The Matchmaker

"Well, well, well," said a familiar silky voice suddenly from behind them. Ron and Hermione leapt quickly away from each other on the blanket. "What do we have here?"

Towering above them, an amused smirk on his face, was possibly the last person Ron would have wanted to find them like this. He swallowed, hoping that his horribly red face did not look as guilty as he felt.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor," Professor Snape said sharply. "And I suggest the two of you take your little rendezvous elsewhere."

"But we haven't done anything wrong!" Hermione exclaimed, her face pink with embarrassment.

"Yeah, we're not out of bounds or anything!" Ron declared indignantly after finally finding his voice.

"Oh, I believe you are," said Professor Snape dangerously. "What kind of an example does it set for two prefects to be found in such a compromising position? I should not be surprised, Miss Granger, that you are not smarter than this."

It was one thing for Ron to give Hermione a hard time about her maniacal study habits, but it was quite another for someone else, even a teacher, to insult her intelligence.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" Ron said loudly, barely able to control his temper.

"It is not for you to question me, boy!" Professor Snape said angrily. "Another ten points and be thankful it's not detention."

He swept away through the trees quickly and was gone. Ron and Hermione sat on the blanket in silence for a moment. They were both still slightly pink from embarrassment.

"I wonder what he was doing out here?" Hermione muttered aloud, not really expecting an answer. With the immediate threat gone and the mood broken, Ron was glad that Hermione was focused on other things. He had no idea what to say to her. What exactly was the state of their friendship, after what had almost happened between them?

Neither had time to ponder their problems long, for at that very moment a loud CRACK and a chorus of screams rent the air. Hermione jumped up off the blanket, Ron scrambling to a standing position beside her. "Bullocks!" he whispered.

It was a declaration of how concerned she was that Hermione did not reprimand him for his unorthodox language. Instead she said, with a voice edged with panic, "Oh, no! We've got to find Harry!"

With an impatient flick of her wand she had miniaturized the remains of their picnic and deposited it in Ron's pocket. Grabbing his hand, Hermione rushed the two of them toward the commotion outside the forest, dreading beyond words what they would find. When they had reached a clearing close to the edge of the woods, Ron halted abruptly, keeping hold of Hermione's hand to stop her also. She turned to see why they had stopped, paling at the look of horror on his face. She followed his gaze upward through the trees, where the dark mark was glowing a brilliant green.

*****************

The patrons of the Three Broomsticks were dashing through the door and into the street, Harry and Ginny among them. The scene before them was unimaginable. Students and adult witches and wizards alike were running everywhere, unsure of a route to safety. Down the street, Harry could see Madam Puddifoot's completely aflame, and it looked as if a fire had just broke out on the roof of Gladrags, the robe shop. Hooded figures in dark robes could be seen here and there casting spells on innocent victims attempting to find shelter. Grasping Ginny's shoulders firmly, Harry guided her into a small space between two buildings, crouching low to maneuver through the crowd and avoid being seen. He positioned himself in front of her, nearest the street, in case a Death Eater should spot them. It was strangely dark for the afternoon, and looking up, Harry understood why. The sickening shape of the dark mark was blocking out most of the sunlight over Hogsmeade.

Harry's scar began to ache dully, but he was not too concerned. After all these years, he knew by now that this was only a warning. Voldemort was not close by; he had sent his followers to do the dirty work. Harry's first instinct was to run out into the melee and fight. But he had Ginny with him, and Ron would never forgive him, he would never forgive himself, if anything happened to her. He had to get her back to the protection of the castle.

"Let's go, Gin," Harry said, taking her hand as they stealthily left their hiding place and began moving quickly down the street toward the edge of town. "I need to get you back to the castle."

"You go back," she said, withdrawing her hand from his and reaching into her robe to pull out her wand. "I'm staying here to fight."

She turned to head back the way they had come, but took only one step before Harry grabbed her arm to stop her. Her red hair flew out behind her as she whirled around to face him.

"Like hell you are!" said Harry angrily. "You're going back to Hogwarts right now!"

"I'm not the one in danger, Harry, you are!" Ginny exclaimed. Harry's eyes widened in shock, and he opened his mouth to tell her she was wrong, but Ginny stopped him. "Really, what are the chances that you are not the target of this attack?"

"How do you...?" Harry trailed off as he stared at her in disbelief.

"Harry, Voldemort has been after you since you were a year old. He hasn't repeatedly targeted anyone like that that I know of. There must be a reason that he's after you," Ginny explained vehemently. "And by the look on your face, you know exactly what it is."

There was no point in arguing with her. Ginny had figured it out all by herself. In some ways, it was a lot like talking to Hermione. He gazed silently at her, unwilling to admit anything out loud. Ginny seemed to accept his silence as an answer.

"Maybe one day you will trust me enough to share it with me, but for now I'll just settle for keeping you alive," she said. "We don't have time to stand here arguing about this. You need to get out of here!" Harry opened his mouth to protest, just as Ron and Hermione came running up to them from behind. They were both out of breath, and Harry wondered briefly where they had come from. He was surprisingly glad to see them. It would help to have someone else make Ginny see reason.

"You two get Ginny back to the castle," Harry said firmly, attempting to take charge of the situation. Ginny was not at all impressed that he was pretending that their entire conversation had not taken place. "I'm going to stay here and fight."

"Like hell you are!" bellowed Ron, sounding eerily familiar to Ginny. "There are teachers and members of the Order all over the place. We saw them as we were running over here. You're going to get your 'Boy Who Lived' happy arse back to Hogwarts and we're all" he gave Ginny a pointed look, "going with you!"

Harry's mind raced, torn somewhere between shock and intense anger at Ron talking to him like that. His anger won out. He had just begun to berate Ron, using a number of expletives that made Hermione's eyes go wide, when Ginny interceded.

"Well, I guess if you're staying," Ginny said dramatically, "we're all staying. So if you want your stubbornness to be responsible for getting the three of us killed, that's your decision to make."

Harry knew she was right. There was no way that Ginny and his two best friends would let him stay without them by his side. He couldn't risk their safety like that.

"Ok, let's get out of here," he relented. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Ginny had taken his hand and begun to move as quickly as she could toward the castle, with Ron and Hermione on their heels. There were Death Eaters on the path ahead, obviously trying to block their escape onto the grounds of Hogwarts. Harry stopped one with an Impediment Jinx, and Ginny felled another with a well-aimed Bat-Bogey Hex. He could hear Ron and Hermione not far from them casting spells, trying to impede the attackers coming at them from behind. The remaining Death Eater blocking their path began to advance toward Harry, but before he could utter a curse, another Death Eater suddenly sprang out from behind a tree, and grabbed Ginny roughly by the arm. Within a moment, she was disarmed, her wand lying uselessly in the grass. She struggled and cursed at the Death Eater as he began to drag her away. Harry sent a hurling hex at the Death Eater that had been approaching him, watching only briefly as he spun through the air away from them. He turned to see Ginny, red hair flying and mouth hurling insults her mother would hex her for, being taken away by the Death Eater. Rage boiled up in Harry. He would not let anything happen to her.

He raced after Ginny and her captor, luckily only a short distance behind them. It was too risky to attempt a spell with Ginny so close to the intended victim, and Harry had no idea what would happen if it didn't work. Instead he ran as quickly as he could, reaching out a hand and willing her to take it, even though he was still at least ten feet behind them. All of a sudden, Ginny seemed to somehow break free of the Death Eater's grasp and came hurtling directly at Harry at an incredible speed. She barreled into him, almost knocking him over, her warm body crushing tightly into his as he caught her and wrapped his left arm around her. With his right hand he raised his wand, hexing the Death Eater that had taken her with such force that he flew into a group of trees and completely out of sight.

"Ginny, thank God," Harry breathed, his voice raspy from the run. The immediate danger having passed, Harry wrapped his arms protectively around Ginny. He suddenly noticed the way her face was pressed into the crook of his neck, and he could feel her heart beating rapidly against his chest. It gave him a wonderful tingly feeling that made him very concerned about having her so close to him. There were certain, erm...reflexes that he would be incredibly embarrassed for her to notice.

"Are they gone?" she whispered as Harry pushed her away from him slightly. Ginny's brown eyes bore into his, and Harry seemed unable to look away. He was intensely aware of how close together they still were. He could see each and every freckle clearly defined on her pale face, and her bottom lip looked slightly swollen, as if she had been biting it. Harry had a sudden, maddening urge to just lean forward and -

"Harry," she said quietly, her voice startling him back into reason.

What the hell am I doing? He thought. They could still be in danger and here he was - well, he couldn't think about what he had almost done. Especially with Ron lurking around here somewhere. Oh, God...

"Ron and Hermione," Harry said in a low voice edged with panic at the exact same moment that Ginny said, "Where are Ron and Hermione?"

"They can't be far. Let's go!" Ginny yelled as she grabbed his hand, and together they sprinted back up the path away from the castle.