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SIYE Time:8:04 on 29th March 2024
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Need
By iluvfanfics

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Category: Alternate Universe
Characters:Harry/Ginny
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Fluff, General, Romance
Warnings: Extreme Language, Sexual Situations
Story is Complete
Rating: R
Reviews: 725
Summary: Their nightmares and demons bound them together. Their love helped them to survive. Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley knew they needed each other; the trouble was in admitting it.
Hitcount: Story Total: 276991; Chapter Total: 16292
Awards: View Trophy Room




Author's Notes:
I know! I know! You're going to think "WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM!" but I promise there's only a little bit of Cho at the end of this chapter and a little bit in the next one. Trust me, it won't last. Also, I've been combining chapters to make them longer so there are now less than 52 chapters. I realized some of them were a bit short. So hope you enjoy the longer chapters!




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StoryPrinter


Chapter 13

Harry scowled all the way to the Gryffindor common room after lunch. He’d just gotten detention with that cow, Umbridge. Stupid bitch, he thought. How could she…how could the Ministry… be so blind?

In the three weeks since school had started, Harry had managed to develop an extreme dislike of Dolores Umbridge. Everyone hated her and no one trusted her, including, Harry suspected, Professor Dumbledore.

He slammed into the common room and kicked an overstuffed chair in frustration. After hopping on his uninjured foot, he collapsed in the chair, letting his bag drop to the floor.

Hermione and Ron burst into the room and stopped when they saw him sitting in front of the fire.

“Oh, Harry,” Hermione said sympathetically. She sat down in the chair in the next to him while Ron flopped on the couch.

“Bloody toad,” Ron grumbled. “What the hell does she think is going to happen? We’re going to read Voldemort to death?”

Harry snorted in spite of his frustration, but Hermione just scowled.

”What kind of professor doesn’t assign practical lessons? How are we supposed to learn Defence, if we can’t practice it?”

“She’s got it out for you, mate,” Ron said.

“No kidding,” Harry muttered. “And to make this day even better, Ginny and I start our Occlumency lessons tonight with Snape.”

Ron groaned in sympathy just as Ginny climbed through the portrait hole. Her face was flushed red, and her mouth was pressed into a thin line. With what could only be described as a roar, she threw the heavy book she was carrying against the stone wall, followed by her satchel. The canvas bag crashed against the wall and fell to the floor spilling its contents.

Breathing heavily, her fists clenched at her sides, Ginny turned to them and asked through gritted teeth, “Where are Fred and George?”

Ron pointed upstairs towards the seventh year boys’ dormitories. Ginny stalked towards the stairs mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like “Umbridge is going down” under her breath.

Harry and Ron smiled at each other. They weren’t sure what Umbridge had done to tick Ginny off, but if she and the twins were going to team up, their new Defence Professor didn’t stand a chance.

*******

The situation with Umbridge was worsening daily. The Ministry was scarily supportive of her reign of terror, and her Defence Against the Dark Arts classes drug on and on as students were forced to read “Ministry-Approved” theory.

Hermione was livid about the whole thing. “Is this a school or isn’t it?” she demanded. “We’re not learning a bloody thing!”

Ron and Harry looked at her in shock, but she ignored them and continued her rant. Harry agreed with her wholeheartedly; except that he wasn’t sure Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall could actually do anything. Their hands seemed to be tied (if a conversation he’d had with McGonagall could be believed).

The only bright spot in Umbridge’s new regime was that she had inspired Fred, George and Ginny to new heights of cleverness. Once Ginny had teamed up with her brothers, Umbridge’s carefully-ordered life was thrown delightfully askew. They filled her office with toads, turned her hair various shades of pink and hung Voldemort “Wanted” posters all over the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Umbridge’s screech of outrage was a commonly heard sound in the halls; even the other professors were seen hiding smiles behind their hands whenever Ginny and the Weasley twins struck.

Ginny assured Harry they were working up to something big, but he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know about it or be around when it happened.

Hermione’s outrage grew daily. Harry had never seen her so flustered or angry with a person in position of authority. After a particularly bad class one Friday afternoon, in which Harry had gotten another detention with Umbridge and her blood quill, Hermione decided action needed to be taken.

“We need someone else to teach us,” she told Harry and Ron that evening in the common room. “Someone who knows; someone who’s been there.”

“But who?” Harry asked. “We can’t just bring another teacher into Hogwarts.”

“I’m talking about you,” she answered patiently. “You’re the only one who knows, Harry. You’ve been there; you’ve seen him – you can teach us.”

“Me?”

“You,” she said firmly.

“B-but, I can’t teach!”

“She’s right, Harry,” Ron disagreed. “You’re the only one.”

“We’ll form a club,” Hermione decided. “We’ll get other students to join and you can teach us Dark Arts Defence. It’ll be a school activity; she can’t take that away from us.”

“Can’t she?” Ron snorted. “She’ll probably try.”

“Then we’ll meet in secret,” a determined Hermione told him. “There’s got to be some place in this castle that she can’t find.”

“Wait a minute,” Harry said. “You want me to teach other people as well?! Like, a real teacher?”

“We’re not the only ones who need instruction,” Ron pointed out. “There’s lots of half-blood and muggle-borns who need to learn how to defend themselves.”

“You’ll be fine, Harry,” Hermione insisted. “I’ll help you with lesson plans and stuff. Look,” she drew out a piece of parchment and a quill, “we’ll make a list of the people I’ve already spoken to about this and make plans to meet tomorrow in Hogsmeade to discuss things.”

“You’ve already spoken to people about this?” Harry asked, but she didn’t answer.

Harry sensed the situation was already out of his hands. Ron and Hermione hunched over the parchment and brainstormed while he sat back on the couch in defeat. It wasn’t that he minded showing other people how to defend themselves…it was the questions they were likely to ask about how he’d learned such things. He’d not talked a lot about what had happened last term and wasn’t really prepared to start.

The portrait opened, and a weary Ginny entered. She was wearing her school robes over her all-too-familiar workout outfit.

“Where’ve you been?” Harry asked.

“I went for a run,” she replied, before plopping down on the couch next to him and lifting her ponytail off her still-sweaty neck.

“A run? When did you start that?”

“Since we left Grimmauld Place, actually,” she said. “I don’t have a muggle punching bag here.”

“Oh.” Harry was surprised he hadn’t noticed, but then he’d been spending a lot time writing sentences in Umbridge’s office. He felt bad that he hadn’t thought of it before -- Ginny always said she slept better if she wore herself out physically before bed and it hadn’t occurred to him that she was forced to find other means once they’d returned to Hogwarts. He had noticed that she’d been a little grumpy lately – now he knew why.

An idea occurred to him. “Hermione,” he said abruptly. “You’re serious about this club thing?”

She looked up from the parchment she’d been scribbling on. “Of course, Harry. Completely serious.”

“Fine, then I want Ginny to be my co-teacher.”

“Ginny?” Ron frowned. “Why her?”

“Um…I think I’ve been insulted,” Ginny said mildly. “But I don’t know why. What’s going on? What are you talking about, Harry?”

Harry turned to her excitedly. “Hermione thinks we should have a Defence Against the Dark Arts club, you know to learn spells and stuff because Umbridge won’t teach them to us. She thinks I should teach it; you’d be great too though…we should both teach it.”

“Me?” Ginny said doubtfully. “Why me?”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Hermione spoke up. “Ginny, you know all sorts of spells and people listen to you.”

“Plus, you’re bloody powerful,” Harry said quietly. “And you’ve got just as much knowledge about defending against the Dark Arts as me.”

“What would I have to do?” Ginny asked slowly.

Hermione waved a hand dismissively. “Just teach us the spells that you know, help us to practice them, show us if we do something wrong…you know, the usual.”

Ginny sighed and stood back up. “I’ll think about it. Right now I need a shower and bed. We’ll talk about it in the morning.” She pecked Harry on the cheek and went upstairs.

“Think she’ll do it?” asked Ron.

“Yes,” Hermione said firmly. “She won’t let us down.”

The next day, Harry waited nervously at the Hog’s Head for the people Hermione had told to meet them there.

“Thanks for doing this with me,” he muttered to Ginny who was standing beside him and facing the fire.

“You’ve got to watch me, Harry,” Ginny said seriously. “Sometimes…I can’t control the power, it fluctuates; you’ve got to make sure I don’t hurt anyone.”

“Don’t worry, Fury,” he said reassuringly. “I’ll help you.” He reached for her hand and squeezed it.

They stood there holding hands, Harry facing the door while Ginny faced the fire, until the door opened and several of their classmates entered. Soon, there were twenty students in the pub. Harry dropped Ginny’s hand when Cho Chang showed up and ignored the smirk Ginny sent him. He watched while she smiled brilliantly at Dean Thomas and snorted when Dean blushed. Ginny elbowed him in the ribs, and he retaliated by discreetly pinching her bum.

“Ouch!”

Harry snickered behind his hand; Hermione swung around to glare at them both.

“He pinched me,” Ginny protested. “Glare at him!”

“Leave her alone, Harry,” Hermione ordered. “We’re about to start!”

“See what you did,” Ginny hissed to him in parseltongue. “You got us in trouble with Mummy Granger.”

Harry stifled a laugh and, despite the fact that Cho was there watching him, slid an arm around Ginny’s shoulders to hug her briefly to his side.

Hermione introduced Harry and Ginny, and it wasn’t long before students were asking about what had happened last year at the TriWizard Tournament. Harry was quickly losing his temper when some of them acted like it was some sort of game; he thought Ron was going to attack a Hufflepuff named Zacharias Smith, but Hermione managed to restrain him.

“Are there anymore questions?” Hermione asked finally standing up.

“Yes,” Zacharias said in his droll, snobbish tone. “Why is she teaching us? She hasn’t faced He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.” He pointed a finger at Ginny.

“She bloody well has,” George said through gritted teeth. Fred, Ron and Hermione nodded in agreement.

Ginny simply lifted her wand and shot a Stunning spell at Zacharias. The spell hit him hard enough to blow him into the nearest pub wall and break the wooden chair he’d been sitting in. She waved her wand; ropes shot out of the tip and wrapped around him from his shoulders to his feet. Only then did she revive him. He sputtered indignantly at her when she levitated him in the air, but she ignored his screams and demands to be let down. Instead, she directed him over to the wall behind the bar, said another spell and glued him to the wall. The whole thing took less than ten seconds.

Ginny put her wand away and looked back at the crowd who were staring at her in awe. “Any other questions?” she asked brightly.

Everyone shook their head, and the group began to disperse under the direction of Fred and George who both looked incredibly smug.

“Fury,” Harry began conversationally, his eyes fastened on Zacharias Smith’s groaning form affixed to the wall, “are you sure you won’t marry me?”

She smirked at him and walked to the door, “Not this year, I’m afraid.” She pulled out her wand again and waved it in Smith’s direction over her shoulder before exiting the pub.

Smith crashed to the pub floor, and he groaned again, tangled up in the rope and pieces of the broken chair. Harry heaved a sigh and went over to help him up.

”You should put a leash on your cat, Potter,” Smith spat at him. He dusted off his school robes angrily.

“Now what makes you think I could even do that?” asked Harry amusedly. “If I could, I wouldn’t. It’s a bloody turn-on when she does stuff like that.”

“Turn-on?” Smith scoffed. “She’s scary and unruly.”

”And you don’t find that to be a turn-on?” asked Harry blankly. He shook his head ruefully. “Trust me, a girl who will tie you up is infinitely more interesting.”

He clapped Smith on the back and walked out with Ron and Hermione, whistling cheerily under his breath.

*******

Harry entered his dorm room to find Ginny rummaging through his trunk. He leaned in the doorway and watched as she dug to the bottom.

“If you’re looking for my Firebolt, it’s in the corner,” he finally said.

Ginny yelped and jumped, hitting her head on the lid of the trunk. Standing up, she rubbed the back of her head and turned to face him, a sheepish grin on her face.

“Um…sorry?”

“What are you looking for?” He stepped into the room and let his book bag drop beside his bed.

Ginny looked down and kicked the side of his truck gently. “I – oh, there it is.” She pulled Harry’s invisibility cloak out the trunk. “I was looking for this,” she said, shaking out the fabric. “Can I borrow it?”

Harry raised an eyebrow at her. “Do I want to know why?”

”Probably not,” she said truthfully.

“Take it,” he said.

“Thanks.” She wadded the cloak up and shoved it in the bag by her feet.

Harry busied himself with taking his textbooks out of his bag and placing them on the nearby desk. Just when Ginny looked like she was about to leave, he blurted out, “Have any nightmares lately?” He faltered when she arched an eyebrow at him. “I-I mean, you haven’t come to sleep with me lately…are they getting better?”

Since that initial night in Grimmauld Place over a month ago when Ginny had come to him shaking and trembling from a nightmare, she had gotten in the habit of crawling into his bed every time she had a dream she couldn’t handle. Even after they’d returned to school, she’d been able to sneak into his dorm room at night.

Harry had been a little embarrassed that first morning when they woke up together, but since then he’d gotten kind of used to her presence. It was nice to wake up with someone who was warm and who smelled so nice. Sometimes he didn’t even know she was there until he woke up and found her next to him.

It was also the idea that Ginny needed him. She was so tough with everyone else. When she came to him because of a nightmare she was vulnerable and she clung to him. It felt…good.

“They seem to come in phases,” Ginny told him. “I haven’t had any in a few nights.”

“Oh, well, good,” Harry nodded. “That’s good.”

“Harry,” Ginny asked shrewdly. “Do you want me to have nightmares so I’ll sleep with you?”

“No! Of course not.”

A smirk spread across her face. “Do you,” she took a step forward, “miss me, Harry?”

“Well,” he smiled ruefully, “I just sleep so well when you’re there. You’re warm, and you smell good in the morning.”

Ginny gave an uncharacteristic giggle and slid her arms around his waist to rest her head on his chest. His hands came up and rubbed her shoulders.

“You’re a wonderful friend, Harry,” she said, softly.

Harry kissed the top of her head and rested his chin on her hair. “We’ve got an hour until lunch, wanna take a nap?”

Ginny laughed and lifted her head. She shrugged a shoulder and said, “Sure, why not.”

Harry whooped and let go of her. He dove for his bed and toed off his shoes so they fell to the floor with two thumps. He lay against the pillows and looked at her expectantly. Ginny laughed again and slipped off her shoes before crawling into bed next to him. She rolled onto her side, and he rolled with her, spooning behind her while he slipped an arm around her waist.

“This is nice,” he sighed happily into her hair.

“You are so weird.”

When Ron entered the room nearly an hour later, he stopped short at the sight of his sister and his best friend curled up together on Harry’s bed. They were asleep with Harry’s face buried in Ginny’s hair, his arm around her waist and Ginny’s hands folded underneath her cheek.

Ginny shifted and Harry stirred. He stretched and yawned, waking up Ginny who sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“Good nap,” Harry sighed. He sat up and froze when he saw Ron standing in the doorway.

“What the hell is going on in here?” Ron asked harshly.

Ginny jumped when she heard her brother’s voice, but her momentary surprise turned quickly to controlled anger.

“Harry and I were taking a nap, Ron,” she said evenly. “Is something wrong?”

“Something wrong?!” Ron stared at her agog. “I walk into my room and find you and Harry snuggling on his bed and you ask me what’s wrong!”

“Ron,” Harry said sharply. “We were just napping. It’s not what it seems.”

“Not what it seems,” Ron repeated. “What else could it be?”

“Maybe it’s exactly what we’re saying it is,” said Ginny crossly. “What do you think-“

“Fury,” Harry interrupted. “Why don’t you leave us alone for a minute?” He kept his eyes fastened on Ron’s.

“Leave?” said Ginny hotly. “Now wait just a minute-“

”Ginny,” said Harry gently, looking away from Ron to meet her eyes. “Please.”

Ginny opened her mouth to object, but the look on Harry’s face convinced her to leave it to him. She shut her mouth abruptly and with a glowering look at Ron, got off the bed and flounced out the door.

“Harry-” Ron began when Ginny had banged the door behind her.

“Ron-” Harry interrupted, “let me talk.”

Ron closed his mouth and crossed his arms defensively in front of his chest. His face looked thunderous.

This conversation had actually been coming for some time. Harry had caught Ron giving him and Ginny odd looks now and then since the Yule Ball last year. He knew Ron had wondered about their closeness. Several times he thought Ron was going to bring it up, but he never did.

“Ginny and I are just friends,” Harry said quietly. “All you saw was us taking a nap. That’s it. There’s nothing between us that you don’t know about.”

“What kinds of friends take naps together?” Ron spat. “I’ve been watching you two -- what kinds of friends kiss each other goodnight and touch each other like you and Ginny?!”

“The kind of friends who have nightmares and need comfort to get through the day!” Harry shot back. “And Ginny and I don’t kiss. Not like that anyway.” He decided not to bring up that one kiss in Grimmauld Place in front of Sirius. That had been just a joke.

”A kiss is a kiss, Harry,” Ron said.

“Not with us, Ron!” Harry shouted. He took a deep breath to calm himself and continued in a quieter tone. “You don’t…I wish I could make you understand-” he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

“Explain it to me, Harry,” said Ron sharply. “Explain to me how you and my baby sister can be as close as you are and NOT be what it looks like you are!”

“She’s not a baby!” Harry exploded. “She’s more mature than any of us! She’s been through things, Ron, things you would never understand. Sometimes I’m not even sure I do!”

Harry kicked the side of his desk and sat down angrily in the nearby desk chair. He was so sick of Ron acting like Ginny was his annoying little sister. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.

“Do you know what Ginny fears most in this world?” he asked, staring at the floor.

Ron shrugged. “Tom Riddle? The Chamber of Secrets?”

Harry shook his head, his gaze fixed on the worn toe of his sneaker. “No. She told me once the only thing she feared was a cage. At first I thought it meant that she didn’t want to be left out of things, you know, left behind-”

”Makes sense,” Ron nodded.

“But now that I know her better I think it means something more than that,” he continued. “I think it means that she doesn’t want to be locked away while others take care of things when she can take care of herself; to be told that she’s too young. I think she fears not being recognized as a capable witch. She knows she can do it, and she’s afraid people won’t let her because she was possessed by Voldemort or because she’s their youngest daughter…or their little sister.”

”Voldemort possessed her,” he said, staring at the floor. “I can’t even imagine what she went through that year. You don’t know, Ron. I’m not sure I do really; she won’t tell me everything that happened between them. But it changed her. And she’s…well, she’s different.”

It was a weak argument and did nothing to explain what he was trying to say or the relationship between Ginny and himself. He just didn’t know how else to describe the change in Ginny. He wasn’t sure Ron had paid attention enough to notice.

“I know my sister is different,” Ron said quietly. “What I want to know is why she lets YOU in and not the rest of us.”

It was an astute observation and it surprised Harry. He’d asked himself the same thing many times.

“I’m not completely sure,” Harry said, looking Ron in the eye. “But we’ve a connection of sorts to each other and to Voldemort. What happened in the past, in the Chamber, it brought us together. We understand each other. I can’t explain it better than that.”

“But the kissing,” Ron said, “and the hand holding? And the nap? What about that?”

Harry held out his hands in supplication. “We just…need the human contact, Ron. I don’t know how to explain it. Just know that it just means we’re friends, nothing more. And we don’t kiss, not really anyway – it’s more of a comfort.”

“I just,” he faltered and looked back at the floor. “I just need her. I don’t know what else I can say.”

Ron crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you have feelings for her?”

Harry hesitated. “Feelings? Well…she’s my best friend certainly. I feel…very deeply for her.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “Never mind.”

“Ron,” said Harry intently. “I would never hurt her.”

Ron studied him for a moment, and Harry willed his friend to see his sincerity. Finally Ron nodded. “All right. I trust you. Just make sure that you don’t.”

*******

“Let me curse him,” Harry pleaded. “Please.”

Ginny shot an amused glance at him. “No.”

“C’mon Gin, just one hex,” Harry begged. “He’s a complete git. He deserves it.”

“That’s not the point,” Ginny said firmly. “If you hex him, you’ll get in trouble. He’s not worth it.”

Harry scowled at her and shoved a potato in his mouth. Ginny suppressed a laugh. Harry had been bugging her to let him curse Draco Malfoy since breakfast this morning when Malfoy had verbally attacked her outside the Great Hall. It wasn’t that Malfoy didn’t deserve to be hexed, he did. But Ginny wanted to be the one to do it.

The whole thing had been rather odd. Ginny, who had not been watching where she was going, had been taken aback when Malfoy brushed up against her rather rudely on his way out of the room.

“Careful, little Weasley,” he’d said nastily. “Don’t want to be caught off your guard.”

She’d just looked at him confused, and then Harry had shown up and the whole thing had gone to pot. Malfoy had been very clearly threatening her, but for what reason Ginny was unsure.

“Promise me you aren’t going to let him get to you,” she said sternly to Harry. “He’s just trying to get a rise out of you.”

Harry grumbled and shoved his potatoes around on his plate.

“Promise me, Harry,” Ginny insisted.

He heaved a great sigh and said, “Promise.”

“Swear it.”

“I swear it,” he snapped. “Now stop-”

“Hold up your right hand and repeat after me.”

“Ginny, this is ridiculous,” Harry scowled at her but he held up his right hand.

“I, Harry Potter.”

“I, Harry Potter,” he grumbled.

“Boy-Who-Lived and owner of the best arse at Hogwarts-“

Harry glared at her, but she glared right back. “Say it.”

He repeated the phrase half-heartedly, but Ginny thought she saw a twitching at the corner of his mouth.

“Do solemnly swear to not hex Draco Malfoy in retaliation-“

“Do solemnly swear to not hex Draco Malfoy in retaliation-“

“For his offendage against Ginny Weasley-“

“Offendage? Is that a word?”

“Yes, now say it.”

Harry rolled his eyes at Ron and Hermione who had just joined them at the table and repeated the sentence.

“Who is better and badder than me and is quite capable of kicking Malfoy’s arse herself.”

Harry finished the words and took a sip of pumpkin juice. “Happy now?” he asked Ginny.

“Immensely.”

”What on earth is going on here?” Hermione asked.

Harry scowled again. “Malfoy.”

Ron groaned. “What did he do this time?”

Harry nodded towards Ginny. “Ask her.”

“Nothing, Ron,” Ginny said dismissively. “Just the same old story. I’m a blood traitor and a poor excuse for a pureblood, blah, blah, blah.”

Ron stuck out his hand for her to shake. “Hi, I’m a filthy muggle-lover and poor as dirt. Nice to meet you.”

Ginny shook his hand solemnly while those sitting near them erupted in laughter. Even Harry eventually smile, and Ginny hoped he would drop his quest to protect her from big, bad Draco Malfoy. She chuckled quietly to herself. Like she couldn’t handle Draco Malfoy.

Ginny walked to her next class with Colin, a strange tingling sensation in the back of her neck. It was a prickling feeling. Someone was watching her. She spun around, but didn’t see anything unusual.

“Ginny?” asked Colin concernedly. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, shaking it off. She entered Transfiguration, confused and watchful.

Over the course of the next several weeks, Ginny had the same prickling feeling. She started to notice a pattern. The prickling feeling only happened during meals in Great Hall and in the hallway on her way to Transfiguration, Potions and Ancient Runes. Mentally, she started cataloguing the people around her during these times. Someone was watching her – she knew it. But which of them?

She entered the common room late one night after serving detention with Professor McGonagall for being late to class. Someone had been watching her on the way back from McGonagall’s office, and it had spooked her. Ginny wasn’t the type to get spooked very easily.

Harry hissed at her in parseltongue to join him by the fireplace. Frowning and lost in thought, Ginny joined him on the couch, tucking her legs underneath her.

“What is it?” he asked, flipping a page in the book on his lap.

“Nothing,” she said flippantly. “It’s just…”

Harry looked at her expectantly, and she continued slowly, “I think someone is stalking me.”

“Stalking you?” he repeated. “What do you mean?”

Ginny told him how everywhere she went she felt someone watching her, and how she’d heard footsteps on the way back from detention tonight.

“The thing is,” she finished, “I’ve been keeping track. Of all people who are consistently around when I get that weird feeling, Draco Malfoy is the only one who seems capable of such a thing. But why would Draco Malfoy be stalking me?”

“There was that incident a few weeks ago at breakfast,” Harry reminded her. “Maybe he’s just got it out for you.”

“If he wanted to make my life miserable, he could be a bit more public about it,” she said reasonably. “There’s no need to stalk me.”

“I don’t know, Gin,” Harry shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows what goes through Malfoy’s mind?”

“I don’t think I really want to know,” she commented.

*******

Several days later, Ron and Hermione entered the common room to find an angry Harry and Ginny glaring at each other in the centre of the room. Interested Gryffindors were watching them with curiosity, but the two friends were oblivious. Harry was facing Ginny, his fists clenched; Ginny was standing in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest, a familiar defiant look on her upturned face.

“You can’t just go wandering around at night by yourself,” Harry spat. “He’s stalking you, Ginny.”

“And how would you know?” she replied in a deceivingly casual tone.

“I’ve been keeping an eye out, okay? Is that what you want to hear? I’ve been watching him. He’s definitely stalking you.”

“I thought we agreed that I could take care of myself,” Ginny said in a dangerous voice.

“It’s Malfoy,” Harry thundered. “He’s probably already a Death Eater. You can’t know what he’s capable of.”

“Oh but you do?” she retorted. “I’m so grateful, Harry, that you’re here to warn me of my naiveté. Whatever would I do without you? How on earth would I defend myself?”

“Ginny,” he insisted, ignoring her sarcasm, “You have to tell Dumbledore, you can’t let him get away with this.”

“Fine,” she smiled evilly at him. “I’ll go tell Dumbledore about Malfoy when you tell him about that blood quill Umbridge has been using on you in detentions.”

Harry looked down at his fist in surprise. The words he’d etched into his skin, “I Must Not Tell Lies” were pink and raw. He looked back at her, his face hard.

“You know why I can’t do that,” he said quietly. “If I do that, she wins.”

“Well, if I go running to the Headmaster, Malfoy wins,” Ginny shot back. “I’m not doing it.”

They glared at each other again. Harry’s jaw worked furiously; Ginny’s expression was rebellious.

“What’s going on?” Ron finally found his voice.


Harry looked at him, surprised to find both of them standing there. A look of triumph came over his face.

“Ron! Tell her she has to go to Dumbledore! Malfoy’s been stalking her for weeks!”

“Stalking you?” Hermoine asked, frowning. “What on earth for?”

Ginny shrugged. “He thinks if he can bring me before Voldemort, he’ll win favour with his so-called ‘Dark Lord.’”

Harry and Ron’s heads snapped around so hard to stare at her, the occupants of the room imagined they could hear their necks pop.

“What. Did. You. Say?” Harry asked in a low, dangerous tone.

She looked at him exasperatedly. “Harry, you must have known that. Why else would he be after me?”

“How,” Ron cleared his throat, “how do you know this?”

She gave a laugh of disbelief. “What did you all think? That Voldemort, that Tom Riddle, would just ignore me? After I escaped him in the Chamber? After I thwarted him for a whole year? He wants me. He always has. Malfoy knows it, all the Death Eaters do. S’not like he’s made a secret of it.”

“HOW,” Harry thundered at her, “do you know this?”

Ginny just looked at him and Harry suddenly knew. She’d said before that Tom Riddle sometimes spoke to her; whispered to her in her mind. He would have told her such a thing; he would have taunted her and teased her with it, hoping to scare her into submission.

Hermione reached out a shaky hand and laced her fingers with Ron. “What -- what do we do?”

“We watch Ginny like a hawk,” Ron said immediately. “Malfoy isn’t going to get her.”

Harry ignored them both and reached out with one hand to grab the front of Ginny’s jumper in his fist. He bunched the material together and pulled her smaller frame towards him, until her feet were almost off the ground and their foreheads were touching.

He looked into her eyes. “I don’t know how I can make this any more clear,” he said in a deadly voice. “But he will not get you. I won’t let him. I promise.”

Ginny smiled and closed her eyes, leaning into him, her hands braced on his chest. “You can’t protect me every minute, Harry. You have to trust me to take care of myself.”

“We’ll get Dumbledore to make you some sort of emergency Portkey,” Hermione suggested. “You’ll be able to use it if something happens.”

“And we’re going to be watching Malfoy,” Ron said. “When Fred and George hear about this, Malfoy is going to wish he’d never thought of my sister as some sort of prize.” He grinned wickedly and for just a moment he looked more like his twin brothers than Harry ever thought possible.

“Yeah,” he said, looking back at Ginny, their foreheads still pressed together. “We’ll do all of those things.” He shook her a little with the fist he’d made in her clothing. “Promise me you’ll be safe.”

“I’ll try,” she said promptly. Her fingers curled into his shoulders.

“And you’ll keep your wand with you at all times?”

“Of course,” she said, sounding offended.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay. Then…I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

“I’m not sorry I yelled back,” she said. “You’re acting like an over-protective brother and I’ve already got enough of those, thanks.”

Harry let go of her jumper, only to grip her on either side of her waist. He lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. His arms slid underneath her bum to support her, and he began walking to the staircase.

“I’m not your brother,” he growled at her.

She laughed and laid her head on his shoulder.

“Where are you going?” Ron asked, disgusted at the spectacle of his sister wrapped around his best friend.

“Nap,” Harry said, his voice muffled in Ginny’s hair. “I need a nap.”

“Does Ginny need a nap?” Hermione sounded amused.

“Doesn’t look like I have much of a choice.” Came the reply.

“Ron,” Harry called out just as turned the corner to carry Ginny up to their room. “We flying later?”

“Sure, mate,” Ron yelled back. “Just as soon as you get done with your…nap.” There were a few sniggers in the common room and Ron rolled his eyes at Hermione.

“I wish they’d just snog and get it over with,” he grumbled.

Hermione shook her head. “I’m not sure they’re ready for it yet.”

”Not ready for it?” Ron asked in disbelief. “They take naps together for bloody sake!”

“Still,” she said thoughtfully. “They’re not ready to admit to it yet. What’s between them is already intense enough. Can you imagine what it’ll be like once they start dating?”

Ron shuddered. “I don’t want to think about that at all.” He kissed her quickly on the lips. “I’ve got to find Fred and George.”

As it turned out, Ron and Harry’s fears were waylaid by Ginny herself. Tired of him following her one evening, Ginny hid around a corner and hexed Malfoy with a series of spells that left him knocked out for the rest of the night. He got detention for being late to class the next morning and couldn’t sit down for three days due to the boils she’d hexed on his bum.

If that wasn’t enough, Fred and George made his life a living hell. Every time Malfoy turned around he was being changed into a canary, breaking into purple polka-dots or suffering some other calamity at the hands of the Weasley twins. He grew shaky and started violently any time Fred, George or Ginny came near him.

Harry was forced to admit that Ginny had been right; she could take care of herself. But the idea that Voldemort wanted her still haunted him at night. It had been horrible enough when he was just using her to lure Harry to him; it was quite another for him to be after her alone.

Harry’s nightly dreams were still being plagued with visions of a long corridor leading to a door. They left his heart pounding and his head aching. As if all this wasn’t enough, things with Professor Umbridge were only getting worse. By mid-November, Harry was in a constant bad mood. He snapped at everyone, including Ron and Hermione, who did not deserve it, and at Ginny, who fought back. Many conversations with her ended in raging fights in the common room although they usually wound up fighting about the same thing: Ginny didn’t like Harry’s attitude and Harry didn’t care.

He often wished Ginny would be a little more understanding like Ron and Hermione, but then he had a startling epiphany -- he enjoyed fighting with her. They were both suffering he realized one morning after Ginny had come to breakfast with dark circles under her eyes, and yelling at each other released some of the anger.

Harry’s anger exploded in a big way after December’s Quidditch game when Draco Malfoy dared to insult Molly Weasley. Harry and George both attacked him, not even caring that teachers were nearby; he’d had quite enough of Draco sodding Malfoy and it felt incredibly good to hit him.

It wasn’t until later when Umbridge told Harry, Fred and George they were all banned from Quidditch that he regretted the action. Even then it was only because Angelina was so upset about having to rebuild her team; he still wasn’t sorry he’d broken the git’s nose.

When Angelina informed him before a meeting of the D.A. one evening that she’d replaced him with Ginny, he didn’t know what to think. He’d seen Ginny fly and knew she’d be a good Seeker; but it felt like it was his position. He was, quite frankly, jealous.
Ginny must have been able to sense his discomfort because she stayed behind the D.A. practice that evening.

”Are you mad at me?” she asked bluntly, once everyone else had gone.

He shrugged. “Not really. I’m just…”

“Jealous?”

He smiled sheepishly. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.” She leaned against the closed door.

“Don’t be. You’ll be brilliant. I mean it,” he said sincerely.

She grinned impishly at him. “I’m sorry you won’t get to fly against Cho, though. Any excuse to touch her, right, Harry?”

“Shut it,” he said fondly.

“Umbridge can’t ban you for life you know,” she said encouragingly. “Someone, somewhere has to stop her.”

He tilted his head. “I thought you were the one who was going to stop her.”

“I may have some people working on it,” she said mysteriously.

He snorted. “Fred and George you mean. They’re bad enough by themselves but when they team up with you, they’re downright scary…and possibly criminal.”

“Everyone has to have a skill,” she said demurely.

Harry smiled broadly then and threw an arm around her shoulders. “C’mon, Fury. I’ll walk you back.”

They walked out of the Room of Requirement arm in arm, laughing and teasing each other. They’d just reached the corner of the corridor when Harry heard a soft, “Harry?” from behind them.

He turned around to see Cho walking towards them, an envelope in her hand.

“Um…hi!” Harry swallowed nervously. Ginny snickered behind her hand and Harry elbowed her in the ribs.

Cho ignored Ginny and focused big, brown eyes on Harry. “I wondered if you would do me a favour.”

“S-sure,” Harry said quickly. “Anything.”

Ginny bit her lip to keep from laughing and Harry stepped on her toes. She cursed at him lightly in parseltongue, causing Cho to look at her strangely.

“Well,” Cho said, tearing her gaze away from Ginny’s innocent-looking face, “I wonder if I might borrow Hedwig.” She held up the envelope she was carrying. “I’ve got to send a letter to my mother and I don’t want to use the school owls.”

“Oh! Well, normally I would,” Harry answered. He hastened to add, “But Hedwig got hurt last week. It was her wing. Hagrid says she won’t be up to flying again for another week.”

“Oh,” Cho’s face fell. “I can’t wait that long.”

“You could use Pig,” Ginny butted in. “But he’s a bit excitable sometimes. He might get easily caught.”

“Who’s Pig?”

“My brother’s owl,” Ginny grinned. “I named him. Like it?”

“It’s original,” Cho commented. “Are you sure he wouldn’t mind?”

“Nah,” Ginny waved her hand dismissively. “I’ll tell him, he won’t care.”

“Well, thank you,” Cho said. “I’ve put a charm on the paper but you just never know…”

“I can’t guarantee anything with Pig,” Ginny warned. “But he’s probably better than a school owl.” She turned to Harry. “Harry, why don’t you take her to the Owlery and help her? She doesn’t know what he looks like.”

“Well, sure…” Harry stammered and then looked at Cho. “If you like.”

Cho smiled brilliantly at him and he felt that funny swoop in his stomach that he often got when she looked at him. He took a step away from Ginny and then thought of her walking back to the common room alone.

“But wait,” he frowned down at Ginny. “What about you? You can’t go walking alone – what if Malfoy’s about?”

Ginny rolled her eyes and shoved him away a few more steps. “Haven’t I proven that I can take care of myself, Harry?”

“Well, yes, but-“

“And haven’t I been walking back to the common room by myself since I was eleven years old?”

“Yes, but that’s not the-”

“Harry! Do I have to make you take the pledge again?” Ginny threatened.

He shuddered. No, he definitely didn’t want to have to take that ridiculous pledge in front of Cho. She was sure to think he was silly.

“Oh fine,” he sighed. “But here,” he reached into his bag and pulled out the invisibility cloak that he’d gotten in the habit of carrying with him, “use this.”

“Thanks,” Ginny said, and she took the cloak.

“See you later, Fury,” Harry kissed her quickly on the cheek and whispered in her ear in parseltongue, “Don’t wait up.”

Ginny made a disgusted face at him and threw the cloak over her. Once he was sure she was covered, Harry turned back to Cho and smiled. “Ready?”

She nodded, and they fell into step beside each other. Harry found himself without anything to say to her until Cho finally broke the awkward silence with: “Good practice tonight.”

He nodded. “Yeah, everyone is getting really good. Even Neville.”

Cho laughed a little at that and then changed the subject abruptly. “Are you dating Ginny Weasley?”

Harry stopped walking to stare at her. “No. Why would you ask that?”

Cho stopped too. “You kissed her goodbye just now. And you two seem…really close.”

“It was just a peck on the cheek!” Harry said, a little too defensively. He’d kissed Ginny goodbye without even thinking about it; he’d completely forgotten that Cho had been watching.

“Do you…peck her on the cheek often?”

“Well, I -- that’s not the point,” Harry said impatiently. “Look, we are really close, Ginny and I. But it’s because we’re best friends. We’re not dating.”

“Oh,” Cho said and resumed walking. “That’s good to know.”

“Really?”

She looked back at him over her shoulder and smiled. “Really.”

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