“No!”
Harry sat bolt upright in fear and quickly took in his unfamiliar surroundings. A polished oak desk was just visible through a crack in the slightly open door and, just beyond it, Harry could see the corners of what looked like portraits. A second later, a flash of gold soared past the door and settled on a perch. Just next to the bed, Harry noticed his wand, his glasses and a jug of water. The window immediately opposite of him showed a weak sun gleaming off the blanket of snow enshrouding the grounds; the Quidditch Pitch was just visible through the hazy sunshine. Cautiously, Harry got out of bed and made his way over to the door, his wand held defiantly in his hand.
“Good morning Harry,” a soft voice said.
Harry stared as Professor Dumbledore turned around and motioned Harry to sit down.
“Would you like some breakfast?”
Harry shook his head. “Professor, last night! The letter, Voldemort, Snape…”
Dumbledore raised his hand to silence Harry. “They are being dealt with. Are you all right? You gave us all quite a scare last night.”
Harry shuddered unwillingly and ignored the question. “But that letter! You said it was genuine. Voldemort’s going to do what he said he was; he’s not the sort of person to make threats and not carry them through.”
“Listen to me, Harry,” Dumbledore said, giving Harry a piercing look. “There is nothing we can do at the moment to stop Voldemort’s wrath. We have no idea where he is going to strike, or when, and I have not had any information from any of my, er, sources.”
“Snape,” Harry muttered quietly.
“Professor Snape, Harry. As it so happens, he is currently in contact with the Death Eaters and is trying to discover where the attacks are to take place. Until he returns, there is little anyone can do other than wait,” Dumbledore added regretfully.
“But this is my fault…”
“Harry, this is not, and cannot, ever be viewed as your fault. It is only the fault of Lord Voldemort. You have done more than anyone in delaying Voldemort’s return to power and it is you, out of every wizard alive, who has come the closest to defeating him once and for all. It is also thanks to you, Harry, that the Wizarding world has been able to live in peace for as long as we have.” For the first time, Dumbledore’s voice sounded with a trace of despair and helplessness.
As Dumbledore looked away, he, Harry, was almost sure that Dumbledore’s hand shook very slightly. He instantly thought he had imagined it though as Dumbledore stood up carefully and Fawkes flew onto his shoulder.
“Harry, I suggest you go back to Gryffindor Tower now. Miss Granger and Mr Weasley have been asking after you all morning and young Miss Weasley threatened to use a certain Bat-Bogey Hex on me if you didn’t return to the Common Room by midday. If you do have any concerns and you would like to speak with me, you are more than welcome to come here at any time. I will also remind you that you can use you Patronuntrius to contact me if you need to.”
Harry stood up to leave, smiling at the thought of small, determined Ginny threatening the Headmaster.
“Oh, and Harry,” Dumbledore added as Harry reached the door. “I suggest you make your move over the Christmas break. I am sure she has been waiting for you to acknowledge her for several years and I think she is beginning to tire of waiting.”
Harry blushed as the Headmaster smiled slightly and his blue eyes twinkled brightly. As Harry walked down the stairs and headed towards the Gryffindor Common Room, for the first time he appreciated just quite how observant Albus Dumbledore really was.
When Harry walked into Gryffindor Tower, he was amazed to see Ron, Hermione and Ginny sitting alone in a corner. Harry froze as he heard Ron speaking to Hermione, Ginny was silent.
“…It’s just a question of where we go from here. Harry’s hiding something from us; all of us. He’s been like this before but not quite as bad as it is now.”
“Ron, Harry has been through a lot you have to remember that-”
“Hermione, how can we help him if he shuts us out? You saw what happened after that detention with Snape…”
“Drop it about the detention, Ron. Harry doesn’t have to say what he happened. I mean, it wasn’t as if Snape pulled out his wand and outright cursed him, is it?”
Harry coughed pointedly behind them, partly to distract them from Ginny’s uncomfortable shifting.
“Harry!”
Hermione leapt up and threw herself at Harry, embracing him in a hug.
“Oh Harry, we’ve been so worried! Last night, when you came down stairs crying, it was awful. All three of us went to see Professor Dumbledore this morning but he wouldn’t tell us anything. I would have been to see Professor McGonagall but…”
“Knock it off, Hermione,” Ron said with a smile. “Let the man breathe! All right, Harry?” he added.
“Yeah,” Harry muttered. “I’m fine.”
Ginny walked over to Harry, her hands on her hips.
“For the last time, Harry, will you stop giving stupid answers?! I’m sick of the ‘I’m fine’ business when things clearly aren’t!”
Harry quailed slightly as Ginny carried on, a slight blush gracing his cheeks.
“When are you going to learn? Ever since Sirius died, you’ve been acting like a complete idiot: moping around and pretending everything’s your fault. For Merlin’s sake, Harry, stop lying to us! Sirius is dead, gone, finished; now move on with your life! Don’t keep using him as an excuse! When you’re like this, you’re just playing right into You-Know-Who’s hands! For Merlin’s sake Harry; we all know You-Know-Who’s back, but it’s not like you’re the one that has to kill him, is it?!”
Harry, Ron and Hermione were stunned into silence at Ginny’s words. Ginny, who had suddenly realised what she’d said, turned the same colour as her hair.
“I… er… I’m… um… Sorry Harry! I didn’t mean to say that about Sirius…” Ginny said falteringly.
Harry just stood there, pale with shock. Little did Ginny know that she’d just hit the real reason of Harry’s fear bang on target. For one fleeting moment, Harry was on the verge of telling them the Prophecy but as soon as he thought this, the fear of their reactions made him change his mind.
“I… sorry… I… um… I didn’t think…”
Harry shrugged, his face still pale. “Forget it.”
Hermione shifted slightly and Ron gave her a fleeting look before turning back to Harry. “So then mate, what happened last night?”
“Why don’t we all sit down or something?” Harry said. After a quick glance to check nobody was eavesdropping, he took a deep breathe and began to explain what had happened twelve hours previously.
On the twelve days running up to Christmas, Voldemort was true to his word. Each day, the Prophet came out with yet another report of torturing or murders and each time the tense, heavy weight Harry felt he was carrying always became a little bit heavier.
Ron and Hermione spent a lot of time together, their Prefect duties allowing them plenty of opportunity to be alone. At times, Harry felt a little bit rejected but he was pleased his best friends had found happiness at last.
Ginny, on the other hand, began to spend more time with Harry than ever before. Often they sat together in the Common Room and just talked about Quidditch, or homework, or what they wanted for Christmas. It didn’t take long for Harry to begin to enjoy these times with Ginny; it even got to the stage that Harry was actually looking forward to the evenings when he got the chance to be with the youngest Weasley.
Never, though, did their conversations drift towards what went on outside the walls of Hogwarts’ Castle.
On Christmas Eve, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny found themselves once again at Grimmauld Place after the train ride back to Platform 9¾ from Hogsmeade. Tonks, Lupin and Mad-Eye Moody had met them at the station and taken all four of them straight back to Headquarters. That evening, they all sat down to a delicious meal cooked by Mrs Weasley and it didn’t take long for Harry to begin to relax and get excited about the next day.
“Thanks, Mrs Weasley; that was delicious!”
Murmurs of agreement came from Tonks, Lupin, Mr Weasley, Hermione and all the Weasley children except, obviously, the still absent Percy.
A few seconds of sleepy, contented silence followed although it was quickly broken by a faint shuffling and muttering. As one, everyone in the room grew tense although, strangely, they all looked at Harry.
“That’s Kreacher, isn’t it,” Harry said coldly, his eyes flashing.
“Yes, Harry,” Lupin said cautiously, ignoring Mrs Weasley’s hiss of anger.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me he was here last summer?” Harry said rising from his chair and staring at the shadowed corner.
“You weren’t ready to hear,” Tonks answered instantly, pulling Harry back into his chair. “He’ll only take orders from Dumbledore now and he told Kreacher he was to go nowhere near you.”
Still angry, Harry sat down and took a deep breath and, for some reason, Harry felt his anger overtaken by a new, more mature emotion.
“Fine,” he snapped. “Keep him out of my way; I won’t be responsible for my actions if I see him…”
Again, a tense silence followed before Arthur Weasley broke the tension. “Well, how about everyone have an early night so we can have a nice day tomorrow?”
“That sounds like a good idea,” answered Lupin quickly, clearly grasping at the change of topic.
“Yes, go on now, all of you,” said Mrs Weasley, chivvying Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins out of the room.
As Harry left the room, he hesitated before he shut the door.
Why did I just let that go? He thought quietly. That thing is the reason Sirius… Once again, Harry felt himself overcome by a wave of sadness. He jumped slightly as someone touched his arm.
“Come on, Harry,” Ginny said quietly. “Don’t let that stupid, wrinkled old gnome ruin our Christmas “ he’s not worth that.” Together, Harry and Ginny walked upstairs, Ginny’s quiet talking soothing away Harry’s anger.
Neither of them noticed Mrs Weasley standing at the bottom of the stairs openly staring at her daughter’s fingers clasped tightly by the hand of the Boy-Who-Lived.
“Come on, you two, we’re not going to wait for you!”
Ginny’s excited voice punctured through Harry’s brain at half past six the next morning.
“Get up, Ron; stop being so lazy!”
“Ow!”
Harry forced his eyes open in time to see Ginny and Hermione pulling of Ron’s quilt cover. Ron, however, curled up into a ball and muttered something about stubborn girlfriends and horrible sisters.
“You too, Harry.”
Ginny reached over and mercilessly pulled Harry’s quilt off as well. “You have five minutes to get downstairs or we’re opening your presents for you.”
Instantly, Harry was wide awake. Just as the girls left the room laughing, Harry stood up and pulled on his clothes. A few seconds later, Ron also began to stir and got dressed next to Harry. For some reason, Harry’s attention was caught by a small, grimy portrait on the wall opposite. Harry felt a twinge of unease as he noticed the portrait was empty “ he hadn’t seen Phineas Nigellus since that night in the Dumbledore’s office nearly six months previously.
“Come on Harry!”
Ron’s excited voice broke through Harry’s melancholy thoughts as he pushed past Harry and bounded downstairs. Grinning in spite of himself, Harry followed.
Four hours later, Harry was the owner of an enormous stack of Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizzbees and Sugar Quills, not to mention a small mountain of the twins’ new inventions. Tonks and Lupin had pitched in together to get Harry a book on practical jokes “ a present Harry had quickly hidden from view before either Hermione or Mrs Weasley tried to confiscate it.
After a massive Christmas dinner with most of the Order, Harry, Ron and Ginny were sitting curled up on the floor either reading one of their books or, in the case of Ginny, trying to arrange a stack of magical beads into patterns. As soon as she made a symmetrical pattern, the beads exploded in a shower of glitter and as each piece of glitter hit the floor, it transfigured itself into another bead. Hermione, unsurprisingly, was sitting on the couch reading a large book entitled ‘Tricky Charms and the Theories Behind Them’.
A few minutes later, the door banged open and Charlie Weasley bounded into the room.
“Hey guys, look what I found!”
In his hand, a sprig of mistletoe hung precariously downwards. “So then, who’s first?”
“Give that here,” said Mr Weasley, standing up. “Molly?”
Smiling, Mrs Weasley walked over to her husband and gave him a kiss.
“Urgh, Mum!”
“Your turn, little bro,” said Charlie, depositing the plant in Ron’s hand.
“Hermione?”
Looking less composed than she usually did, Hermione stood up and walked over to Ron. Grinning, she and Ron kissed and pulled away from each other; a meaningful look passed between them.
“Um, maybe now… I mean… Ron and me… Sort of… you know…” Hermione stuttered, looking almost as if she was too embarrassed to talk.
“We’re going out,” Ron blurted out and was stunned as everyone, including Mrs Weasley, burst out laughing. Fred and George started cheering.
“Told ya so! Told ya so!” they chanted to a very disgruntled Bill.
“All right you two. Just because you bet it would be at Christmas and I thought it would be Easter…”
“How did you know?” Ron said, flabbergasted.
“Oh Ronald, it was obvious!”
“Really?” Ron said, blushing again. “I thought it was a really big secret!”
Laughing, Charlie passed the mistletoe over to Harry. “Go on Harry, I dare you.”
Never one to turn down a challenge, Harry looked over to Ginny who had brilliantly flaming cheeks.
Just as Harry kissed Ginny, he felt a leaping, happy feeling overwhelming him, very different from anything he’d felt before. It took Harry a little while to realise that it was similar to the way he’d felt when he was with Cho, but different; somehow deeper than before. Looking into Ginny’s eyes, he realised in a flash that she’d felt it too. Remus Lupin cleared his throat loudly and Harry leapt back, blushing furiously.
Fred and George, side by side, had identical looks of shock on their faces, their mouths hanging open. Ron and Hermione also looked surprised although less so than the twins. Mr and Mrs Weasley just smiled.
A few days later, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Harry found themselves back at Hogwarts. Tonks and Lupin had taken them to the station and the journey back had been uneventful. Ron and Hermione were as close as ever but Ginny began to distance herself from Harry, almost as if she was afraid.
Harry couldn’t comprehend what he had done to induce this coldness from Ginny but he felt a new emotion of loss sweep over him. One thing was certain; he’d messed everything up with Cho and he was determined not to do so again.
A/N: Opinions please! My first go at romance “ I’d be interested in what you all think. Once again, special thanks to everyone who has reviewed! ~Stormy x