Harry Potter and the Chest of Death

Chapter 4: New Experiences

Hogwarts was abuzz with activity. The post had been arriving everyday. Boys were receiving new dress robes and tuxes (some even with tails) and girls were getting carefully wrapped packages that contained their dresses. As Ron had predicted Kevin Reeves did ask Hermione to the ball. She accepted. Hermione still hadn't spoken with Ron since the "Caterpillar Incident" (Michelle's nickname for it), which had occurred a week ago. Michelle, to Harry's relief, was talking to Ron again. She gave up being mad the day following the Caterpillar Incident. And in so doing, she was the only link Ron had to gauge Hermione's anger. It was high.

"You know," Michelle was saying through her lunch, "Hermione won't even eat with us if you're here, Ron. Maybe you should apologize."

"It was a joke!" Ron protested.

"I think she's going with Kevin just to spite you," Michelle said. "Although he is really handsome, so it's not a surprise she said yes."

"If he's so wonderful," Harry said surprising himself, "then why didn't you ask him."

"Why Harry Potter," she said almost gleefully, "are you jealous that there may be another star at Hogwarts?"

"No," Harry said. "I just...um...well...I think we should only go with one another if both of us want to go with the other."

"Okay," she said nonchalantly, "I agree. I want to go with you Harry. You're just about as nifty a chap as they come." She and Ron both laughed at this, and Harry did as well.

"I'll apologize," Ron said out of nowhere. "Today, after Herbology."

*

Harry didn't think that Ron would apologize the moment he saw Hermione, but that seemed to be his plan. Ron was covered in Devil's Snare clippings, but this seemed to matter little to him. He approached a grumpy Hermione (her plant had shrunken because a Slytherine had pulled off her tarp covering). 'He's either really brave,' Harry thought to himself, 'or really, really stupid.'

"Hermione," Ron said as he approached her, "I'm sorry about the flower. I didn't mean to offend you."

"If this is just so you'll have a date for the Ball, forget it Ronald Weasly." ('Ouch,' Harry thought. 'First AND last names.') Hermione looked at him menacingly.

"It's not. I have a date. I just think that one prank shouldn't spoil our friendship."

"O," Hermione said, somewhat surprised. "In that case...alright. I forgive you, but only if you'll forgive me for reacting so excessively."

Ron smiled, "It's a deal." Harry breathed a sigh of relief. All was well again. But, as with most things in life, one bad thing is always replaced with one that's worse until you reach the bottom. For Harry this worse worry was the Chest of Death. They hadn't done any more research since that day in the library. His mind raced with worries and plans. Some were thought out, some were haphazard and disastrous in every way. His mind darted from using the invisibility cloak, to having Ron distract Dumbledore while he was lowered into his office from a tether on the ceiling.

But, McGonagall would be coming for bed checks in ten minutes, and Harry thought that he should be in bed when she does. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind again. But, something had to give, and it did as he drifted into a familiar, uneasy sleep:

Harry was dreaming. It was about the Chest.

He was in a field. The grass was gracing his legs. There was something on the ground right in front of him. It was the Chest. He bent down to pick it up, but the moment he began to rise with it in his hands, Voldemort slapped it away.

"Don't even think about it..." he said almost as shrill as a winter wind. "We share more now than battles, Potter. I can see into your mind when you sleep."

Harry was frightened beyond words. Then, Voldemort began to do the strangest thing: he began to cry. Blue tears poured out of his eyes. Harry didn't know what to make of it.

"I'm not doing this," Voldemort said. "It's something outside of here..."

Though severely disturbed, Harry slowly began to awaken (he didn't want to ever go back to sleep). He then realized what had been put into his dream: someone was crying in the Common Room. Harry pulled on a T-shirt in case there really was somebody there. He walked down the cold steps until he was in the middle of the Common Room. He could still hear it, but he couldn't see who was crying. Then, following the sound, he turned his head. That's when he saw a figure crouched over on a couch so out of sight that this was the first time that Harry had ever noticed it. Slowly his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he moved closer to the person who seemed so innately sad. When he was within arms length of the sofa he could tell who it was. Michelle had her head in her hands. She was crying so fiercely that the tears were running down her arms.

"Michelle?" Harry questioned to the figure. "Is that you?"

"Harry," she whispered, "I didn't know someone else was here..." Immediately she stopped crying, though Harry could still see tears running down her face.

Harry sat down next to her. "What's wrong?"

"This," she said handing him a piece of white lined paper. It read as this:

Dear Michelle,

How is school darling? Your father and I miss you very much. I know that the ball is coming soon. Did you receive the dress yet? I had Miss Wang design it especially for you.

Honey, I have some unfortunate news: the banks in Mexico had a bit of a mess with paperwork. Your father and I have to be there by December 3^rd. The consensus is that it will take about a month to straighten everything out. I'm so sorry sweetheart, but you can't come home this Christmas. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun at school, and we'll ship all your presents immediately.

Tell Harry we say hello.

Regretfully yours,

Mum

"I'm so sorry," Harry said. "I know you really wanted to go home...but your mum's right about one thing: we always have a great Christmas here."

"I know you do," she said, her cheeks glistening with her tears, "but it's not the same."

"I know," Harry said as he placed his hand on hers. "I know."

She looked up at him, her light brown eyes sparkling with the moonlight. She then directed her gaze to their hands. Harry still hadn't let go. Their eyes met. Everything, even the fire crackling, slowly melted away. All that was left was they, in this moment. She inched closer to him, her eyes unwavering. Slowly -almost cautiously- she put her arms around him. He did the same to her. They drew ever closer. She rested her head on his shoulder and he did the same. He could feel her warm cheek against his. This moment in each of their lives was one person who needed the comfort that only the other could provide. Harry held her tightly. Slowly they drew away from the embrace, but they remained with the each others hands held carefully in their own. Harry looked at her, and she to him.

Their faces were so close that he could count her eyelashes. For a moment he just looked at her, and then almost as if he was outside himself watching what was happening, he kissed her. It was not just flaming with passion; it was also romantic and honest. Their lips intertwined and Harry could feel nothing but her soft mouth pressed lovingly against his. He put his arms around her and she touched his cheek. Harry's mouth mingled with hers and for a second there was nothing to separate them. She put her arms on his shoulder blades, and he could feel her hands as they moved across his back. Their bodies were so near that he could feel her chest rising and falling with every breath. Harry thought that this kiss could last until eternity. His heart raced. His senses did not exist except for the feeling of her mouth tenderly upon his.

However, they did begin to pull their lips away. After their mouths were no longer caressing the other, they once again looked into each other's eyes. Harry held his breath--this moment could not be real; but it was. He could do nothing but lie back onto the arm of the sofa. It was so wide that Michelle was able to lie on her side next to him. She rested her head and her hand on his chest.

"I could stay like this forever," she whispered. Her voice was almost a song.

"Me too," Harry said. Slowly their eyes began to close. The anxiety that Harry had felt about falling asleep drifted away. He fell into a deep sleep with her beside him. 'Nothing can be more perfect than this moment,' he thought.

*

Slowly Harry began to wake, the light of the morning was shinning in his eyes. Michelle was calling to him as she shook him.

"Harry," she said frantically, "I think you should wake up now."

He opened his eyes to see that she was still there. He smiled: indeed, he had not dreamed her. But his feelings of joy sunk away immediately as he noticed that someone was standing over them. He put on his glasses, which had fallen to the floor, to see that it was Professor McGonagall.

"Mister Potter; Miss Swift, I suggest that you both get off that couch and dress immediately. I want to see both of you in my office as soon as you are finished," her gaze was stern, her tone: serious. She looked their pajamas up and down. Harry was in a T-shirt and an old pair of plaid, cotton pants. Michelle was in a beige nightgown that fell to about her knees.

'Beautiful knees,' he thought. 'No, focus Harry.' He forced himself to head towards the dormitory. Upon reaching it he changed into his robes. He descended the steps to see that Michelle was waiting for him.

"Harry," she said with a worried tone, "I think we're in big trouble."

"Let's just go see what she has to say," he replied. "Then we'll start to agonize." Michelle's hands were shaking, so Harry took her right hand in his left, and she smiled. "Let's head down to her office." There were no students in the halls, and Harry checked his watch. They had overslept by more than an hour! McGonagall's office came into sight, and they entered.

"Have a seat," she said motioning to the two chairs in front of her desk. They sat. "Let me begin by telling you that you both had myself, Miss Granger, and Mister Weasley very worried. They came to me this morning to say that both of you were nowhere to be found. I searched the entire castle looking for you two. I went back to the Common Room to look for clues, only to find you, Mister Potter and Miss Swift, sleeping on a couch so out of the line of sight that it took me 20 minutes to realize that you both had never left the Common Room at all. Explain."

Michelle looked at Harry before she began to speak: "You see Professor, I had recently gotten some rather bad news from my mother. I was crying in the Common Room around midnight when Harry came down. I guess I woke him up. Anyway, he asked me what was wrong, and I told him, and he understood and made me feel better. We fell asleep, and when we woke up you were there." Harry noticed that she had left out the part about the kiss.

"Is that all that happened, Harry?" McGonagall looked at him in such a way that Harry could tell she knew something had been omitted.

"Yes," Harry said. It was all he could manage to get out.

"Really?" the Professor said as she began to smile slightly. "Then tell me, Mister Potter why you have Miss Swift's lip gloss on your lips." Michelle giggled slightly, but was ignored by the rampant McGonagall.

"Er...I...ummm..." Harry touched his lips and felt the shiny liquid. For a moment the memory of how it got there played in his mind. He smiled.

"I don't think this is a pleasant situation," McGonagall said. "I'm not naïve. I know what happens when students get to a certain age, and there is not much I can do about it. However, what I don't approve of is making people worry, missing your classes, and being in your pajamas in the middle of the Common Room!" These last words echoed through her office. "I am going to let both of you off with a warning this time. Don't let me catch you again. Now, you're both late for your classes. Here's a note explaining that you were with me. Now, move along." They rose and exited the office.

"I have to go to Alchemy now," Michelle said. "I didn't mean to make anyone worry."

"I know," Harry replied, "Neither of us did. Look, I've got to go to Divinitation. I'll see you at lunch."

"Okay," she said. They each began to walk in opposite directions when she added, "O and Harry? You're a wonderful kisser." He blushed.

The Divinitation room was as poorly lit as always. Harry slowly climbed up into the smoky classroom. All the Gryffindors watched as he went over to Professor Treelany and gave her his note.

Have a seat Mister Potter, I was expecting you." He plopped down next to Ron. "Now," the Professor continued, "let's talk more about the moon..."

"She wasn't expecting you," Ron whispered. "She told the whole class that she had foreseen you being eaten by a swarm of locusts." Harry chuckled. "Where were you and Michelle?" Ron asked, his eyes alive with curiosity. "Hermione and I were really worried."

"We fell asleep on a couch," Harry said.

"You WHAT!" Ron screamed as he jumped out of his seat, obviously shocked. All the other students were now staring in Harry's direction. "Asleep on a what? With who!" Harry tried to quiet Ron down, but Professor Treelany wafted over to them.

"Mister Weasly," she began, "please quiet down. I am trying to open the channels for enlightenment." Ron seated himself again. As Professor Treelany continued with her lesson, Ron passed Harry a torn piece of parchment. It read:

"You fell asleep on a couch? I don't know what to say... Where? When? Why? And most importantly: What is that stuff all over your lips?"

Harry wrote on the back of the note that he would explain everything at lunch. Immediately after so doing, the bell rang.

"Looks like I'll know soon," Ron said grinning. They went down to the Great Hall. Today the lunch was every sandwich possible. Harry, in an attempt to stifle himself, shoved half of a roast beef sandwich into his mouth. Ron, Hermione, and Michelle stared at him.

"Harry," Michelle began, "it's no big deal."

He swallowed. He looked across the table at Ron and Hermione, "What do you want to know?" He hoped that they wouldn't want details. Remembering the lip gloss, he wiped a napkin over his mouth.

"First," Ron answered, "what was that stuff on your mouth?"

"O that," Michelle said with a smile. "That was just my lip gloss."

Seeing that Ron and Hermione didn't really understand, or perhaps didn't want to, Harry and Michelle began to explain the previous night's events. They held each other's hand under the table as they told it, and Harry squeezed her hand when they got to the part about the kiss. When they had finished telling it all, Ron and Hermione's mouths were hanging open.

Michelle, sensing the tension, began to speak, "Okay. A nun, a pigeon and Merlin walk into a Diagon Alley...Stop me if you've heard this. Anyway..." She gazed at them all. "Are you all just zombies or something? So Harry and I kissed. It's not a big deal. Geez, everyone is making it seem like we snogged so hard that neither of us has tonsils anymore." Ron was the first to laugh, then the rest chimed in.

"Sorry for the reaction," Hermione said to Harry, "but we can't say we expected this at all."

"Definitely not," Ron put in.

"We get it Ron," Michelle said.

"Right out of nowhere..." he continued. "It was like BAM! Merlin only knows Harry! I was shocked when we were in Divinitation." He started to laugh again. "You had to see yourself with that stuff on your lips. O Harry, it was all shiny..." And so they had once again made light of a seemingly difficult situation. All were in a simply cheery mood when Malfoy strolled over; Crabbe and Goyle were nowhere to be seen.

"Lip gloss, Potter? Really... Have you given up being the incessant hero for a life as a drag queen?" Malfoy snickered at this.

"O take your cackle to a cheap movie theatre," Harry replied. "I'm tired of your ridiculous insults."

Malfoy actually took a step back at this. Michelle, striking while the iron was hot, said sarcastically, "O Malfoy...you can be such a loser sometimes that it's really sad. Maybe we should start the Help Draco Get a Life Fund."

She tagged Ron who said, "I'm surprised you don't have your bodyguards here, Malfoy. I never noticed how sickly you look without those two gorillas by your side."

Ron then tagged Hermione who simply said, "Get out of here. We don't like you, and you're not important enough to hate." The improvised rapid succession of insults had its intended result. Hermione's words being the most hurtful. Malfoy turned a bright red before Harry saw something resembling surprise and anger slip across his face.

"I'm not going to bother with it anymore," Draco said with a shaky tone. "I don't care either way. You are all losers who are so dependent on each other, I bet you haven't even held someone's hand."

"O please..." Michelle said as she rolled her eyes. "Nobody cares about your elementary insults. I've seen meaner stuff in a wastepaper basket."

Draco made something of a sneer before closing his eyes and walking away.

"That was great," Harry said with a massive grin. "We're a great team."

"Hey," Ron said, an idea clearly forming in his mind, "we should give ourselves a name. You know...like a superhero group or something."

"How about..." Hermione said as she tapped a finger on the table, "Hmmm...I've got it! We can call ourselves Blue Sky. It's clear and forever."

They all liked this idea, and so the year of the Blue Sky had begun.

Author's note

I am working really hard on this fic. Your feedback is important to me. Please read Magic Wars on the Rid. section. I don't know the person that wrote it, but it is so funny! I think it's near the e's or something.

Blue Sky becomes very important later, and if you didn't like the mushy stuff in this chapter, I don't suggest you go on.

Also, in either Chapter 1 or 2 I mention Persephone Blaire. It's correctly spelt Blair, and the character is used by permission of the author of Harry Potter and the Dream of Fate. It's a great fic; you should check it out. It's by Emerald~*.