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Right Under His Nose
Chapter One: Snogging in the Dormitory!
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Harry and Ron trudged up the staircase to the sixth year boy's dormitory, wet through and thoroughly exhausted. The walk back from detention with Madam Hooch had left them both soaked and shivering. In Harry’s opinion, they shouldn’t have even had to serve the detention at all. Mud was unavoidable on the Quidditch pitch, and it wasn’t his or Ron’s fault if they tracked some in after a practice.
Bloody Filch.
Madam Hooch had finally called off the detention at two o’clock, meaning Harry and Ron had to walk back to the castle from the pitch in a torrential downpour with aching hands and empty stomachs. However, he was glad that she had let them off when she did. Snape had assigned them a longer-than-usual essay on the uses of Youth Regenerating potions, and Harry wanted to get it done sometime before midnight... even though it was a bit swottish to do homework on a Saturday. Hermione had probably already finished it, so he could ask her for help... though she would most likely scold him for doing so.
"It’s an NEWT-level class, Harry, what did you expect? That the work would get easier?"
He glanced at Ron and chuckled, knowing perfectly well that Ron would get reprimanded far worse than he, Harry, would if he asked for help.
“What?” Ron asked, then looked down at his shoes. “You know, I reckon we should take these off before going inside. Don’t want to get everything all wet.”
“All right,” Harry said. “We can take them off and do a drying spell.”
“Good thinking.”
Harry stopped at the top stair and bent down to remove his shoes and dripping socks. Ron shook his head as he wrung out his own socks, creating a puddle of water next to his soggy shoes.
“Bloody insane, this is. If it keeps up, we’ll be playing Ravenclaw in a gale.”
Vivid recollections of the last time he played Quidditch in torrential rain ran through Harry’s mind, and he shuddered. Ron noticed and gave him a sympathetic look.
“Sorry mate, didn’t mean to bring it up. Don’t worry. No dementors around here anymore.”
Harry nodded. “Come on, let’s get inside. I’m freezing.”
“Hang on- the spell.”
“Right.”
Harry spread out his socks, then asked “What’s the incantation for drying again?”
“Dunno. You’re the one who suggested it.”
Laughing, Harry began to open the door. “Oh well. Guess they’ll just have to air dry.”
Ron’s voice came from behind him. “Hang on”you never told me.”
Harry paused, confused. “What?”
“You never told me what you thought was so funny. . . you know, just a minute ago, on the stairs.”
“Oh,” Harry laughed, then walked into the dormitory. “I was just imagining what Hermione would say if. . .”
But suddenly Harry saw something that made his voice die in his throat.
“What’s up?” Ron asked, fixing him with a curious stare after he shut the door. “Is something wrong?”
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but no words would come. Quietly he raised his arm and pointed to Dean Thomas’s four poster.
A sinking feeling fell through his stomach as he saw Ginny Weasley kissing and being kissed by Dean Thomas while lying on his bed. He dimly noticed and was grateful that they were both on top of the covers. Ginny’s arms were around Dean’s back, and Harry nearly winced as he saw her grab at his shoulders. Clearly Ginny wasn’t holding anything back... The thought made Harry slightly ill. He knew perfectly well that Ginny had been going out with Dean since the summer... but that didn’t stop a sudden, fierce wave of totally irrational anger from surging up inside his leaden stomach. What did Dean think he was doing? He had no right to be kissing Ginny. The only person Ginny should be allowed to kiss was...
Harry’s mind reeled from the completely unexpected thought. But before he had any chance to contemplate it, Ron let out a noise like an angry bull.
“Ginny?”
Gasping, Ginny and Dean broke apart. Harry watched as her eyes traveled from Ron to himself and felt a savage sort of pleasure when she began to blush. Dean cleared his throat and fumbled awkwardly with Ginny as they tried to detach themselves from the mess of arms, legs, and robes.
“Here, let me help you,” said Ron in a vicious voice, starting toward Dean. Normally Harry would have held him back, but this time he couldn’t. He was so inexplicably angry at Dean and so confused about his most recent thoughts concerning a certain Weasley that it was all he could do not to punch Dean himself. So he watched as Ron strode toward Dean’s four poster, feet pounding and ears flaming. He had just reared his arm back when Ginny leapt in front of Dean.
“No! Ron, don’t. Please. Don’t overreact, we were just...”
“Snogging. In a bed. Honestly, Ginny, what were you thinking? What if someone else had walked in here, eh? You’d be pretty hard put to explain!”
The flush deepened in Ginny’s cheeks.
“And you!” Ron pointed to Dean, who threw a helpless glance at Ginny. “What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing to my baby sister?”
Dean mumbled something unintelligible.
“What’s that, lover-boy? I can’t hear you.”
“Shut it, Ron!” Ginny shouted. “Leave him alone.”
“Ginny, be quiet.”
“No! Stop telling me what to do! I may be your sister, but I’m certainly not a baby. And honestly, Ron, we were just kissing.”
Most unfortunately, it was quite clear to Harry that they had been about to do a little more than just kiss. The top buttons on both Dean and Ginny’s rumpled, wrinkly robes were undone and Ginny’s hair stuck up everywhere. Obviously they had been going at it for quite awhile before he and Ron arrived. Harry was glad they came when they did. The thought of Ginny doing anything more than kissing with anyone else besides him made Harry almost ill.
Whoa. Anyone else besides you?
Where the bloody hell did that come from?
Harry’s mind reeled again. Ginny’s eyes met his and he looked down, letting Ron continue with his rant as he tried to figure out just what in hell was going on with himself.
“Just kissing? Ginny, did you forget where you are? You’re in a boy’s dormitory. You were kissing on a bed in the boy’s dormitory. You’re not even allowed up here!”
“Oh, like Hermione’s never been up here with you.”
Harry forgot his own predicament for a moment and glanced quickly at Ron to see how he would react to this blow. Just as he expected, Ron’s eyes narrowed and his ears flamed red again.
“That has nothing to do with this.”
“Sure it does! This is such a double standard! You can take Hermione up here and it’s okay, but the minute I come up here with my boyfriend it’s suddenly forbidden?”
Ron’s face contorted with anger. “Yes, it’s forbidden! You can’t come up here with anyone!” he shouted.
Ginny’s eyes darkened and her voice grew dangerously soft. “I can’t come up here?”
“No, you can’t!”
“You’re...forbidding me?”
“Yes, I am!”
Ginny paused to stare at Ron, breathing hard. Harry knew exactly why she was so upset. She was exactly like him in this regard”they both hated to be bossed around.
Harry saw Dean glance at Ginny again and felt another strong urge to punch him. He satisfied himself with clenching his fists.
“Sweet Merlin, Ron, who do you think you are? The sodding Minister of Magic? You can’t tell me what to do!”
“I’m your older brother, and I can tell you what to do all I want!”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah!”
Ginny’s eyes flashed and she took Dean’s hand in her own. “Sod off, Ron. Come on, Dean.”
She squared her shoulders and brushed past her brother with a haughty sniff. Dean followed, his eyes on the ground. Perhaps he was just trying to stay out of the line of fire. Harry found he didn’t particularly care how Dean was feeling at the moment”he was still too angry to consider it.
But suddenly Ginny’s eyes fell on his, and Harry felt his breath catch in his throat. Her hair was mussed, her cheeks were flushed, and anger still lingered on her face... but her eyes widened in surprise when she looked at him. Was it possible that she had been so tied up in her argument with Ron that she had forgotten he was standing there?
Ginny continued to stare at him, and he thought, for just a second, that her eyes softened when she looked at him.
With this look, Harry saw Ginny Weasley in a totally different light. Suddenly she wasn’t just Ron’s little sister, she wasn’t little Ginny Weasley who put her elbow in the butter dish, she wasn’t eleven years old and sending him singing greeting cards. She was just Ginny, a beautiful girl standing right under his nose, just like she had been for all those years.
And he fancied her. Hell, he might even... love her.
Harry swallowed. Hard.
“And just where do you think you’re going?” Ron shouted at Ginny’s turned back, apparently unaware that she had stopped moving.
Ginny kept her eyes on Harry and didn’t answer. Shut it, Ron, he thought. He could feel heat rising in his cheeks and knew his eyes probably gave him away, but he couldn’t bring himself to break her gaze.
The funny thing was, Ginny was looking at him almost exactly like he was looking at her...
“What are you doing?”
The voice didn’t belong to Ron. It was Dean’s and he
sounded furious.
“Potter! Stop”stop looking at my girlfriend like that!”
Harry ripped his eyes away from Ginny’s to look at Dean. Before he could say anything, Ron leapt forward again.
“Get out, both of you. Thomas, thirty points for snogging a girl in your dormitory. Ginny, thirty points for being in the boy’s dormitory.”
“Oh, come on, Weasley. Sixty points?”
“Do you want it to be a hundred?”
Dean closed his mouth and set his jaw. Without another word, he turned and started to leave the dormitory, pulling Ginny along.
“Wait, Dean...”
“Let’s go, Ginny.”
“You go. I... I need to apologize.”
Dean cast a disgusted look at Ron and Harry, muttered “Whatever,” and stormed out of the room.
Ginny remained standing in the doorway. Slowly she raised her eyes up to meet Harry’s. The look he saw confused him more than anything. It radiated everything he felt... even his confusion over this unexpected realization of love.
None of this made any sense. How was it possible for him to be in love, just like that? And what about Ginny? Hermione had said that Ginny had been over him for ages. She had gone out with Michael Corner and then Dean. He had just caught her snogging Dean in their dormitory. But the look Ginny was giving him clearly said that she didn’t care about Dean... it said that he, Harry, was the one in her heart.
“Uh, Ginny? You, er, wanted to say something?”
At the sound of Ron’s voice, both Harry and Ginny jumped. Harry felt a stab of annoyance for both Ron’s haughty tone and at being interrupted.
“I’m sorry,” Ginny whispered, keeping her eyes trained on Harry’s. “I really am. I didn’t want you to see all that.”
No more did I want to see it, Ginny.
“Good,” Ron said, striding toward his bed. Apparently Ginny’s abrupt change in behavior was lost on him. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, Harry and I have got to change.”
Ginny nodded and sent a sad look at Harry. She had just turned to leave the dormitory when Harry spoke for the first time since he entered.
“Wait!”
She turned, a hopeful look crossing her face. Harry opened his mouth and tried to voice the thoughts swirling around in his brain.
I love you. Be with me, not Dean.
“Ginny. . .”
Do it, Potter!
“Er. . .”
“Yes, Harry?” she said breathlessly. Their eyes locked again.
“I, uh””
He couldn’t do it.
Potter, you’re such a bloody coward.
“Take this,” Harry ignored Ron’s attempt to catch his eye and strode toward his trunk. He yanked it open and pulled out the Invisibility Cloak. Ginny’s eyes widened.
“Harry... is that an Invis””
“What are you doing, mate?” Ron sounded angry, but Harry ignored him.
“This is an Invisibility Cloak. If you come down alone from the boy’s dormitory, someone could see you, and then you would get in big trouble,” Harry explained to his shoelaces. He held out the cloak for Ginny to take.
“Thank you,” she said in a soft voice.
Harry stepped back and Ginny swung the cloak over her shoulders. With one last, sad look, she put on the hood and disappeared.
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