Harry had been asleep for a few hours before he felt a hand shake him awake. “Harry,” it said. “Harry, wake up.” He stirred, and reached over to the nightstand for his glasses. Kevin was standing over him. “Get up, Harry. Meet me in the common room.” He left the room.
Harry got to his feet and soon followed him down to the common room. Kevin was sitting in an armchair next to a recently restored fire. He motioned for Harry to take a seat across from him. “I’m sorry that it took me a couple of days to get back to you. I’ve had my hands full with a few things, but I’m free now and I thought it might be best we talk out of earshot of anyone else.”
The young wizard nodded. He was a bit upset with Kevin since he had interrupted a dream he was having about Cho, but at least he could get some questions answered. “Thanks for seeing me. I’ve been really confused about a few things for a while now. What happened to you and Sara after the Death Eater attack?”
Kevin interlocked his fingers. “We apparated out, and then we blew up the house.”
Harry’s eyes widened. “Blew up the house?”
“Yep,” Kevin answered. “Sara and I used a spell to plant a magical bomb and we got out of their with the dogs. We used a spell to Apparate them as well. Figured we could take out a few Death Eaters while we were at it.” He took out his wand and waved over the empty space. A table sprung up and a jug of pumpkin juice appeared. He poured himself a glass and Harry one as well. “Now I guess you want to know why we were attacked.”
Harry shook his head. “Not really. I thought they were after me.”
Kevin stared at Harry for a moment. “Bit full of yourself, aren’t you? You might be right, but to be honest we are not sure. You know that we were not the only safe house hit that night, right? Well, we think this might just have been a random strike designed to take out as many Hogwarts students as possible. The only reason we might have been hit was that the Death Eater that attacked Hermione got word back to Voldemort. Whether that gave him an idea where you were or not, we just can’t be sure.”
That sparked another question in Harry. “Who was it that attacked Hermione?”
Kevin shook his head. “I can’t tell you that Harry. I’ll only reveal that information to Dumbledore and Hermione, and she has to make the conscious effort to tell you. She has the right to know first, and I won’t bring up the subject until she does.” His tone indicated finality to the subject. His voice suddenly lightened. “How have you liked your classes so far?”
“Oh, they’ve been fine,” Harry said, taken aback by the change in subject. “I like your Potions class so far, and Sara’s too.”
The professor smiled. “Thanks, we’re trying our best to keep things interesting. We’re all trying to make this year as simple as possible on all the students. Though, we can’t do it all by ourselves. We have been hoping that the students would help each other, hence the Halloween Ball.” He took a drink from his glass.
“That was a great idea,” Harry said, a big smile on his face. “I am really going to enjoy it.”
Kevin stared at him again. “Already have a date? Someone in Gryffindor?”
“No, Ravenclaw. Cho Chang.”
Something made a thud from the top of the girl’s dorms. Kevin got up and shined a light from his wand up the stairs. “Hmm, probably a ghost making some trouble.” He sat back down in front of the fire. “Ravenclaw, eh? Stacy gave me the idea that someone in that house had an interest in you. I just wasn’t sure that you would have in interest in her.”
Harry looked quizzical. “What do you mean?”
“Never mind,” Kevin said. “I’m happy that you’ve found someone. Reminds me of when Sara and I first started going out.” His eyes glazed over and his head lolled back onto the chair. “I was just about your age when I stopped looking at her as a friend and as something more. We went out for years before I got up the nerve to ask her to marry me.”
Harry sat up straighter in his chair. “Can you tell me what it felt like when you started dating?”
Kevin closed his eyes. “It was so long ago, but I remember that I couldn’t think straight for almost two years. Every time she looked at me, she touched me or even talked to me was like being in the presence of an angel. It felt wonderful to know that someone like her could love someone like me.”
“Did you ever feel like there might be someone else?”
Kevin’s eyes opened. “What makes you say that?”
“Nothing,” Harry answered. “I was just wondering.”
Kevin leaned forward. “Harry, is there someone else on your mind? Do you have feelings for someone else?” Harry didn’t answer. “Well, if you do I’m telling you now to forget about her, because you can’t be sure of anything if you’re sure of nothing.”
“I don’t understand.”
“What I mean is that, even if you have romantic feelings for two women, you have to pick one and see where that leads you. I’ll answer your question. Yes, there was another woman I had feelings for. I never told Sara about it because it didn’t matter. I was in love with her at the time and the other woman eventually left my life. I haven’t regretted my decision for a second, but I knew that if, by some chance in hell that Sara and I didn’t end up together, I would have loved the other woman with all my heart. Think about this for a second, though. If I had tried to find my feelings for both of them at the same time, I would have lost them both and I couldn’t live with that. So my advice is this, concentrate on one of them. Find out how you feel and work from there.” Kevin pulled a silver pocket watch from his robes. “I’ve kept you up long enough. Think about what I said, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He left the common room and Harry went back up to his dormitory. As he lay in his bed, he made a final decision. He would forget about Ginny and concentrate on Cho.
************************************************
The following day, Harry was true to his word. He sought out Cho early in the morning to spend some time with her before breakfast. She was so pleased to see him; she invited him to eat with her at the Ravenclaw table. He thought it might be a bit awkward, but caved in when she placed a kiss on his lips. It was actually quite enjoyable. He talked with some students that he had only passed by in the corridors before. When the bell rang, he walked with Cho to her Charms class then, after stealing a kiss from her, went to Herbology.
Ron and Hermione kept throwing odd looks his way. They had never seen him act this way. Professor Sprout continued her lecture about medicinal herbs. After that class, they made their way to Care of Magical Creatures. Malfoy was much more subdued this class, seeing as how Chris had made a surprise visit to the patch. The dogs had been making routine patrols around the grounds and the castle, but the German Shepard took an extra long time inspecting the area. He took special interest in the ground around Malfoy, much to Harry, Ron and Hermione’s pleasure.
After lunch, they went to their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. When they entered the classroom, the first thing they noticed was the absence of desks. They had all been pushed off to the side, leaving the center of the room clear. Kevin walked down the staircase at the back of the room. “Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Place your bags to the side and take out your wands.” The students followed the instructions. “Now, today I want to review the spells that you should know up to this date. I understand that your year has had the worst luck with defense teachers, but I have the utmost confidence that what you haven’t learned, you will pick up on it quickly.”
He started naming off spells to see which student could cast the spell correctly at him. They, of course, did no damage since he had a shield charm over himself. When Kevin was satisfied that they had a good understanding of the spells, he put the desks back where they were and started to talk to them about the spells they would be learning this year. He put special emphasis on the protective spells that would ward off the stronger spells that were most likely to be used. Since this was a double class, Kevin allowed them a little time to practice their spells in pairs. He put special charms on the “target” students so the spell’s effects would wear off soon after being cast.
The bell finally rang to end the class, and he told them to study up on experimental curses and the least commonly used curses for next class. Harry talked to Kevin before he left for dinner. “Thanks for the advice last night.” Kevin nodded, and Harry left the room.
When he sat down for dinner, no less then fifteen Gryffindor students came up to him saying they would all be trying out for the Quidditch team on Friday. This encouraged him and Ron, who were looking forward to starting Quidditch soon. Cho, who had seen the students coming up to Harry, came over herself to wish him luck on picking a new team, one that would give her team a good season.
He kept an eye out for Ginny, wondering if she might tell him whether or not she would try out for the team. He soon saw her enter the hall with Sara. She looked upset. He pointed her out to Ron and Hermione, and Hermione quickly got up and went over to her. Harry saw them talk for a moment, and then Ginny took a seat near Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan. Hermione sat back down. “What’s up with her?”
She gave him a stern look, and then softened her expression a bit. “Nothing. She just had a bad day, that’s all.”
Harry didn’t believe her, but pushed it from his mind. Ginny wasn’t an issue for him anymore.