The Master

Harry could feel his face burning, and knew that it must be as red as a beet. There was only a few minutes left until the end of Charms class, and all of the Gryffindors were gathering their belongings before they were dismissed. I can't believe I have to do this! He raised his hand in the air to get Professor Flitwick's attention.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"Er...I just wanted to say that...er... in honor of Valentine's Day, I er, just want to say," Harry gulped hard and finished. "I love you."

The room went completely still at this extraordinary announcement for a full five seconds. Then the laughter erupted. Hermione was standing to his left with her mouth hanging open in surprise, and Ron was at his right with his face buried in his hands.

"Well," said Professor Flitwick cheerfully, "thank you very much! Umm...class dismissed?"

Harry bolted for the door amidst fresh gales of laughter, not knowing or caring if his two best friends were behind him or not. He walked as quickly as he could, avoiding any eye contact with those in the corridor, while his face continued to burn with embarrassment. He was almost to the main entrance of the school when he felt a hand on his shoulder pull him to a stop and turn him around.

"What was that?" Ron demanded, looking caught between horror and amusement.

Harry tried to avoid Ron's gaze by focusing on Hermione, who was just catching up to them, but he could see she was about to ask the same question.

"Look," he said, hoping his defensive tone would prevent anymore questions, "I can't tell you. Just let it drop, okay?"

Ron looked as if he was going to say more, but Harry headed outside and across the lawns to Care of Magical Creatures class, leaving them behind. Hagrid was outside of his hut, waiting for them all to arrive. Harry made small talk with him for a couple of minutes, but stepped back to stand with the rest of the class as they arrived, almost all of them together in on group. The teasing and questions from the Gryffindors started almost immediately, but Harry had been expecting that. The girls weren't so bad, and he basically just ignored them, but the boys were another matter. Seamus and Dean were making kissing noises at him, and didn't stop until Harry made a rude hand gesture at them. The Slytherins all looked confused at Harry's strange behavior, but merely shrugged and went about talking amongst themselves. Hagrid began the class, and things quieted down a bit as they learned about the Streeler, a color-changing snail that kills vegetation.

At the end of class, Hagrid had put the Streeler tank away, and Harry sighed heavily before raising his hand high into the air. The Gryffindors all stopped what they were doing and stared expectantly, and Hermione started to say, "You're not going to..."

"Did ya' have a question, Harry?" Hagrid asked when he spotted his raised hand.

Without looking at anyone but Hagrid, he said, "In honor of Valentine's Day, I wanted to say that I love you."

There was instant laughter from the Slytherins, but the Gryffindors all turned their heads as a unit to see how Hagrid would react.

"I love you, too, Harry," Hagrid said, looking confused but pleased. "Happy Valentine's Day to you, too."

Hagrid dismissed the class, and Harry gritted his teeth and ignored all of the provocative and insulting comments that were thrown at him by the Slytherins and his other classmates. Ron and Hermione, however, merely flanked him as he hurried back toward the school. The look on his face was enough to tell them that now was not the time to discuss his odd behavior. They went to Gryffindor Tower to exchange books for their afternoon classes and to wash up before lunch. In the boys' dormitory, Neville cautiously asked Harry if he was all right, and didn't seem convinced when Harry answered with, "I'm perfectly fine!" He grabbed his Herbology and Potions books and notes and stuffed them into his schoolbag, and descended the stairs to the common room. It became immediately evident that word had traveled to the other house members when Harry appeared, and several of them stopped in mid-sentence to stare at him or point and laugh. Someone from the corner by the fire (it sounded suspiciously like one of the Weasley twins) called out, "Happy Valentine's Day, Harry!"

Hermione and Ron exchanged a looked that said they were expecting Harry to lash out angrily, but he merely smiled broadly and called out, "Thanks! You too!" He acted as if he didn't hear the laughter following him as he climbed out through the portrait hole.

"Should we try to convince him to go to Madam Pomfrey?" Hermione asked faintly, completely at a loss for what to think. "Maybe someone slipped a potion into his pumpkin juice this morning... do you think Fred and George...?"

Ron shrugged and said, "We'd better stick close to him. If he says anything weird to Snape this afternoon, I'd be willing to bet he'll slip a potion into his pumpkin juice."

"If he doesn't just force it down his throat then and there," Hermione agreed. She hurried toward the portrait hole with Ron close behind.

They caught up with Harry at the top of the main stairs, and walked with him to the Great Hall. Harry was grateful that they weren't bombarding him with questions; he had a feeling things were about to get very strange, very fast. He only had to enter the Great Hall to prove that thought correct, as Professor McGonagall was waiting for him just inside the door, within easy earshot of the Slytherin table. Oh great!

"Mr. Potter," she said without preamble, "I've gotten word that you've been acting strangely today. Are you quite well?"

"Yes, Professor," Harry said as cheerfully as he could. "I guess I'm just getting into the spirit of the holiday. And I want to say, Professor, in honor of Valentine's Day, that I love you."

"Right, then," McGonagall said. She ignored the shrieks of laughter coming from the Slytherins and taking out her wand. She pointed it at him and muttered, "Finite Incantatum!"

Harry couldn't help it. He laughed. He started laughing so hard that tears formed in his eyes, and he was gasping for breath as he choked out, "I. Haven't. Been. Hexed!"

"I see," said the Professor, eyeing him beadily. "Then it's as you say? You're simply feeling especially.... affectionate today?"

"Yes ma'am," He answered, wiping tears from his eyes. He didn't dare to look at his friends for fear of breaking up again, so he said, "Happy Valentine's Day, professor," and continued to the Gryffindor table for lunch. He distinctly heard Ron mutter the word "mental" under his breath as he and Hermione followed him and sat on each side of him. He looked up toward the head table to see McGonagall whispering something to Dumbledore, and was relieved when the headmaster didn't seem at all concerned, but instead chuckled merrily.

He took a lot of ribbing at lunch, as expected, and whenever anyone wished him a Happy Valentine's day with a smirk upon their face, he simply thanked them cheerfully and wished them the same. He ate his lunch as if it were a perfectly normal day, and tried to engage Ron in a conversation about Quidditch, but Ron couldn't keep his mind on the subject while wondering if his best friend had gone round the twist. Finally Hermione said, "We need to go if we want to be on time for Herbology."

In the greenhouse, the Gryffindor students were joined by the Hufflepuff students, but as they were working with very sensitive plants, could not devote much time to heckling Harry about his Valentine's spirit. At the end of class, the whole room full of students seemed to be holding their collective breath in anticipation, and when Harry raised his hand into the air, many had to force down giggles. Ron once again hid his face in his hands as he prepared for what was coming. Professor Sprout approached Harry and asked, "Did you have a question, dear?"

"I just wanted to say, in honor of Valentine's Day, I love you."

"What a sweet boy you are!" she enthused blithely, giving him a small hug and a wink. "Happy Valentine's Day to you, as well! I hope you have a special someone to spend this evening with!"

Half of the class stood rooted to the spot in disbelief, while the other half howled with laughter as the bell rang to dismiss them. A lot of the Gryffindors hung back in the crowd of students leaving the greenhouse to fill in the Hufflepuff students who were still in the dark about Harry's conduct. Harry had the feeling that he was going to have a curious entourage following him around for the rest of the day to see what crazy thing he'd do next.

Hefting is bag determinedly over his shoulder; he headed back into the school to wash his hands and then headed toward the dungeons for Potions. Hermione and Ron were beginning to look at him with trepidation, and Harry would have laughed at their expressions and meaningful looks at each other if he weren't feeling very anxious himself. He reminded himself silently that all of this would pay off in the end as Draco Malfoy approached with an evil smirk on his face and Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him.

"Having a nice Valentine's Day Potter?" he asked, while his friends chortled stupidly.

"Quite nice, thank you. And you?" Harry countered, fighting to keep a straight face at Draco's comical expression. He felt sure that the Slytherin Prince had expected him to show a similar gesture to the one he had given to Seamus and Dean that morning. Perhaps he had been hoping to provoke Harry into doing something rash just in time to get caught my Snape, who opened the door to the classroom just then, but Harry kept a look of polite interest on his face as Draco turned away.

Potions class went relatively well, Harry actually managed to make a decent Forgetfulness potion, even with the distraction of knowing what he was about to do. As Snape directed them all to bottle a sample of their potion, label it, and bring it forward, Harry steeled himself and got in line in front of Snape's desk with his sample.

"Will wonders never cease?" Snape said nastily as he examined Harry's potion. "It's actually the right color."

"Thank you, sir," Harry said. "And may I say, in honor of Valentine's Day...."

Both Hermione and Snape interrupted him at the same moment, Hermione with a shout, and Snape with a low, threatening voice, "Don't say it!"

"I love you," Harry finished, keeping his broad smile pasted on his face, and preparing for the worst.

The classroom was so silent; you could have heard a spider scuttling across the dungeon floor.

"Right. That will be fifty points from Gryffindor," Snape announced silkily. "Twenty-five points for Miss Granger's outburst, and the same for Mr. Potter's."

Harry let out the breath he had been holding, and returned somewhat shakily to his seat. Ron and Hermione had flabbergasted expressions on their faces, and Harry knew his face was red, even if it was hard to see in the dim lighting. Strangely, now that the deed was done, he felt laughter building up in him again, but luckily was able to suppress it. Once the class was dismissed, the other Gryffindors were looking at him with awe and mingled respect. It was obvious now that Harry was involved in some sort of a prank, but no one had ever dared to deliberately disobey a direct order from Snape before, and that had to be taken into account, in their view. The Slytherins, on the other hand, were gleefully treating Harry much the same as his own house members had earlier that morning after Charms. He ignored them and went back to the Gryffindor Tower, not stopping until he reached his dormitory. There was still an hour before dinner, and he wasn't feeling so social at the moment that he wanted to spend that time in the common room.

He endured snide remarks, catcalls, and kissing noises all through dinner, and declared his love for two more teachers and Filch before leaving the great hall. He was beginning to wonder if his face would ever go back to its normal color. He ignored repeated attempts by various people to get the reason behind his outbursts, and settled down at a corner table in the common room to do his homework. The comments, questions and teasing stopped eventually as students disappeared in small groups to go off to bed. Harry remained in his seat, and encouraged Ron and Hermione to call it a night when they were showing no signs of doing so by ten thirty.

Finally only he and Ginny Weasley were left in the common room. She was curled up by the fire with a book in her lap, and Harry went to sit beside her. She looked up at him and smiled sweetly.

"Satisfied?" he asked her quietly.

"Oh, very." She grinned widely.

"Then hand it over," he demanded as calmly as he could.

She flipped the pages of her book to the back, and withdrew an envelope. He took it from her with a huge sigh of relief, and asked suspiciously, "Is this the only copy?"

"Of course! A deal's a deal," she replied.

At that moment, Fred and George popped their heads up from behind the sofa they had hidden themselves. It had become obvious to them that Harry was remaining in the common room for a reason, and they were determined to find out why.

"What's this?" George snatched the envelope out of Harry's hand, while Fred held Harry's arms, so that he couldn't snatch it back.

Harry struggled hard and almost threw Fred off, but George was too quick. He opened the envelope and took out a single photograph. The laughter was immediate, and Harry stopped fighting Fred and swore in defeat. George handed the photo over to Fred who also burst into laughter, and then handed the photo back to Harry. Glancing down at it to make sure it was the one Ginny had promised, he flushed once more to see his photo self, in the shower, holding a purple washcloth strategically, looking horror stricken. He quickly stepped over to the fireplace and threw it in, making sure every last hint of it was reduced to ash.

"You were responsible for all of this?" Fred asked Ginny, sounding impressed, even though he was still laughing.

At Ginny's smug nod, the twins dropped to their knees and touched their foreheads to the carpet and announced, "We bow to the Master."

The End.