya, didn’t he? Must’ve been a big’un. Come along to my hut, and we’ll get ya cleaned up,” he said kindly.

It took a few moments for Ginny to respond. When she did, Hagrid was astonished at how swollen and red her face was.

“How long have ya been cryin’?” he asked in concern. She shook her head and shrugged. “What’s wrong?” he asked again. She just shook her head and dropped it back onto her knees.

Hagrid sat down next to her, not knowing how to comfort her. “Is it Harry? Is he all right?” She nodded, then shook her head. “What’s wrong with him? Where is he? Do we need to get help? Talk to me, Ginny!” he said urgently, getting frightened now. Ginny was a strong girl. It would take something horrible for her to be crying this hard. “Talk to me! What is it?”

“H-h-h-he. . .” she began, then sniffled and tried again. “H-h-h-he overheard m-m-m-me saying s-something. . .s-s-stupid,” she said, sniffling hard between words.

“Ah, we all say stupid things. That’s nothin’ to worry about. He cares about you too much ter be too upset with you for a slip o’ the tongue,” Hagrid assured her.

“H-h-he thinks. . .he thinks I only l-l-love him b-b-because. . .because he’s . . .r-r-rich,” she stammered between sobs.

Hagrid sat up straight, shocked. “Oh dear. That would bother him,” he murmured, knowing Harry well enough to realize how deeply this idea would wound him.

“Yeah. It did,” she agreed.

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know. H-h-he changed into a r-r-raven and took off. He did this,” she indicated the mess on her robes, “to me.”

“Harry did that? Great galloping gargoyles,” Hagrid replied, looking at the stains on her robes. “It’ll wash, don’t worry about it.” He felt completely useless. It’ll wash. As if she cares about that right now! he thought, disgusted with himself.

“But how do I make up with Harry?” she wailed. Hagrid put his massive arm around her and pulled her against his hairy vest, at a loss for a way to comfort her. He patted her awkwardly on the back, trying to console her. Fang ran up and started licking her face, upset by the sound of the girl’s crying.

After a while, Ginny finally quieted. Hagrid helped her to her feet and led her to his cabin, where he gave her a cold wet cloth to wash her face, and he helped her clean up her robes. Near dark, Ginny trudged back up to the castle, picked up her books where they’d been shoved aside in the hall and made her way to Gryffindor Tower. She’d hoped to see Harry in the Common Room, but he wasn’t there, and nobody had seen him. Ron and Hermione looked at her with great concern. They’d heard about the confrontation in the corridor and Ginny’s face was still swollen from crying.

“Have you talked to him?” Ron asked, his face filled with worry. He led her and Hermione into a quiet corner where they could talk privately.

“No. He turned into a raven and flew away,” she said miserably. “He actually dive-bombed me.”

“What?” Hermione said, confused.

“He crapped on me. I had a great load of bird droppings on my robes until Hagrid cleaned me up,” she mumbled.

Ron was horribly tempted to laugh at the idea of Harry actions, but his sister’s anguish tore at his heart. “Where did he go?”

“I don’t know. He flew off over the woods. I haven’t seen him since. I waited and waited for him to come back, but he never did,” she said, tears still streaming down her face.

“Does Remus know Harry’s gone?” Hermione asked.

“I haven’t told anyone but you and Hagrid.”

Ron looked at Hermione. “I’ll go and talk to Remus. He should know. It’s nearly dark. Harry shouldn’t still be out there.” Hermione nodded, her eyes wide with fear for Harry’s safety. “If he comes back here, send me an Adfero, OK?” Ron added as he patted his sister on the back and kissed the top of Hermione’s head. He strode quickly to the portrait hole and left.

“Come on, Ginny, let’s get you cleaned up,” Hermione said kindly. Ginny followed her docilely enough, her head hanging, her hair curtaining her face so nobody could see it.

A short time later, Remus and Ron got on their brooms and flew out to look for Harry. Finding a raven at dusk is a difficult task at best. Finding a particular one when there are huge flocks of them around is even harder. They flew a long distance, calling Harry’s name and looking carefully at every black bird they spotted, but to no avail. They finally gave up when it was fully dark, flying back to the castle and sitting on the steps in shared misery.

“Why would she say such a thing? That’s not why she loves him,” Ron said, shaking his head in disgust. “I don’t blame him for getting angry.”

“She’s usually so mature, I think all of us forget how young she is. Some of the girls you told me she was with set a lot of store on being dressed stylishly. I think she was compensating somehow. Maybe one of them made a rude remark about her clothes and started the whole thing,” Remus said carefully. “That doesn’t excuse it, but I suspect that’s what happened. She made a mistake. It’s just a shame that Harry had to hear it.”

As they sat there, full darkness fell and the torches around the entrance flared to life. “Oh, Harry, where are you?” Remus said despondently.

“Here I am,” came a low voice from the darkness. Harry moved slowly into the torch light and sat beside his godfather. He looked exhausted and heartbroken.

“Where have you been?” Ron asked anxiously. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you. We took brooms out and went through every flock of ravens we could find, we called ourselves hoarse, we’ve been frantic! Where were you?”

“I saw you a few times,” Harry replied. “I’m sorry I worried you. I just couldn’t stand the idea of being in the castle with. . .with. . .”

“With Ginny?” Remus supplied warily.

“With her, and with everyone knowing I was duped by her,” Harry growled.

“Mate, that’s just not true,” Ron began.

“I heard what I heard, Ron,” Harry said, his voice stern.

“She’s young — she has a right to be stupid every so often. She is a Weasley, after all,” Ron said, trying to get a smile out of his best friend.

“That’s no excuse. You, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, your parents — none of you would say such a thing,” Harry snapped.

“None of us but Mum and Ginny are girls. That fashion stuff is more important to them than it is to blokes. And you’ve heard me gripe about being poor loads of times,” Ron said as reasonably as he could. “Having to wear second-hand stuff is hard enough for me. As much as the girls are into ‘stylish’ stuff, it’s a lot harder on Ginny to always be wearing somebody’s cast-off clothes.”

Harry turned on him and snarled, “I grew up wearing cast-off clothes. I understand that. I know how miserable it can make you feel. I do my best to be careful not to offend any of you because I have money. I’d gladly give your family half of what I have, but I know it would insult all of you. I don’t want to do that. I’d never deliberately hurt the feelings of anyone in your family. I try so damned hard. . . .” He was quiet a moment, his body tense as he wrestled with the emotions roiling within him. “I never had any money growing up, and was led to believe I’d never have any. You know that. I didn’t earn that money, nor did I ask for it. Don’t you think I’d rather have my parents, rather have Sirius, than have all the money in the world? Don’t you? I’d give it all up in a heartbeat to have any of them back again!” he snapped, unshed tears in his eyes. “I asked your parents permission to buy Ginny a broom so I wouldn’t offend them. I try so hard to be considerate, and look where it’s gotten me!” His voice broke with grief as he finished his tirade. He got up and stormed off again, disappearing in the dark.

“Harry? Harry, wait! I’m sorry!” Ron called, starting to go after him.

“I’ll go,” Remus said. “I’m afraid he’s going to hurt your feelings, the way he’s acting right now. He and Ginny being hurt is bad enough. We don’t need any more damaged friendships from this situation.”

Ron nodded, his eyes heartbroken. He sat and watched Remus disappear in the dark, then waited for him to reappear. He suddenly remembered he should let the girls know Harry was all right, so he sent an Adfero to Hermione and Ginny. A long time later, Remus and Harry came back to the front door. Harry’s head was hanging low, his fringe hiding his eyes. “Harry. Mate. I’m sorry,” Ron said, his heart in his voice.

Harry glanced up at Ron. “I’m sorry too. It wasn’t your fault. It’s not your fault the Ministry doesn’t pay your dad what he’s worth. You know I think you and all your family are brilliant. Well, with the possible exception of Percy,” he added with a hint of a smile. “Still friends?”

“Still best mates,” Ron assured him, standing and giving him a back-pounding hug. When they separated, Ron looked into Harry’s eyes. “What about Ginny?”

“We’re finished. I can’t trust her. I can’t be with someone I can’t trust,” Harry said in a dead-sounding voice.

Ron took a deep breath. “All right, then. If that’s the way it is, that’s the way it is. You and I are still mates, though, right?”

Harry looked up and smiled a little. “Right. Best mates. Thanks.”

“Yeah.”

Remus put an arm around Harry’s shoulders. “C’mon, lads, we’d best get inside before they lock us out.”


* * * * *


The next couple of weeks seemed to crawl by for Harry. He followed Ron and Hermione around most of the time, missing the warm, bright spirit that used to be by his side. He caught glimpses of her from time to time, but he would not talk to her, nor would he listen to her. She followed at a distance if they were going the same way, and sat alone or with her fellow Fifth Years when she was at meals or in the library. She stopped asking Harry, Ron and Hermione for help on her O.W.L. revision and poured herself into her work, getting huge exhausted circles under her eyes from studying too much and from crying most of the night instead of sleeping.

Harry didn’t look much better, but the crowd of fan girls that had magically re-materialized when word got round that he was “single” again didn’t seem to mind his sad eyes and exhausted air. Apparently, they found such things sexy.

Harry tried his best to ignore them. He was finished with girls. He just wanted to be left alone. He had to fight Voldemort. He shouldn’t have a girlfriend anyway, since he wasn’t likely to live long enough to enjoy one. His moods got blacker and bleaker as the days went on. Ron and Hermione were at a loss as to how to cheer him up.

One day, they were studying in the library and Harry exploded in frustration when he couldn’t find the notes he was searching for. “I’ve had it. I have to go for a walk,” he said, throwing his quill down and storming out of the library.

“Should we go after him?” Hermione asked Ron nervously.

“I dunno. What do you think?”

”I don’t think he’s angry enough to do any damage. . . . Maybe he does just need some time alone,” she offered.

“What he needs is Ginny. She’s the only one who can cheer him up when he’s like this,” Ron said darkly.

“That’s just not going to happen,” Hermione said sadly. “What a shame.”

“Yeah,” Ron agreed. He turned to her and gazed steadily in her eyes. “Let’s make a pact.”

“What kind of pact?”

“I, Ron Weasley, solemnly swear to never let the sun go down on my anger with Hermione Granger. If I have to grovel in the mud to get her to forgive me, I will do it.”

“And I, Hermione Granger, solemnly swear to never let the sun go down on my anger with Ron Weasley. If I have to crawl through owl droppings to get him to forgive me, I will do it.”

Ron looked at her, his eyes full of love. “You just had to go and top me, didn’t you?” he said with a chuckle. “’Owl droppings,’ indeed.’”

Hermione just grinned at him, then leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips. “I love you, Ron.”

“I love you too. Don’t you forget it, either!” he said as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her.

“No snogging in the library!” Madam Pince snapped imperiously.

“Uh-oh, busted,” Ron said, sniggering.

“Yeah. We’ll have to go back in the stacks with everybody else to snog, I suppose,” Hermione giggled.

Meanwhile, Harry was storming down the hall, not going anywhere in particular. He was angry a lot these days, and controlling his temper was taking a great deal of effort. As he rounded a corner in the corridor, he realized a crowd of giggling girls was following him again. He sighed heavily. Why can’t they just leave me alone?

“Harry? Harry!” one of them called. “You’re single now, right? Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me next week?”

He sighed and turned to face them. “Yes, I’m single now, but no, thank you, I don’t want to go to Hogsmeade with any of you. No offence.” He turned to walk away from them, but felt them surging closer behind him.

“Harry! When will you be ready for a new girlfriend?” another one called.

“Yeah! I want to apply for the position!” a blond Fourth Year Ravenclaw girl called boldly. “No, I want it!” a Sixth Year Hufflepuff cried. “No, me!” “No, Harry, pick me!” The calls were escalating. Harry could see an argument was imminent.

“Please, just leave me alone, OK? I’m not ready for another girlfriend,” he said as patiently as he could. Suddenly Pansy Parkinson was right in front of him, shoving her body lewdly against him, running her hands over his chest in a much too familiar fashion, backing him against the wall.

“Harry? You were so kind to me at the Yule Ball. I’d like to repay the favour,” she said in a husky voice, rubbing her body against his, now sliding one hand over his face and into his hair, the other playing with his belt, apparently heading for his crotch any minute. “I’ll do anything you want. I mean it. Anything.”

“No, thank you, Pansy,” Harry said, what little patience he had running out quickly, putting his hands on her shoulders and pushing her away as gently as his temper would allow. “As I said. . .AAH!” he cried. Pansy had slammed the back of her hand against his cheek and pulled it down sharply, viciously slicing his face with the prongs of her ring. Blood poured from the wound. Harry put his hand up to his cheek, astonished that she’d hit him that way, amazed that he was bleeding. That was the last coherent thought he had as he collapsed and hit the floor.

Pansy looked at him in horror, then backed away, saying, “Oh, Harry! NO! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” She turned and ran. Some of the gathered girls screamed, while the rest gathered in tearful clusters around Harry, watching in horrified fascination as he moaned on the floor, writhing in obvious agony. Not one of them moved to help him, nor did any of them pay any attention to the odd flashes and clicking coming from inside the crowd.

“MOVE!” came a shout from behind them. Ginny came storming through the group, shoving bodies aside heedlessly. “Harry? Harry! Can you hear me?” she said as she knelt by his side.

“Help,” Harry croaked, barely aware that someone had come to his aid. “Help me. Poison.” His eyes flickered open and he saw a mass of long red hair close to his face. “Ginny,” he whispered as darkness enfolded him.

“Yes, love, it’s me. I’ll take care of you,” she said as she snatched off her necklace and laid it in the deepest cut the prongs of Pansy’s ring had made in Harry’s cheek. She wished she had more necklaces with poison wards on them to put in his other cuts. The girls around them had dispersed quickly when Ginny appeared. Nobody was left to send for help. Ginny saw Harry fading before her eyes despite the powers of her necklace. She dug into the pocket of his jeans and found the pocket knife she’d given him for Christmas. “Bless you for still carrying this even when you’re angry with me,” she muttered as she opened the blade. “And bless you for keeping it sharp. This is going to hurt a bit,” she said as she laid the point of the blade against his cheek. “I’m sorry, baby.” She cut between the scrapes from the ring prongs, then set the knife aside while sending a frantic Adfero to Remus, Dumbledore, Snape and Madam Pomfrey. She removed her necklace from the cut, then leaned down and put her mouth over the wound, sucking Harry’s blood into her mouth, and then spitting it out on the floor. She noticed a bitter flavour that didn’t taste like blood. She kept sucking at the wound until all she tasted was blood. She put her necklace back on the wound and kept her hand on it to keep it in place as she lay down next to him, dizzy from her exertions. She passed out, her hand still on Harry’s cheek, his blood flowing between her fingers and running down her arm.

With most of the poison out of his system, Harry opened his eyes and saw Ginny lying beside him, her face too still, too pale. “Ginny? Ginny? What’s. . .?”

He saw his knife on the floor and remembered her cutting his face. Suddenly, he realized she’d used a Muggle method for treating snake bite that she’d read in the old Muggle first aid book she’d found in a bookstore. She’d become interested in Muggle healer methods after Harry had used mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on her when Voldemort threw her over the cliff into the lake. Based on what she’d read in that Muggle book, she’d cut Harry’s wound open more and sucked the poison out with her mouth.

“Oh, no. Please be all right, love,” he said, trying to sit up. His head swam and he sank back down on the floor, moaning in pain. He took the pendant off his cheek and took her hand, the pendant held in both of their hands. He passed out, still holding her hand with the pendant between them.

Remus slid to a halt on his knees beside the still pair. “Harry? Ginny?” He stared around him, looking for someone to answer his questions. “What the bloody hell happened?” Dumbledore arrived moments later.

”Let’s take them to my office, it’s the closest,” Dumbledore suggested. He started to levitate them, and was surprised to see Harry wake a little and reach out to embrace Ginny. Harry kept holding her hand with the pendant between them, but used his other arm to hold her close to him. Dumbledore levitated the pair of them up the spiral staircase to his office and conjured a bed, where he laid them down together, their hands still clasped over Ginny’s pendant, Harry’s arm still holding her close to him. Madam Pomfrey showed up with a medical kit in her hand.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Some kind of poison,” Remus replied. “Where’s Severus? Ginny sent an Adfero to him, too, didn’t she?”

“Yes, she said she did,” Dumbledore agreed. “I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”

Snape strode into the office at that point, looking even more grim than usual. “I have the antidote here,” he snapped, pulling a flask from his pocket.

“How do you know which poison it is?” Remus asked, wary on Harry’s behalf since Harry wasn’t awake to question his treatment.

“He was poisoned by a ring worn by Pansy Parkinson. I’ve just come from her dormitory room. She took her own life with the same ring. She left a note,” he said, his lip curling in disgust. He offered the note to Dumbledore.

Remus, Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey were horrified to hear that Pansy had killed herself. Snape gave Harry and Ginny the potion while Dumbledore read Pansy’s note.

“I killed Harry Potter. I didn’t mean to. Madam Desiree in The Ladies’ Shop is a Death Eater. She gave me a poisoned ring and put a spell on me so I’d kill Harry if other things she had planned didn’t kill him. I didn’t want to do it. Harry was kind to me at the Yule Ball, and I’ve never forgotten that. I didn’t want to kill him. I’m so sorry. I can’t go on. I can’t forgive myself for this.” The note was signed, “Pansy Parkinson. I wish I’d been anything but a Slytherin.”

Harry woke up a few moments later. “Ginny?” he asked blearily, turning to look at her. Her colour was a bit better, but she was still breathing shallowly, rapidly. He started rubbing her lips with his thumb, hoping somehow to help her get well faster with his healing touch. He glanced around at the adults surrounding them. “How is she?”

“She’ll recover,” Snape said. “She sent the message quickly enough that I was able to bring the right antidote. I went and found Miss Parkinson right away to see what she’d used, but she was already gone. It was a simple matter to identify the poison in the ring. Bellatrix Lestrange never was very good with complex potions. This was a straightforward but very effective poison. You should’ve been dead in a matter of minutes, Potter. Your luck is still holding.”

Harry just stared at the man in confusion, not knowing how to respond to him. He looked back at his godfather. “Pansy’s. . .gone? Where?”

“She killed herself, Harry. She thought she’d killed you, and she was very upset about that. She was under an enchantment to make her kill you. It was one of Bellatrix’s plans,” Remus explained, dampening a cloth and wiping Harry’s sweaty forehead. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Harry said, his head rocking back and forth, still in some pain despite the antidote. He squinted up at his godfather. Someone had removed his glasses. What Remus had told him moments before finally registered. “Did you say Pansy’s dead? She killed herself?”

“Yes,” Remus said sadly.

“Oh, no. Oh, no. She shouldn’t have done that. She. . . .” Harry stopped talking, his mouth pressed into a thin line as he forced himself to accept this latest horror in his life. “I’m so sorry,” he muttered. “How awful.”

“Yes, it is awful,” Remus agreed, patting the boy’s shoulder gently, wishing he knew some way to truly comfort him. “Voldemort doesn’t care who he hurts to get what he wants. Pansy didn’t deserve this fate.”

Harry looked at Ginny, his thumb still rubbing her lips. She was so still. Her eyelids looked translucent, bluish, her freckles so pale they were nearly gone. Her hair looked almost violently red against the pallor of her skin. Did Pansy looked so horribly ashen, her eyelids translucent and blue like Ginny’s? Don’t think that way, he chided himself. Ginny’s going to get well. Pansy’s gone. “She deserved better,” he muttered miserably.

“Yes, she did,” Snape snapped. He gathered up his things and swept out of the office like an overgrown bat. “Let me know if you need me again. In the meantime, I have a mess to clear up in the Slytherin dormitory and an owl to send.”

Harry stared despondently at the door Snape had gone through for several moments, stirring only when Madam Pomfrey ran her hand over his forehead and then looked into his eyes, checking his condition. “How long do we have to stay in the hospital wing this time?” he asked sadly.

“You require at least two days of bed rest, young man,” Madam Pomfrey said kindly.

Harry pulled Ginny closer to him. He had kept his arm around her throughout the levitation and while they were being treated for the poison. He smoothed her hair away from her face with the arm he still held around her back, then went back to rubbing her lips with his thumb. His other hand still held hers with the pendant between their hands. “What about Ginny? How long will she be sick?”

“She doesn’t have the immunity to poisons you seem to have. She will be sick a day or two longer, possibly. We’ll just have to see how she is when she wakes up,” Madam Pomfrey said quietly, wiping sweat off of Ginny’s face as she spoke. “We need to put you in separate beds, Mr. Potter.”

“No. I’m not letting go of her. I can make her better,” he said stubbornly.

“She’s had the potions she needed. She’ll heal at her own speed,” the nurse insisted.

“No. I will not let go of her, not until she’s better,” Harry said firmly. He wrapped his arm more tightly around her shoulders, tucking her head securely into the hollow of his shoulder and settling down to stay like that however long was necessary. He glared around the room, challenging the adults there. If any of them tried to take her away from him, they were in for a fight.

“Leave them alone, Poppy,” Dumbledore said benignly. “They’re good for each other. Let them be.”

Satisfied he’d made his point, Harry rested his cheek against Ginny’s hair and drifted off to sleep.

The adults moved away to deal with their own concerns, or at least other parts of Dumbledore’s office, letting the teenagers rest. Madam Pomfrey or Remus checked on them from time to time, but both were resting quietly. After an hour or so, Remus heard soft conversation coming from the bed and glanced over to see Ginny finally awake, and Harry giving her a warm welcome back among the living. Remus smiled and turned away, giving them a little privacy.

“Sweetheart! You’re awake!” Harry said softly as Ginny’s eyes fluttered open momentarily. “C’mon, open those beautiful eyes. I know you can do it,” he encouraged her, kissing her forehead and cheeks softly, his heart full to overflowing that she was finally waking up.

“H-h-harry? What happened? Where are we?” She tried to lift her head to look around, but just couldn’t manage it yet.

“We’re in Dumbledore’s office. We’ve both had the antidote. You’re going to be fine. You saved my life again, Ginny. I’ve lost track of which of us has the most life debts to the other,” he said with a quiet chuckle. “How are you feeling?”

”Tired,” she mumbled, her eyes trying to close again.

“Ginny?” Harry said quickly. “I need to tell you something. Wake up, please? Just for a minute?”

She opened her eyes again, finally getting them to focus on him. “Oh, Harry, I did an awful job on your face. You’re going to have a horrible scar,” she said, looking at the wound on his cheek. Madam Pomfrey had left it uncovered after pouring a potion on it that would knit the tissues back together. Tears ran down her face as she berated herself for ruining his handsome face.

“Madam Pomfrey says it won’t leave a scar,” Harry hastened to assure her.

“No scar? It looks terrible!” she blurted, then burst into tears again. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean. . .”

”Don’t worry about it. I’m going to be fine, and it’s all down to you. The potion that’s on the wound right now will make it heal with no scar.”

”Oh, that’s wonderful! I’m so glad to hear that,” she said with relief.

“If you hadn’t been there, hadn’t done what you did — and you didn’t even think about the fact the poison might have killed you,” Harry said, his voice breaking with emotion. “If I’d lost you. . . .” He stopped and controlled himself. “Thank you.”

She smiled at him serenely. “Anytime.”

He looked her quite seriously in the eyes. “I need to tell you something. Are you awake enough?”

”Um-hmm,” she murmured, still smiling sweetly at him.

“What I need to tell you is — I’m every kind of idiot there is on the face of the earth. I’m stupid and insensitive and stupid and impatient and stupid and short-tempered and stupid and. . .” He had to stop because she’d put her hand on his lips.

“You’re not stupid, although you are a bit impatient and short-tempered at times,” she said with a smile. “What are you on about?”

”Please forgive me for being so mean to you. I do love you. The last couple of weeks were awful. I missed you so much. I’m sorry for everything I said, for how I acted, for not listening to you. . .” This time he had to stop because she was busy kissing him. She was too weak to hold the kiss for long, but she managed to get her message across to him.

“I love you, Harry. I always have, even before I had any idea that you had money or a house or whatever. Those girls had made fun of me — my top used to belong to one of their older sisters, and they don’t wear hand-me-downs, but give their cast-off clothes to charity. And then I wound up with it.” The hurt showed in her eyes, then flared briefly into anger that just as quickly faded. “I just wanted to throw something in their faces — and I made a complete fool of myself. Please forgive me,” she said humbly. “I won’t ever say such things again. And I’d like to give the Firebolt and jewellery back to you. Maybe then you’ll believe that I’m in love with you, not your money.”

”You will keep all the gifts I’ve given you, and all the gifts I’m going to give you, sweet girl. I don’t want them back. I love you. I love to see your face when you open a present. Even when I pass you notes in the library, the look on your face when you open them just . . . I don’t know, it just lifts my heart.” He kissed her again, softly, tenderly, not wanting to tire her too much. “You need to rest now. I’m going to take good care of you.” He tucked her head into the hollow of his shoulder again and finally opened their hands with the pendant between them. “This pendant has more than proved its worth,” he said. “It needs to be cleaned up a bit, but do you want to wear it?”

”Yes. I’ve never taken it off since you gave it to me, except when Ron needed it at the Yule Ball. Would you put it back on for me?” she said, smiling at him.

Harry looked at the chain and did a quick “Reparo” spell on it, then sat up a bit to fasten it around her neck. He settled back in the bed, opening his arm for her to snuggle in next to him. “You rest. We’ll be well in no time,” he assured her. He kissed her forehead and breathed in the scent of her. She was going to be all right. His heart finally stopped pounding with worry and he slept peacefully for the first time in weeks.


* * * * *


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