"Is something troubling you, Harry?" Dumbledore asked as Harry picked himself off the floor.
"No; why do you ask?" Harry mumbled as he clamped his hands over his still wiggling ears.
Dumbledore pointed his wand at Harry again. "Finite Incantatem," he said. Harry rubbed his ears with relief after they stopped moving. "During our last meeting you performed the Aegis Charm flawlessly, and now a simple hex can break through."
"You...caught me off guard," Harry quickly said. He looked away and tried to empty his thoughts, figuring Dumbledore would try to look into his mind.
Dumbledore studied Harry for a moment. "You may be able to close your mind to me," he said, "but I am still an excellent judge of human behavior. Now I should think we have both learned our lessons about hiding things from each other. What's wrong?"
Harry stared out the window at the night sky. He probably should tell Dumbledore about the dream, but it felt so odd to be discussing his personal life with him. Besides, he had everything under control, right? "I had another dream about Voldemort Saturday night."
Dumbledore sat on the edge of his desk with a look of concern on his face. "You slipped in your Occlumency," he said quietly.
"It was the first time in months," Harry quickly said. "I swear, I've been doing well all term..."
Dumbledore raised his hand to quiet him. "It's alright Harry," he said. "Occlumency is a very difficult art, and you have just started to learn it. In fact, I am quite proud of the progress you have made." He hesitated for a moment. "So what did you see?" he finally asked.
Harry sat down and thought for a bit. He didn't need to remember the dream; it was still as vivid as it was the night he saw it. He just wasn't sure how much he should say. "He was angry," he answered. "He was getting frustrated because his plans were at a standstill, and--" he paused, "--he was blaming me." I think that's enough, Harry thought. He took a deep breath and looked back at Dumbledore, almost daring him to drag more information out.
Dumbledore peered at Harry over his half-moon spectacles. Are you sure that's all?" he asked. "You seemed extremely upset."
"Yes, that's all," Harry insisted. Maybe I was a little too forceful about that, he suddenly thought.
Dumbledore seemed to ponder Harry for a bit before he sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Well," he said, "as encouraging as that vision was, I must impress upon you that, even in this state, Voldemort is still a threat. I don't think I need to remind you that caution is of the utmost importance?"
Harry nodded. "I know," he said quietly.
Dumbledore studied him grimly for a moment, and nodded. "Off you go then," he said.
Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room to find Hermione and Ginny studying together by the fire. Ginny's face lit up when she saw Harry and she immediately told Hermione to sit in a nearby armchair to make room for him on the couch.
Harry sighed as he forced himself to smile and take his seat. Ginny had actually stayed away from him for the rest of the weekend, presumably because she needed to get over breaking up with Dean first. This was fine by Harry; it delayed the inevitable. At that moment though, she seemed to be really excited to be with him.
"I hope you don't mind, Harry; I borrowed one your Defense Against the Dark Arts books," Ginny said as he sat down.
"Oh no; it's alright," Harry said as he looked at her smile. How in the world was he going to break up with her? "So what are you looking at?"
"Shield charms. Didn't you say that Dumbledore was teaching you how to do a more powerful kind of shield?"
Harry nodded. "The Aegis Charm," he answered. "Dumbledore said it can even block Unforgivable Curses."
"Oh, I've read about that!" Hermione said. "How do you do it?"
Harry pulled out his wand to demonstrate. "Well, you slash your wand through the air in front of you like this and say 'Contego!' " A white flash of light exploded from the tip of his wand and split into two large wings that wrapped around the couch. Ginny gasped and grabbed Harry's arm as a dome of swirling light enclosed them. Harry looked at her and chuckled in spite of himself.
"Harry? Ginny?" Through the mist of light Harry and Ginny could see Hermione pacing apprehensively in front of the dome.
"Watch this," Harry whispered to Ginny. He aimed his wand at Hermione. "Rictusempra!"
Hermione shrieked. "Harry!" she screamed, but she couldn't stop laughing as she fell to the floor. But just as Harry's tickling spell went through the shield, the mist of light slowly started to dissolve away. It didn't matter though; Hermione was in no condition to retaliate. Harry and Ginny were howling with laughter.
"Alright, come on, we have to stop," Ginny said between laughs. She pulled out her wand. "Finite Incantatem."
Hermione laid exhausted on the floor for a few moments, still giggling a little as she tried to catch her breath. "You...git," she finally managed to say. Ginny quickly moved closer to Harry, who was seriously thinking he should get the shield back up immediately. "You--little--GIT!" She scrambled to her feet and was just about to snatch up her wand when the portrait hole opened and Ron climbed in.
"Hi!" he said as he walked over to them with a letter in his hands. Then he noticed the fact that Harry and Ginny were huddled together on the couch with Hermione preparing to attack them. "What's going on here?"
Hermione slowly turned to Ron, her face becoming redder and redder. "Nothing," she finally said as she straightened up and ran her fingers through her hair in an effort to compose herself. Harry breathed a small sigh of relief. Ron looked at him inquisitively, but Harry just shook his head and mouthed, "I'll tell you later." With that, Ron shrugged and sat in a nearby armchair. Hermione threw one last contemptuous glance at Harry and perched on the armrest on Ron's chair.
"I got a letter from Dad," Ron said. "He and Mum are going to be hosting a lot of events during the holiday. There's even going to be a Christmas Dance at the Ministry on Christmas Day and we're all going."
Hermione peered at the letter. "Wow, that looks like fun," she said. "So who are you taking to the dance?"
Ron turned to her, puzzled. "Well I'm--I'm going with you, aren't I?"
"I don't recall you asking me." Harry grinned at the smirk on Hermione's face. It was obvious she was playing with Ron just to see him squirm.
"But--we're going steady--I thought it was a given!"
"A girl still likes to be asked first. But if you don't want to ask me, it's alright. Maybe Viktor will be available that evening..."
"Hermione, will you go to the Christmas Dance with me?" Ron quickly asked. There was a hint of desperation in his voice.
Hermione smiled sweetly at him. "I'd love to," she answered and kissed him on the cheek.
Harry laughed as Ron turned to him with a look of exasperation on his face. His laughter was cut short though when he felt Ginny's hands curl around his arm.
"So Harry; who are you going to the Christmas Dance with?" she asked. Harry's grin faltered a little as he looked at her. He suddenly realized that he would be expected to take Ginny to the dance. He looked back at Ron, who shrugged his shoulders and grinned at him. Then he turned to Ginny. He couldn't tell her then...not with Ron and Hermione there. There was only one thing to do at that moment...
"Well Ginny, would you like to go to the dance with me?"
Ginny's smile faltered a little now as she studied his eyes. She can tell something's wrong, can't she? Harry thought uneasily. But if she did, she didn't say anything about it. "Yes," she answered and snuggled up next to him. Harry reflexively put his arm around her shoulders and rested his chin on the top of her head. He stared off into the distance, his mind lost in thought. What am I going to do? he wondered.
Soon the Christmas holiday came and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny rode the Hogwarts Express to London where Mr. Weasley was waiting to take them to the Burrow. As Christmas Day approached, everyone kept busy decorating the Burrow and meeting various Ministry members who dropped by to visit. On Christmas Eve Remus and the rest of the Weasley brothers came over and, after eating dinner and singing a few carols, everyone went to bed.
The next morning Harry and Ron woke up to find piles of Christmas presents at the feet of their beds.
"She can't be serious," Harry muttered as he opened Hermione's gift.
"What is it?" Ron asked.
Harry looked at Ron in exasperation and held up a copy of Hogwarts: A History. "She's been trying to get us to read this for a while, hasn't she?"
Ron cringed. "Did she get me one too?" he asked as he reached for his present. "Let's see...wow..." he opened the package and pulled out a set of brand new royal blue dress robes. He looked up at Harry with a surprised grin on his face. Harry turned back to his present and scowled before moving on to the next gift.
Harry tensed for a moment when he saw Ginny's name on it. He slowly pulled off the shiny red paper to reveal a framed picture of Ginny looking resplendent and happy in pale pink dress robes.
"I remember that picture," Ron commented when he peeked over Harry's shoulder. "That was taken at Dad's inauguration. He said she looked so pretty that he wanted to make sure he had a picture just of her. Daddy's little girl, isn't she?" He smiled affectionately at his sister's picture before going back to his own presents.
Daddy's little girl, Harry thought nervously as he put the picture on his nightstand. He stared at it for a moment and wondered what Mr. Weasley would say about their relationship before going back to the rest of his gifts.
Harry was just about to open his last gift when Mrs. Weasley knocked on the door. "Breakfast is almost ready!" she called.
"Okay; we'll be down in a minute!" Ron answered as Harry ripped the paper off the crudely wrapped gift.
"It's from Hagrid; hey, it's a new cage for Hedwig," he said. It was a nice, big cage with a curious small compartment on the bottom. Harry opened the door and prodded inside to find an opening to that bottom compartment when suddenly the top of the compartment split down the center, slid open, and slammed shut--on Harry's fingers. He yelped.
"What the--?" Ron ran over and helped Harry pry the cage off. "It's probably supposed to keep the cage clean!"
"Yeah it'll stay clean alright; Hedwig won't even go in it!" Harry gasped.
After a few minutes of tugging, Harry's fingers finally came out one by one. "Listen; why don't you go on downstairs. I'll be down in a few minutes," he said.
"Okay," Ron said and left.
Harry sat back and massaged his bruised fingers as he stared at the cage. Hedwig already hates being in a cage! he thought. What makes Hagrid think she'll go anywhere near this one? Once he decided he had regained proper feeling in his hand he carefully put the cage away and headed downstairs.
Everyone else was huddled together in an excited discussion in the living room. As Harry came down the stairs, George looked up, saw him, and punched Fred in the shoulder. Then everyone turned around at the same time and stared at Harry.
"Um, hi! What--what's going on?" Harry asked uneasily.
The crowd slowly parted and Ginny approached him carrying the little white jewelry box he had bought. Harry swallowed hard as he felt his heart starting to beat faster. Stay calm, he thought. Stay calm and it'll be alright.
"Happy Christmas Harry! Thank you for the chocolates. I don't think I've ever had that kind before, they were really good."
"Oh--good--I mean--you're welcome..." Just breathe...
"And look at this other gift I got...very curious..." She opened the box and held up the necklace for Harry to see.
Harry was now working very hard to remain casual. "Oh wow that--that's a really nice diamond..."
"Is it a diamond?" Ginny looked up inquisitively. "I thought it was a sapphire...it is blue..."
"Oh--well it--has more sparkle to it--you know--there are--blue diamonds--and I--well--" Harry's mouth was getting really dry.
"And look at the note that came with it," she continued as she held it out to Harry. "Whoever wrote it must have been very upset...the handwriting's shaky and there's a tearstain on it..."
Harry reflexively took the note and opened it, trying very hard to pretend he had never seen it before:
I may never be able to tell you how I feel about you, but at least with this you'll know that you will always have my heart.
His hands were starting to shake as he read the note. He took a deep breath and blinked his eyes to keep the tears from coming back again. "Yeah it's--it's really curious..."
"You wouldn't happen to have any idea who sent this, would you?" Ginny finally asked.
Harry could feel her eyes boring into him. She knows, he thought. It's obvious. How could she not know? Just tell her. Just tell her it's you and get it over with. Harry stared into Ginny's face, wanting to tell her the truth. But when he finally opened his mouth, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
"I--have no idea," he said quietly as he averted his eyes.
Ginny stared at him for a few moments with a puzzled expression on her face. She looked back at the necklace and slowly took it out of the box. She gazed at it in her hand before holding it out to Harry.
"Could you put it on me, Harry?" she asked.
Harry's hands shook a little as he took the diamond and watched Ginny turn her back to him. He slowly draped the necklace around Ginny's neck. As he did so, she reached up and lifted her hair off the back of her neck, causing the scent of it to hit Harry full in the face. Harry stood dazed for a moment before pulling himself back to reality and finishing what he was doing. He smoothed the chain onto her neck, his fingertips tingling a little as they lightly grazed her skin.
Ginny let her hair fall back down, once again overcoming Harry with its scent. She turned to face him and, putting her hands on his shoulders, she pulled herself up on her tiptoes and gently kissed Harry's cheek. Harry closed his eyes and lost himself in the sensation of feeling her lips brush against his skin.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Harry opened his eyes and stared at Ginny for a moment as sadness started to creep into his heart again. The look on her face was full of concern as she stared back at him. Then she let go of his shoulders and headed for the kitchen to help her mother with breakfast.
She was halfway there when Hermione joined her. She gave Harry a curious look before following Ginny into the kitchen. Suddenly, seeing Hermione reminded Harry that he and Ginny were not alone in the room. He whirled around to find every single male member of the Weasley family staring at him.
Uh-oh.
"Harry! Buddy! We need to talk!" Ron said loudly as he slammed his hand on Harry's shoulder. He steered Harry over to an armchair and shoved him in. Harry's heart jumped into his throat as he cowered under the sea of flaming red hair that slowly engulfed him. That was when he realized: Ron wasn't going to kill him for dating Ginny; he was going to kill him for breaking up with Ginny.
"Alright, what's the story?" Ron yelled.
"S-sorry?"
"Oh don't even try it! I saw you buy that necklace at Tavernier's!" Ron snatched up the note that Ginny left on the coffee table and held it to Harry's face. "And this note is in your handwriting! Hermione caught it right away! Besides, Ginny saw the first note you wrote; you know, the one where you sounded like you actually wanted to be with her?"
"Easy now Ron, there's a good chap," Mr. Weasley slowly pulled Ron away from Harry's face.
"Yes, I'm sure there's an explanation," Remus said as he walked over to Harry's side.
Ron scowled and slouched against the wall with his arms crossed. "Okay, I'm waiting," he said.
Harry eyes traveled to each face staring down at him, all bearing accusatory looks. He could feel the sweat beading on his brow.
Remus sat on the armrest of Harry's chair and gave him a comforting look. "Harry it's obvious you're upset about all of this too. It's alright; just tell us what's going on."
Harry stared up at Remus for a moment and buried his face in his hands with a sigh. Then he looked up at Ron. "Do you remember I had that dream about Vol-- You-Know-Who the other night?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Well--" Harry paused. He was almost about to tell them the truth, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. "It reminded me that every single person who was ever close to me has either been killed or seriously injured."
Ron stared at Harry, then looked down and shuffled his feet awkwardly.
"I mean, even Ginny has been in serious trouble before, and that was before we spent any real time together! What will happen to her now?"
The expression on Remus' face became very sad as he put his hand on Harry's shoulder. The Weasleys looked uneasily at each other for a few minutes, as if contemplating what he just said. Then Mr. Weasley sat on the other armrest of Harry's chair.
"Harry, these are very hard times. Many people are going to suffer and die while this war goes on. But it is not an excuse to stop living. Especially in times like this where every moment you have with the people you care about is so precious." Harry looked up at Mr. Weasley, wishing that what he was saying was that simple.
Then Ron stepped forward. "You are still taking Ginny to the Christmas Dance, right?"
Harry turned quickly back to Ron and gulped again. "Yes of course," he said with a slight squeak in his voice.
Preparations for the Christmas Dance were extremely subdued that afternoon. Ron hardly said more than three words to Harry the entire time they changed into their dress robes. Then they went downstairs to wait for the girls.
Hermione and Ginny came down the stairs together, but Harry didn't even see Hermione. Ginny was wearing purple dress robes and her hair fell in loose curls about her shoulders. And around her neck was the blue diamond.
Harry stood and walked up to her in a daze. He took Ginny's hand as he racked his brain for something to say. "Wow," was all that came out of his mouth. But that seemed to be enough as Ginny blushed and smiled shyly into his eyes.
Harry was so absorbed with Ginny that he hardly paid any attention to the trip to the Ministry, the reporters swarming the Atrium with their constantly flashing cameras, or the Hall the Christmas Dance was held in. It was a large dance floor surrounded by round tables of various sizes with chairs. Up front was a long table of honor where the Weasleys and their dates were to sit for dinner and across from that was a stage with musicians playing Christmas songs.
After they had eaten Mr. Weasley stood and announced that Celestina Warbeck would be singing tonight. Once he said this a pretty young witch with light blonde hair and shimmering silver dress robes entered and took the stage to tumultuous applause. As she started to sing Mr. Weasley took Mrs. Weasley's hand and led her onto the dance floor. Everyone else followed suit.
Harry didn't say a single word as he held Ginny in his arms and danced. He stared into her eyes for the first few moments and then slowly pulled her closer. He closed his eyes as he buried his face in her hair and inhaled its scent. Maybe, Harry thought as he felt Ginny nestle her head against his shoulder and heard her sigh. Maybe this might work. I mean, how much can Voldemort find out? Maybe if we kept it discreet...she's so amazing...
Harry was pulled from his reverie by a tap on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and turned around to find Ron behind him with Hermione smiling next to him, holding his hand. It was then that Harry suddenly noticed Celestina Warbeck wasn't singing and all the people were leaving the dance floor.
"Music's stopped mate," Ron said with a begrudging smile on his face.