***
Right Under His Nose
Chapter Sixteen: A Very Familiar Statue
***
A/N:
Hello. Since it's already past the holidays, I'll just go on and say Happy New Year to you all.
No doubt a lot of you have forgotten about this story, and I truly am sorry for such long time between updates. You probably don't want to hear about my busy schedule. But don't worry... even though it seems like it, I haven't forgotten it. I've planned it all out til the end. This makes me both sad and happy… happy because I can finally start on something else without feeling that guilty twinge that reminds me I should be working on this… and sad because this story will be over. It’s been with me for a year. It’s like my child.
But never fear! The end isn’t in sight yet. We’ve still a lot of story to get to.
I really will try to get chapter seventeen to you guys in a timely fashion.
***
“And the Quaffle is back in Gryffindor possession… nice reverse pass there by Ginny Weasley of Gryffindor, she’s really flying well today…”
A little glow of pride reached Harry’s heart and he ducked against the blast of air shooting upward to meet him. The cold January wind whipped through hair anyway, and Harry fought a shiver as he looked for the Snitch. It took all his focus not to seek out Ginny’s eyes and grin. Ron had drilled it into his head in no uncertain terms that he was not, under any circumstances, allowed to look at Ginny during the match… even if her Quidditch trousers clung to her in ways that her school robes could never hope to…
Focus, Potter.
Harry stopped his search to study Hufflepuff Seeker for a quick second. She was Chastity Roberts, a third year, and looked scared half out of her mind. She was hovering on the other end of the pitch… a dumb tactic, really, since Seekers always needed to be on the move.
“And another ten points to Gryffindor. The score stands at one hundred forty to fifty, Gryffindor in the lead, but the Snitch is taking its time, so we might be here for a long night…”
Harry tuned out the commentary, given this year by Justin Finch-Fletchly, and did another lap around the pitch. He couldn’t be sure of Gryffindor’s victory yet… they were only ninety points up. Harry narrowed his eyes, looking for any kind of glimmer.
There.
A sudden, bright flash had appeared in the very corner of Harry’s right eye. An excited jolt jump started his nerves, and his heart began pounding. Breathing heavily, he whipped around and saw the flash again. Bending low over his broom, he raced to the eastern side of the field toward a sea of green and silver. Even when the Slytherin team wasn’t playing, the whole house was dressed in their colors. But Harry couldn’t dwell on that now.
“And there goes Harry Potter, Gryffindor, of course, it looks like he may have his eye on something…”
Harry silently cursed Justin as he narrowed his eyes. Roberts may have been scared, but she wasn’t dumb. If she hadn’t noticed him moving before, she certainly would now, and that was just one more thing to worry about before he caught it.
Because he would catch it. He always did. There really wasn’t any other option.
The light flashed again, this time from his left, and Harry started. He redoubled his focus, willing his eyes to stay open, and dashed after the source of the light. But it flashed again, too soon, from exactly the same place.
Harry eased up a little on his Firebolt, something finally registering in his mind. It was a cloudy day. Sunlight barely penetrated through the clouds… it was enough so he could see, but it wouldn’t be enough to glint off a tiny golden ball. And even if it had managed to work its way through some of the clouds, it was very unlikely that it would stay in the same place…
The same place in the ruddy Slytherin stands, Potter...
Harry’s eyes landed on Draco Malfoy’s laughing, sneering face. In his hand was a small compact mirror.
This time cursing himself for falling for Malfoy’s trick and wasting precious time, Harry zoomed away. He barely avoided Roberts, who had taken her sweet time getting over to the east end…
“Don’t know what Potter thinks he’s doing… a false alarm, maybe…”
I’ll say.
Scowling, Harry went even higher on his broom. Cheating was illegal, of course, and he had half a mind to catch Ron’s attention and call a timeout to inform Madam Hooch…
“Harry! Harry! Behind you! Quick!”
Not even registering that Ginny spoke to him, Harry whipped around and finally spotted the Snitch. Its wings fluttered and it sped off, but Harry had seen it. He kept his eyes on his target as he flattened himself to his broom. His hair flew back off his forehead, giving Harry the familiar shock that it always did. His eyes smarted and burned, even behind his glasses, but he refused to let them shut. He could vaguely hear the crowd roaring and Justin shouting; he knew Roberts must be on his tail but didn’t spare her a glance. It was his.
Yes.
“YES!”
Harry’s hand closed around the tiny winged ball and he sat up, shooting his fist into the air in victory. The mass of scarlet roared its approval as Harry sped toward the goalposts to meet Ron, who was grinning broadly and shouting something Harry couldn’t hear. The Hufflepuff Chasers drifted toward the ground, somewhat sadly, and began making their slow walk to the locker rooms. Harry’s eyes caught on Roberts, who was just dismounting her broom… she was crying. Harry bit his lip, suddenly feeling as though maybe he should have let her catch it… but then a flash of copper that stood out from all the scarlet caught his eye. Ginny was flying toward him, beaming, and he decided that it was a good thing he had caught it after all. Harry beamed right back at her, taking his fist out of the air and offering it forward, as though he had caught it just for her.
Ginny stopped just a few feet short of him and grinned, beckoning their other teammates. Ron sped toward them, as did Colin and Dennis Creevey, their Beaters, and Samantha Vance and George Billups, their third and fourth year Chasers. As a unit, the team descended, and were soon met by waves of Gryffindor supporters. Hermione pushed her way through the crowd to come meet them.
“Oh, Harry,” she said, and threw her arms around him. “It was a wonderful catch.” She quickly let go of him and moved to Ginny, also enveloping her in a hug and saying “You did wonderfully!”
Ron was watching Hermione with a slow grin starting on his face. When she broke away from Ginny, Hermione glanced over at Ron and took a slow step forward.
“You were wonderful today,” she said, somewhat shyly, biting down a grin.
Ron stepped toward her as well. “You really think so?” he asked, his voice full of disbelief. But Harry could see a twinkle in his eye that he reserved especially for teasing Hermione and had to hold back a snort of laughter.
“Of course I think so, I always think so. I always think you do wonderfully, why would you ever think that I didn’t””
But Ron stepped forward and wrapped Hermione in a hug. She giggled in a very un-Hermione like way when her feet left the ground. Ron spun her around twice before finally setting her down and silencing her with a kiss. Harry looked away”while he had long since accepted his two best friends as a couple, that didn’t mean he had to watch their private moments.
“Gosh, get a room.”
Harry turned around. Ginny was right behind him, looking as though she was fighting a terribly strong urge to smirk. She soon turned her gaze to him, however, and all the celebratory noise suddenly went quiet in Harry’s ear.
“It was a wonderful catch, Harry,” she said, tugging at the toggles on her Quidditch jacket.
He inched closer, hoping she would let him kiss her. “I wouldn’t have gotten it if you hadn’t said anything.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Of course you would have. You always do.”
He felt himself grinning cockily, running his fingers through his hair. “I guess you’re right.”
Quick as a flash, her right arm swung around and she swatted him on the shoulder. He stumbled back slightly, bringing his hand up to where she had hit him.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“That was to remind you not to get too big a head, mister.” She swung her broom over her shoulder and tossed her hair. “We can’t have you proving what the paper says about you is true.”
He scuffed his shoe on the ground. “I wasn’t getting a big head.”
She came forward and wrapped her free arm around his waist, tugging him close. “Yes, you were. But don’t worry… I just had to knock some sense into you.”
“It hurt.”
“Don’t be such a baby.”
“Oh, so now I’m a baby?”
“And a whinging one at that.”
“You little””
Harry had been with Ginny long enough to know that hand-to-hand combat was useless”he may have been good at running and dodging playful blows, but Ginny was better, and she could slap and punch her way out of any situation. All situations… save one.
A wicked grin crossed Harry’s face as he reached out for Ginny’s middle and began tickling her. Any defense that she could have had was gone now. Harry watched as her face screwed up… she would always try to fight it, but she never won.
“Harry, stop it””
This only made him attack more relentlessly. His mirth matched Ginny’s as she doubled over, weak with laughter, trying but failing.
“Harry…”
“Say you’re sorry.”
Ginny’s grip weakened and her broom fell to the ground. Still, she looked up at him defiantly. “Never.”
“All right, then.”
His assault continued until Ginny could hardly breathe for laughing. He left his hands on her waist but ceased tickling her, and Ginny stood up straight again, still trying to catch her breath.
“You prat.” She raised her hand and swung it back again.
Harry caught her hand in his and kissed it. “Now, now… you wouldn’t want to be tickled again, would you?”
She smiled, then burst out laughing, and he kissed her on the mouth. Her arms wound themselves around his neck and he pulled her closer. Her mouth stayed resolutely closed, however, and he broke away, vaguely remembering something about a dislike of public displays of affection.
“Oh””
Ginny’s gasp made him first look at her and then beside them. What he saw made his stomach drop.
Dean Thomas was standing two feet away, staring at the pair of them with an unreadable expression on his face. Harry stepped away from Ginny, flashes of the last few days of their break together running through his head.
“Ginny! Letter for you!”
Ginny ran down the Burrow steps into the kitchen, where Harry sat with Ron, Hermione, and the twins. She took her letter and stared at the return address. The color that had just been in her cheeks suddenly left, and she took a step backward.
“Gin? Are you okay?”
She nodded and slowly turned the letter over, sliding her finger under the flap to open it. She pulled out a letter and read it quickly.
“Who’s it from? What’s it say?” Ron demanded.
Ginny gave a sort of half-laugh, half-snort and tossed the letter down on the table.
“See for yourself.”
They each made a grab for the letter, but Harry reached it first.
Dear Ginny,
Happy Christmas. Hope your dinner was as good as mine was. Mum got the recipes out of Witch Weekly”she says they’re the best ever.
Witch Weekly sure made for interesting reading today, if you know what I mean. I guess you’ve already seen the cover of the magazine, so I’ll spare you the gory details.
I guess I always knew you were still in love with Potter. Hell, it wasn’t hard to see that he was in love with you. I just wish you had told me first, instead of letting me find out from some magazine.
I hope you two have as much fun as we had together.
Best,
Dean
Harry bit his lip and surveyed Dean warily. There had been awkward moments, uncomfortable glances, plenty of blushes, and quite a few head ducks since they had returned to school. But Dean had kept his distance”Ginny reported that he hadn’t said more than ten words to her since they had arrived back at Hogwarts two weeks ago.
The silence grew. Dean looked at the pair of them for a second longer, then nodded curtly. “Potter,” he said in a clipped voice. He paused a little before saying “Ginny,” then turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Harry watched Dean’s retreating back and breathed a sigh of relief, even though a horrible guilt was winding its way up to his heart. Ginny’s head dropped onto his shoulder.
“Oh, that was so awkward.”
“Tell me about it.”
Harry laughed breathlessly, taking her hand in his and stooping to pick up her broom. She elbowed him gently but didn’t say anything when he kept hold of it. Ginny felt that she had to remind him from time to time that she wasn’t completely helpless”that she could take care of herself. But Harry loved to play the gentleman. He opened doors for her, pulled out chairs for her, stood up when she entered the room, carried things for her... and loved it. Generally these courteous actions were rewarded with one of her marvelous smiles that he felt fairly certain only he was privileged enough to see. If he had to climb eight flights of stairs carrying twenty of her books just to receive one of those smiles, he would do it.
This time, however, she just grinned, and they made their way back to the castle through the waning crowd. Calls of “Good catch, Potter!” and “Nice job, Harry!” reached his ears and Ginny squeezed his hand.
“You reckon Seamus has got a party started already?” she asked as he pulled open the door to the Entrance Hall.
“Probably,” Harry replied, chuckling. “Seamus never misses an opportunity to throw a party.”
Ever since Fred and George had left, Seamus had taken over as resident Gryffindor party-thrower. McGonagall had had to visit Gryffindor tower on at least four occasions to tell them that it was too late to still be up and that they needed to be in bed.
“I suppose it’s the Irish in him,” said Ginny as they reached the first floor landing. “I hope he doesn’t spike the punch this time, though. The last thing we need is to get in trouble for drinking.”
“You sound like Hermione.”
She gave him a little shove. “Oh, shut up,” she huffed. “Anyway, it’s true.” She tossed her head, throwing her hair back, and Harry bit his tongue to point out the resemblance for a second time. He was fairly sure he was already bruised from the first. “McGonagall won’t be happy if she finds Seamus or Dean or, gods, Ron drunk off their arses in the middle of the common room.”
Grinning wryly, Harry elbowed her. “I notice you don’t include me on that list.”
She looked at him severely. “Well, I know you’re not that stupid enough to ever need to be on that list. D’you catch my drift?”
“Yes, Professor McGonagall, ma’am,” he said in falsetto, then jumped up to the next step to avoid another shove. As he did so, something rustled in his pocket. He stopped, momentarily puzzled, and reached inside his robes.
“What is it?” Ginny asked, stepping closer. Harry abandoned his pursuit for a second and kissed her on the forehead. Despite the blush that tinged her cheeks, she said “Well? What are you looking for?”
Harry’s fingers closed on a worn piece of parchment and he smiled.
Of course.
“Ginny…” he started, unsure of how to phrase his question. “Did Fred and George ever tell you about””
“Good job today, Harry!”
Harry jumped and twisted around. Neville Longbottom, red in the face and grinning, was taking the stairs two at a time to reach them
“I was just outside, at the lake, to see if any more numderods had popped up. But I still saw your catch”great job. You too, Ginny.”
“Thanks, Neville,” Ginny said, stepping down. “What was it you said you were looking for?”
Neville brightened and he held out his left hand. About ten small, puffed-out, wriggling green things the size of kidney beans sat in the palm.
“Numderods!” he said brightly. “They come to the surface of large bodies of water whenever they sense a sort of excitement in the air. Kind of like a reverse dementor.” He chuckled, then curled his fingers over the squirmy animals. “Anyway, I’m collecting them for Professor Sprout at the end of every Quidditch match. It’s kind of an outside project.”
“Good for you, Neville,” said Ginny, standing next to Harry and slowly trodding on his foot. He looked at her in bewilderment for a second, then understood what he was supposed to do.
“Oh”yeah,” he said. “That’s great, Neville.”
Neville grinned and shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.” But the smile on his face suggested that it was anything but not a big deal, and Harry suddenly felt a little surge of pride for Neville. He had really come into his own and was starting to give Hermione a run for her Galleons in Herbology.
“Sorry, but I’ve got to go,” said Neville, passing Harry and Ginny on the stairs. “I’ve got to get these things in some water.”
“Of course,” said Ginny, moving to the side of the staircase. “See you up there, Neville.”
“Bye!”
Neville’s robes disappeared by the time he reached the second floor. Ginny turned to face Harry.
“Er”Harry? Why are we still standing on the steps?”
Harry looked right and left to ensure that they really were alone and held out his hand. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
She took his hand and tilted her head, still looking confused. “Where are we going?”
Barely able to keep the large grin off his face, Harry shrugged. “You’ll see.”
She giggled all the way up to the third floor and all the way down the corridor, only stopping when he came to a stop in front of the very familiar humpback witch.
“What is this?” she asked, with a querying look.
“Ginny…” he started again. “Did Fred and George ever tell you about a map of Hogwarts they nicked from Filch’s office?”
Looking even more perplexed than before, Ginny shook her head. “No.”
“Well… back in third year, when I couldn’t get into Hogsmeade… they decided to give it to me.”
Harry pulled the Marauder’s Map out of his pocket where it had rustled before.
“And what do you need with a map of Hogwarts?”
Shooting her a conspiratorial look, Harry pulled out his wand. “Trust me,” he said, “this isn’t any old map. Watch.”
He spread the Marauder’s Map out on the wall in front of them and tapped it with his wand.
“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”
Instead of watching the ink spread out over the map as he had seen it do so many times before, he watched Ginny’s face as it went from skeptical to puzzled to amazed. She grabbed the map out of Harry’s hands and brought it up to her face, and he laughed.
“This is amazing!” she breathed. “Amazing! Can you really see””
“Anyone you want to see,” Harry finished for her. He stepped close and tugged the map down. “See, there’s Filch on the seventh floor, and there’s Mrs. Norris near the Astronomy Tower. There’s Snape in the dungeons, and that’s McGonagall in her office.”
“And here we are,” she whispered, slowly tracing a finger over the parchment. Harry felt a blush start as he stared at their respective dots standing so close. He liked the way their names looked together.
“Oh…” Ginny’s eyes traveled from their dots to the witch, back to the map. “Is this a secret passageway?”
“Yeah,” said Harry. “And it takes us to””
“Hogsmeade,” she finished.
“Right into Honeydukes’ cellar.”
Visibly shocked, she turned to look at him. “No!”
“Yes.”
Something registered in her mind, and it showed on her face. “Of course,” she breathed. “Of course. That’s how Fred and George always managed to get their hands on all those sweets after Quidditch matches.”
“Because they knew how to get to Hogsmeade,” Harry supplied. “There’s a few more passageways, but this is the easiest.”
“And it’ll take us straight to Honeydukes?”
“Yeah.”
Ginny backed away, letting go of the map and pulling out her wand. “Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s go.”
“Wait,”he said, holding a hand on her arm. “This is very important.” He tapped the map and whispered “Mischief managed.”
Ginny’s mouth formed an ‘o’ as she watched the ink disappear. Laughing, Harry tucked the map back into his pocket. “Watch.” He tapped the witch’s hump and whispered “Dissendium,” then stood back as the hump opened.
Ginny ran forward to see the chute that led to the passageway. “Are we supposed to go down this?”
Harry nodded, then extended his arm. “Ladies first.”
He was almost positive that that comment was going to land him another swat on the shoulder, but Ginny kissed him instead. “This is so amazing,” she whispered, then hoisted herself into the hump and out of sight. Harry waited until he heard her feet hit the ground before he followed.
“Lumos.” Ginny’s wand tip ignited just as he landed, taking care not to trip over his Quidditch robes. The light caught the tips of her hair and the apples of her cheeks, making her look like an angel. “Come on,” she said, giggling. “Let’s go.” Her eyes were sparkling.
Harry grinned. “All right,” he said, sticking out his hand. Hers went into it at once, and he laced their fingers as they started walking.
***
“Won’t they notice that we’re the only Hogwarts students around?” Ginny asked quietly, looking over her shoulder at the Honeydukes owners standing behind the counter. They smiled and waved; Ginny, on the other hand, flushed red and turned into his shoulder. He chuckled, and felt her face burn even brighter through the wool of his Weasley sweater.
“And you call yourself a Gryffindor,” he chided, bending down to grab some more pumpkin pasties.
“How does this make me less of a Gryffindor?” she hissed, now bringing up her hand to hide her face from the kindly-looking owners.
“A real Gryffindor wouldn’t be worrying about the rules,” he teased, straightening back up.
“Oh, so I suppose Hermione isn’t a real Gryffindor then,” she whispered back, casting a fleeting glance back over her shoulder again.
“Would you stop worrying?” he said, not bothering to keep his voice down at all. “They get students in here all the time”just ask your brothers. It’s good for their business. Besides,” he continued, when she still wasn’t looking convinced, “if anyone that knows we’re not supposed to be in here was in here, we’d already be caught.”
“And how’s that?”
He tilted his head, considering, then grinned and tugged on one of her braids. “Well… it’s awfully hard to miss your hair.”
“Oh…” Ginny scowled, bringing her eyebrows together and crossing her arms. The door to the shop opened, however, and she dove behind a barrel of jelly slugs.
“Will you calm down?” Harry said, taking Ginny by the hand and pulling he out of her hiding place as an old witch and a little boy, most likely her grandson, walked by. “We’re not going to get into trouble.”
“Oh, that’s easy for you to say.” They walked up to the counter, Harry’s hands and shopping bag overflowing with candies. “You’ve been breaking rules ever since you got to this school.”
Harry smiled, remembering that very same line coming from someone he liked a lot less than he liked Ginny. “This coming from the girl who helped me break into Umbridge’s office last year.” Ginny’s head whipped around, and he smirked.
“That was different,” she said imperiously, taking a Cauldron Cake out of his hand and placing it on the counter. “You had to talk to Sirius. It was important.”
“As was hexing Malfoy.”
Ginny took another cake, clearly chagrined. “How else would we have gotten out of that damn office?”
“And how else would we have coerced Ron and Hermione to get over themselves?” said Harry, laughing. “Harry…” he continued, mimicking Ginny’s voice, “…we’ve got to do something. I say the next time they argue, let’s just shove them in a broom closet and let them work it out.”
Ginny pursed her lips, clearly trying not to smile. “Well, we didn’t end up shoving them in a broom closet, did we?”
“No. But I agree, the empty classroom was a much better idea.”
“That will be seven Galleons, three Sickles, dears.”
Harry jumped. He had completely forgotten about the Honeydukes owner standing in front of them at the counter. He gave a nervous little grin, his left hand coming up automatically and flattening his hair over his scar. The wizened witch only smiled kindly, however, and gave the barest of winks.
“Oh, Harry… it’s so expensive.”
Harry turned to Ginny and smiled. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I hate to make you pay for all of it, though…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll send a cup around the common room. If you eat, you pay.”
“You sound like Fred and George.”
“Well, I learned from the best.”
Harry reached inside his robes pocket and groped for the small moneybag he kept on him in case of emergencies. One never knew when one might have to make an unexpected Honeydukes run. Harry handed the gold to the witch, who in turn gave Harry and Ginny the bulging bags.
“Have a nice day, dears,” she said, then went to help another customer. Harry waited until she rounded the corner, then silently beckoned Ginny into the basement. Making their way down was a lot more difficult than going up had been, because this time their hands were full. They managed to make it to the trapdoor, however, and they slipped through without a sound.
***
“Ah, here’s the Seeker!”
Harry had just finished helping Ginny into the portrait hole when he found himself being dragged bodily into the common room. As he stumbled and eventually regained his footing, Seamus and Ron let go of his robes, both of them roaring with laughter. Ginny sidled over to the couch where Hermione sat, looking torn between amusement and disapproval. She smiled upon seeing Ginny, however, and the two of them burst into giggles.
Girls.
Harry shook his head and reached into the Honeydukes bag. “Chocolate frog, anyone?” he bellowed, launching the candy into the air. The noise level increased exponentially as students squabbled over who got what.
“Brilliant, Harry!” Seamus roared. He too dove into the Honeydukes bag. A few seconds later, he emerged, a pumpkin pasty clenched in his teeth and his hands full of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.
“How did you do this?” cried George Billups, one of their new Chasers. He and fellow Chaser Samantha Vance were so covered in Gryffindor regalia that it was difficult to make out their Quidditch robes underneath.
“Oh, just one of those things, you know,” Harry said noncommittally, launching a Fizzing Whizbee into the air. Ron caught his eye, however, and the two of them burst out laughing. George and Samantha smiled and laughed as well, both reaching for a candy. When their hands brushed, both of them jumped back, as though stung. George’s face turned a bright kind of purple; he opened his mouth to speak but released a kind of mumble before turning on his heel and dashing away. Samantha sighed.
“Don’t worry!” Ron said, a little too loudly. “He may be stupid now, but just wait!”
Eyebrows raised, Samantha shot him a skeptical look before she too turned and disappeared into the crowd.
“You didn’t have to say anything, you know,” Harry said, having to raise his voice so Ron could hear him over the music.
“I was just trying to help,” he returned. Harry watched as his eyes flickered over to Hermione. “Apparently Fred and George sat Hermione down and gave her a talk about how I was a stupid prat, but I really did love her.”
As though Hermione could sense they were talking about her, her head turned and she smiled. Ron let out a little sigh that Harry was fairly sure he wasn’t supposed to hear and gave Hermione a wave. Instead of letting Ron realize he had heard the sigh, Harry waved as well. Ginny’s cheeks and hair glowed from the heat of the fire, and he was thinking about going over and persuading her to let it out of its braids when he felt a punch in the side.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to Honeydukes?” Ron said, digging his knuckles playfully into Harry’s ribs. Harry swatted his hand away.
“You were busy.”
“Busy?”
“With Hermione.”
Ron’s cheeks flushed a violent red again, and Harry patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, mate, it wasn’t anything I haven’t seen before.”
Harry ducked, laughing, as Ron launched a swing at his head. “Come on,” he pleaded, as Ron advanced again. “I want to go talk to Hermione.”
Ron fell back a step. “You talk to Hermione every day.”
“Not yet today, I haven’t.”
“Come on, mate! Stay a little while. Let’s play chess or something.”
Harry stood halfway in between the couch and Ron. As he turned back to look at Ron, he realized just how much Ron had come to resemble Fred and George. Harry looked around”he, Ron, Hermione, Seamus, Dean… they had all become the oldest students, without him even noticing. Harry remembered looking up to the sixth and seventh years in a kind of awe. They had always seemed so old, so untouchable in their mature and surely much more important preoccupations.
Harry glanced over his shoulder at Ginny. She had certainly taken a central role in his life… so much so that he had almost forgotten his friends. Harry shook himself a bit and headed back towards Ron.
“You all right, mate?” Ron asked, eyebrows raised.
Harry looked him in the eye. “We don’t spend as much time together as we used to, do we?”
Ron looked taken aback at the question. Then, something registering in his mind, he shook his head. “No, we don’t.”
Harry nodded. “We’ve got to change that.”
Ron nodded as well. “Yeah, we do.”
And as the pair of them sat in their armchairs by the fire, Harry knew no more words were needed. He and Ron were close enough that, sometimes, they weren’t needed.
***
A/N: Okay, readers. Here's the deal.
You give me reviews, so I love you. I give you a story, so I'm assuming you like me at least a little bit.
I welcome constructive criticism. How else am I going to get better? It's when I get reviews like "OMG I HATE YOU AND THIS STUPID STORY!" that I draw the line.
...not only is this not constructive, it's just plain dumb. And newsflash: it doesn't make me want to update any faster.
I've already got the first half of chapter seventeen written, and I'll try to post it before exams. I haven't given up on this story! Please don't give up on me. :)