Adaptations

ADAPTATIONS PART 13

Harry's cab pulled up at the entrance to Kings Cross Station. Harry went to fetch a trolley while the driver hauled his things from the boot. With little trouble it was all loaded on and Harry paid the driver. He included an overly large tip, as he didn't think that he'd have much use for the muggle money he still had in his pockets. The black cab pulled away as Harry opened his trunk and dug out his old pair of glasses. Able to see clearly once again, Harry pushed his load through the automatic doors and towards the platforms, followed closely by Snuffles.

The station seemed its usual harried self, even on a Saturday. There were crowds of people rushing here and there, all trying to get someplace quickly. But that was why they were all here, wasn't it? To get to someplace else. Harry thought for a moment about where he was going. Hogwarts to be sure, but where would he go after that, if there was an 'after that' to go to?

Most of the crowd was muggle but now and again Harry could make out a Wizarding family leading one or more children off towards the barrier between Platforms 9 & 10. He casually pushed his own trolley in the same direction. He was earlier than usual. Well truth be told, he was usually running late whenever he caught the Hogwarts Express, and today he was merely on time. He pushed through the barrier and onto Platform 9 and ¾. The scarlet locomotive gleamed in the morning sunlight and clouds of steam billowed around the drive wheels. He gazed at the shining metal leviathan with all the emotion that he had lacked at Privet Drive. Here, at last, was something that he wanted to see, and a journey to a destination he wanted to go to. Even with all his problems, it was more o a home than Surrey had ever been. Harry trundled his trolley along the long line of cars, looking for an empty compartment, when he heard familiar voices behind him. He turned and saw Neville and his Gran walking along.

He had seen Neville once this summer, during one of his and Cho's excursions into Diagon Alley, but he had been too busy not being noticed to notice the change in his friend. Instead of being led along the platform by his grandmother, Neville was leading her. He stood tall and carried his head high. She toddled along behind him, with that great, ugly, red bag clutched to her bosom like it held the Queen's jewels. Harry waved cheerily.

"Wotcher, Neville," he called. "You have a good summer?"

"Hello, Harry." Neville called back. "Yeah, it was pretty fair, I must say. How about you? You sure look different!" The two shook hands and at a slight 'hrumph' from behind Neville spoke again. "Harry, I'd like you to meet my grandmother. Gran, this is my friend, Harry Potter."

"It's a pleasure, ma'am," Harry said, "but we have met before, although under less pleasant circumstances. It was last Christmas... at St. Mungo's."

"Yes," the stately older woman responded, "you were visiting a relative, I believe?"

"Actually, ma'am, our other friends were. It was Mr. Arthur Weasley, he had been injured... at work, and I was visiting him with his family."

"Ah, yes, so I've heard."

Harry cleared his throat a bit. "Actually, Neville, I'm glad I ran into you and your grandmother here today. I want to apologize for getting you into trouble last June."

"Tut, tut, my boy," Mrs. Longbottom interrupted. "There is no need for an apology. Neville told me all about what happened." Harry shot Neville an inquiring look and Neville smiled and waggled his hand in a 'so-so' gesture that told Harry that Neville hadn't told his Gran everything. "Neville has always been a brave lad," she continued. "He takes after his father in that way. Always ready to stand up and fight the good fight. Isn't that right, Neville?"

"Yes, Gran," Neville answered with a grin.

"Well, I have to admit that it was a great relief, having Neville there," Harry went on. "He really saved my bacon a few times." The old woman nodded serenely, as if this were the expected norm for her grandson. "I'm sorry he was hurt and broke his wand and all. But even then, he never backed down. Even when Bellatrix was cursing him, he never gave an inch."

"Bellatrix, did you say?" the old woman seemed shocked and Neville's eyes grew wide. Evidently this was something that he hadn't told her, but now that the professor was out of the bag, Harry reckoned he might as well tell her how brave Neville really had been.

"Yes, Bellatrix LeStrange." Harry had a hard time saying the name without swearing and he watched as Mrs. Longbottom's eyes grew wide with shock. "She was after us in particular and, when I tripped and fell, Neville stood right up to her and covered me. She cast the Cruciatus on him, until someone was able to jinx her and break it off."

The old woman gripped her bag even tighter, her cheeks growing pale even under her blusher and Harry began to wonder at the wisdom of his words. "Is this true, Neville?" she asked shakily. He nodded, his face held stiff with pride and determination. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

"I didn't want to upset you, Gran. You know how you get 'bothered' by things sometimes."

Harry shifted uncomfortably, wanting to change the subject. "But he did just great! He was a real Gryffindor. Saved my skin there, I can tell you," he repeated.

"Of course, he's a Gryffindor," Mrs. Longbottom said with stiff pride, her eyes shining a bit too brightly. "As I said before, just like his father. Now if you'll excuse us, Mister Potter, I'd like to say farewell to my grandson."

Harry nodded and moved along. He turned to give Neville an apologetic look for causing him even more trouble but, when he did, he saw a sight that made him grin instead. Mrs. Longbottom, for all her stiff-upper-lip demeanor, had Neville wrapped in a tight hug and Harry could see a tear running down her wrinkled cheek.

Grinning still, Harry continued down the platform. With his face turned back towards Neville and his Gran, Harry wasn't looking where he was going and his trolley rammed into something. Harry turned quickly, an apology on his lips. A trio of familiar red-heads caught his eye a second before Ron saw him and called out, "Hey there, Harry! I wanted to run into you, but not literally."

Harry and Ron bent and gathered the fallen parcels from the crashed carts. They stood and shook hands.

"All set for another year at school, Harry?" Ginny asked him brightly. She was already in her school robes and her new Prefect's badge gleamed with fresh polish. Harry wondered for a moment if she had polished it or perhaps her mum had done it out of sheer pride. "Well, don't just stand there gawping or I may be forced to give you a detention," she chided him with a smirk.

Before Harry could reply, Mrs. Weasley strode up to him and reached out to give one of her trademark hugs. She stopped suddenly when she noticed the bruise that had formed on Harry's cheek. "What on earth happened here?" she admonished, as if Harry had hit himself or something.

"Well," Harry stuttered weakly, "I sort of tripped and fell down the steps leaving the Dursleys."

Molly gave him an appraising look. "Tripped down the stairs, did you? And smacked the side of your head?" Her eyes told Harry that she had already raised quite a few rough and tumble boys and he had better not try to pull any funny business with her. She wanted nothing less than the full truth.

"Well... yeah," Harry stammered.

"Why didn't you clean yourself up before you left then?" Harry was fixed with a stare that would have done a Scotland Yard Inspector proud.

"Well..." Harry's mind was speeding to formulate an excuse as he absently wiped at the blood on his jumper. "I had called a muggle taxi to take me to the station and it was already waiting. I was just taking one last look around to make sure I hadn't left anything behind... I'm never going back there, you recall?" Harry knew he had hit on the right thing to say because Molly's eyes suddenly misted over as she went from interrogation mode to overprotective mum in the space of a heartbeat. "Well, the driver must have been in a hurry because he honked his horn just as I was on the stairs and I sort of tripped." Molly whipped out her wand and was busily working on the bruise as Harry continued to explain. "I knew Aunt Petunia wouldn't care about my getting hurt and so I just rushed here as quick as I could... because I knew you'd be here." Well, Molly immediately engulfed him in a hug and began to pat his back and coo soothingly into his hair. Over her shoulder Harry spied Ginny as she gave him an impressed sort of nod and mouthed 'good story' to him silently.

Mrs. Weasley quickly released Harry and told him, "That's as good as I can do now; the bruise had already started so you'll need some Reducing Salve on it to heal properly. So make sure you go and see Madam Pomprey just as soon as the train gets to school." She waggled a finger at him as she finished, "I'll be sending her an owl as soon as I get home so you'd best do as I say."

"Yes, ma'am," Harry said nodding his head in supplication.

"Well, you lot had best go and find yourselves a compartment or you won't be able to sit together." Molly turned and gave each of them a last bone-crushing hug before turning and leaving them to it.

Ginny swatted Harry on the arm and said approvingly, "Good job, you handled her like a real Weasley."

"I learned from the best," he answered lightly but he was a bit uncertain himself of how he had handled the situation.

Ginny looked at him and asked, "So, what really happened?"

Harry was about to answer when he spotted another group of students further down the platform. It was Michael Corner and his mates. As he watched, Cho walked over. Michael leaned down to kiss her. Cho's head was turned to greet the others so he kissed her on the cheek. Harry swallowed and rubbed his hand through his hair.

Ginny looked from Harry's expression to Cho and Michael and said sadly, "I guess the summer's over, huh?"

Harry thrust his hands into his pockets and answered sadly, "Yeah, I guess it is."

Ginny reached out and gently placed her hand on Harry's elbow. "It's not like it's a surprise or anything. She was seeing the both of you all summer," she said softly.

Harry shrugged her hand off. "Let me ask you a question, Ginny? How long were you and Michael going out?"

"Just about a year," she said getting a bit hot. Why was he snapping at her? She was only trying to point out the truth. "So, I ought to know him a bit."

"Yeah, you ought to. So, you were going out over last summer holidays, right?" She nodded. "And I reckon you spent a lot of time together?"

"Well no," she said, confused. "We were locked up in Grimmauld Place and Michael and his family go off on holiday every... summer." She stopped and thought about this. She continue just as sure of herself as before, "But that didn't matter, we were still seeing each other, we just couldn't see each other for awhile."

"And so, if something happened, if you had a problem you needed help with, then Michael wouldn't have been there for you, would he?" Ginny shook her head. "Well, if it had, and he wasn't, then I'd sure want you to have a friend that you could talk things over with, just to listen and be there for you."

Harry looked down at the determined face of the youngest Weasley. She returned his gaze steadily. "Yeah, but what about you?"

"Maybe I was talking about me."

Harry turned quickly to continue making his way down the length of the train, trying to find an empty compartment for himself, knowing that Hermione, Ron, and Ginny would be in the first car with the rest of the Prefects. He finally found one, as usual, in the last car of the long train. He wrestled his trunk into the overhead rack and put Hedwig on one of the seats. Snuffles clamored in and, after following his tail around in a circle a few times, settled himself on the floor. Harry took the seat opposite Hedwig and stretched his legs out over Snuffles. With no one to talk to, Harry dug the old Apparition guide out of his school bag and began to read as the whistle sounded and the train began its long journey.

Harry tried to concentrate on what he was reading, but no matter how hard he tried his thoughts kept going back to all the stupid things he had done that day. Like letting Dum-dum Duddeykins get one over on him. What had he been thinking? He should have known that the big dud wasn't there for any good purpose. Now his new glasses were smashed and one of his new jumpers had blood stains on the front. The thing with Neville had turned out for the good but that was just luck. And Mrs. Weasley... why in heaven's name did he have to go and act like a ruddy idiot in front of her for? He should have just told her that he fell down and that was it. Why did he have to whinge like some horrid little brat? So what if it tricked her, he didn't need to do that. Harry rammed his fist into the seat cushion, startling both Snuffles and Hedwig. This year was starting out just going right into the loo. If he wasn't careful, he'd wind up spending all his time in a certain girl's lavatory sharing misery with Moaning Myrtle.

"Well, that's just not going to happen," Harry said aloud to himself with determination. "I'll just not permit it!"

All right, so the summer was over. So what if Cho was back to seeing Michael Corner? That didn't change anything. He had had a great summer and nothing now could take that away from him. He knew it was going to end at the station and so it's no big surprise. He wasn't going to let it drag him down, back to the way things were. It was his life and he was in charge of it. If he didn't like the way it was heading then he would just have to change directions himself.

And the only way to change things was to just go ahead and change them, so Harry pulled his trunk down and opened it. First he pulled out a clean jumper and swapped it for his soiled one - the House-elves ought to have no trouble getting rid of the stain on it after all. Next, he pulled out the remains of his broken glasses. Spreading the crushed frame and bits of glass out on top of his trunk he drew his wand and waved it over the debris, "Reparo." The frames came together neatly, and the glass bits melded together inside the wire rims. Unfortunately, Harry saw that there were still several gaps in the lenses. Evidently in his haste, he hadn't managed to get all the pieces of glass up off the floor.

"Blast," Harry growled to himself, "there's that idea right down the loo!"

"Oh, there's still a way to set things right," came a dreamy sounding voice from behind him.

Harry spun around, his wand still in his hand. It was Luna. Harry relaxed immediately and greeted her.

"Having a spot of trouble with your specs?" she asked.

"You could say that," Harry answered. "I broke them back at my aunt's and couldn't use magic to repair them then." He looked down at the incomplete glasses resting on his trunk. "I thought I had all the pieces but I suppose I missed some."

"Not a problem," Luna said casually and she reached out and plucked Harry's old specs from his nose and set them down on the trunk next to his new set. She waved her wand and muttered a switching charm. In an instant the good lenses were in his new frames and the still broken ones had moved to his old. "Now you can wear the new glasses and owl the old ones off to an optometrist to be repaired," she finished. Harry grinned as he placed his new glasses back where they belonged.

"Thanks, Luna," he said. "You're a real life-saver. It's kind of handy having a Ravenclaw around at times."

Luna just smiled her usual enigmatic smile and sat one of the seats across from him. She stuck her wand behind her ear and pulled a copy of The Quibbler from her robes and began to flip through the pages. Harry noted with amusement that the magazine was again upside down. Or else he was.

"So, did you have a good summer?" Harry asked.

"Oh, it was fine," she answered dreamily.

"Did you find any Crumple-horned Snorkacks on your trip to Sweden?" he continued, trying to start a genuine conversation.

"Even better," Luna said, "we didn't see anything of them at all."

Harry looked at her puzzled, "How can that be better than finding them?"

"Well, we didn't find a single shred of evidence to prove that they don't exist, did we?"

"But you didn't find any to prove that they do, either."

"Yes, and so the search goes on. Isn't life so much more interesting when it is filled with questions rather than answers?"

Harry opened his mouth to reply, then shut it again. He thought for a moment and decided that there was just no response to some things.

Some time later, the sound of the compartment door opening snapped Harry out of his thoughts. He had returned to reading the Apparation manual. He looked towards Luna, who still sat with her Quibbler, and they both turned towards the door. Draco Malfoy stood there, leaning in studied casualness against the frame; in the shadows behind him Harry could make out the silhouettes of his two pets, Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy had his usual smirk plastered on his face and his Prefect's badge gleamed in the lantern light. Harry noticed, however, that his robes didn't look quite as absolutely brand-new as they usually did. They were still of much higher quality than his own of course, but somehow not quite up to Malfoy's usual standards.

Draco opened his mouth to speak and Harry was bracing himself for whatever comment he would make when Snuffles let out a low rumble from his place on the floor. Draco, evidently, hadn't seen the dog lying there, for at the sound his mouth snapped closed and he stepped away from the door jamb.

"I... I thought... But my father told me...," he managed to stammer.

"Oh, come now, Draco, speak up," Harry said, trying his best to imitate Draco's snide drawl. "Your daddy told you what?"

"He... He's dead," was all the response Draco could manage, pointing his finger shakily down at Snuffles.

"He is?" Harry said and raised his eyebrows in shock. "Well, maybe you ought to tell him that then? He certainly doesn't seem to want to hear anything of the sort from me."

"It's some sort of trick," Draco said, regaining some small portion of his self-control.

Snuffles got to his feet, his great bulk seeming to fill the small compartment. Draco unconsciously took a step back into the corridor.

"Really, Draco," Harry drawled oily, "I would have thought, given all the other things that your father is, that the idea that he was also a liar would be quite easy for you to swallow?"

Draco glowered at the idea of someone like Potter speaking of his father in such a way. He took a step closer again, his hand reaching under his robes for his wand. Snuffles curled his lips back, revealing a set of teeth the size of basilisk fangs. Draco stopped instantly.

"Don't think this is over, Potter," he snarled, reaching at the same time for the door latch.

Harry was formulating a reply when Malfoy slammed the compartment door closed again. Harry looked over at Luna, who was returning his gaze in her normally abnormal fashion.

"So, Harry," she said as if the thought had just occurred to her, "will you be starting up the D.A. again this year?"

Harry blinked a few times, trying to shift mental gears to this new topic. "No," he said eventually, "I hardly think that it will be necessary. After all, we only did it last year because of Umbridge and this year's teacher could hardly be as bad as her."

"Do you know who the new teacher is?" she asked in response. Harry shook his head. Luna nodded and then went back to her magazine.

"Luna?" Harry said causing her to look up at him again. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You seem capable of it," she answered.

Harry grinned, she was starting to sound a bit like Dumbledore, and then said, "Are you and Ron seeing each other?"

Luna looked to Harry's right, as if gazing at a person who should be sitting next to him. She blinked her wide eyes and said, "I'm seeing him, but sometimes I wonder if he is seeing me or someone else."

Harry was about to continue when the door to the compartment again slid open. His question stalled in his throat as he saw Cho standing in the door way. She was in her Hogwarts robes but her hair was mussed and she looked rather flustered. Harry tried hard to think of some other reason for her to look so dishelved as she looked quickly around the compartment.

"Drat! She's not here! Where is she hiding?" she said to no one in particular.

"Um, hello Cho," Harry managed. "Can I help you with something?"

"Where's Ginny?" Cho asked without preamble. "I need to speak with her. Have you seen her?"

"Well, no, not since we left London. I reckon she's up in the Prefect's car."

"No," Cho replied, "I've already been up there. She was there for the meeting then left." She pushed a hand up through her hair, causing a few more strands to stick out from the rest. "I've been all the way down the train looking for her. I need to speak with her NOW!" She turned and seemed to recognize Luna for the first time. "Oh, hi there Loo... Luna." Luna nodded in response. "Have you seen her?"

"Seen who?"

"Ginny, Ginny Weasley," Cho said with exasperation. "I need to find her and I can't." Luna just shook her head.

"Cho," Harry said quietly, trying to calm the girl down before she became really distraught, "she has to be on the train somewhere. Maybe she was just in the loo or something." Cho nodded as if considering this. "If she's not with the other Prefects then she's most likely sitting with Dean Thomas as they're dating."

Cho's eyes lit up at this. "Yes, they are, aren't they?" She half turned to go back out the door then turned sharply back to Harry. "And don't you go off anywhere! You sit right there until I get back. Once I have a little chat with Miss Ginny Weasley then I'm going to want to have one with you, as well." With that, she went back onto the corridor and shut the door behind her.

Harry looked at Luna, who returned her gaze calmly. "And they call me 'Loony'?"

The rest of the trip passed in comparative calm. Harry tried to read his book but he kept looking at the door, as if expecting someone to come through. Neither Ron nor Hermione came to call, but he assumed that they were busy with their Prefect duties, whatever they were. He finally gave up and stowed his book away and just sat watching the Scottish countryside go past the window. He pressed his forehead against the cool glass and the reflection of the door in the glass shined into his eyes.

Finally reaching the Hogsmeade station, everyone began to pile out of the train. Harry held back for a few minutes waiting for something but then shrugged and joined the crowds moving towards the carriages. Up ahead, Harry saw Ginny and Hermione climb into a carriage and pushed through the crowds to join them, curious as to what happened with Cho. He reached the carriage and was about to grab the door handle when their voices reached his ears.

"... just barged right in without so much as a by-your-leave and starts right in! Can you believe it?"

"But what did she say?"

"Some rot about how she was a fair person and would give me a chance. Imagine it, I'm practically sitting in Dean's lap and she's ranting about giving me a fair chance!"

"Whatever did you say to her?"

Harry didn't stay around to hear what Ginny had replied. He decided that he had best just find himself another carriage.

After a few minutes, Harry wound up in a carriage with Ron, Luna, and Neville, with Snuffles curled up on the floor. They bounced their way into Hogwarts; the jolting causing an uneasy feeling in Harry's stomach. At least he told himself it was the ride that caused it.

Harry followed the tide of students into the Great Hall. Ginny and Hermione were already there and seated at the Gryffindor table when Ron and Harry took seats opposite them. Snuffles crawled under the table and began to sniff around for dropped morsels. Harry looked tentatively at the two girls and they both raised their eyebrows at him, as if asking what he was looking at. Nervously, Harry began to look around the Hall.

As always, the ceiling above them reflected the sky outside. Tonight there were high clouds obscuring most of the stars and no moon was visible. With a tinge of guilt, Harry realized that he didn't remember what phase the moon was in, or how close to full it was. He thought of Remus Lupin and wondered where his old professo was tonight. Sure, he was still angry with him for all that had happened, but still, the man was the last of the Marauders and Harry didn't like the idea of his being alone.

Harry turned his attention towards the staff table to chase his gloomy thoughts away; most of the teachers were already seated. Professor McGonagall was presently carrying the Sorting Hat, with its rickety stool - Harry wondered for a moment if the stool was as old as the hat itself - up to the front of the room. Hagrid came in through a half-concealed door and took his customary seat at the end of the table. Harry gave him a cheery wave and Hagrid returned it with a tilt of his huge goblet as he took a long drink. The seat next to Hagrid was empty. That was where the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher ought to be sitting, Harry thought. He asked around the table, but no one knew who the new teacher was. Hermione said that she hoped that it would be Professor Lupin again and Harry agreed, even given their current problems, but felt that it was unlikely with Fudge still serving as Minister.

Professor McGonagall strode back to the rear of the hall to bring in the line of new first years. Harry craned his neck to try to get a good look at them. He noticed Ginny and Hermione's eyes go wide and look at something over his shoulder. Harry quickly turned in his seat to see what it was, maybe the new professor had shown up. Instead of seeing a new face up at the staff table, Harry came eye to eye with an embroidered raven on the patch of a set of Hogwarts' robes... Ravenclaw robes to be more precise... Cho Chang's Ravenclaw robes to be quite exact.

Harry shifted his eyes upwards to look at the girls face, she had combed her hair and it hung in its usual shimmering fall over her shoulders. She smiled at him slightly and cleared her throat.

"Hmm, hi Cho," Harry managed to say.

Cho responded to this by hiking up her robes a bit and sitting on Harry's lap. She was facing him with one knee on either side of his hips. She smile had become quite cheeky.

"Harry Potter," she said in a mock stern voice, "do you have a girlfriend?"

"Huh?" was all that Harry could manage to say. His mind was racing a mile a minute but it also seemed to be going in a tight cirdle and not getting anywhere.

"I asked, Harry, if you were currently seeing anyone socially?" she repeated.

"Uh, no?"

Cho's smile widened as she continued, "Well, by an amazing set of circumstances, I also happen to find myself sans beau and I was wondering if you could think of a mutually beneficial solution to our common dilemma?"

"Wha?" Harry said; too bewildered to form a complete word much less a coherent sentence.

Cho's smile broadened yet again as she spoke to him slowly and clearly, as if she were speaking to a small child or... a boy. "I'm asking, since neither one of us is currently seeing anyone, if you would like us to start seeing each other?"

Harry's mouth worked soundlessly, and as he remained silent Cho's smile began to falter.

"Well, Harry, what will it be? This offer isn't going to remain open forever," she said, her smile now brittle and forced.

"But..." Harry tried. He looked around the room half-panicked, and nowhere he looked could he find his answer. He looked at her almost fearfully. "But the summer's over?" he said in a quiet voice.

Something broke within Cho and her face fell. Tears brimmed in her eyes as she looked at all the Gryffindors staring at her. She couldn't look any of them in the eye and her gaze fell to her hands as they smoothed her robes over her thighs.

"I'm... I'm sorry," she managed to say as she stood up. "I thought you... I didn't realize..." Cho swallowed hard, fighting to maintain her composure. "I'm sorry for disturbing you." She turned and began to walk quickly away from them.

Harry continued to stare into space in utter confusion. He realized that Cho was no longer sitting on his lap but comprehension of what had just happened was still missing. He turned back to the others at the table. Everyone was ogling at him as if he had just kissed Snape... on the mouth. His head swiveled back and forth as if it was no longer under any control. At last he gave a loud yelp and stared down under the table. Snuffles had grabbed a mouthful of the seat of his trousers and bitten down hard. Harry's eyes suddenly focused as he took in the shocked faces of those around him and the rapidly retreating back of Cho Chang. He leapt from his seat and raced to catch up with her.

He caught her directly in from of the staff table and grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around to face him. He could see the tracks of tears on her face and it wrenched his heart to know that this time he had put them there.

"Cho," he began haltingly, "back there... did you?"

Her face grew hard with embarrassment and anger. "You know perfectly well what I did. I made a fool of myself!"

"No... No, you didn't. I just..." He pointed back at where he had been sitting. "I thought..." Harry pointed at her and then at the Ravenclaw table.

Now it was Cho's turn to be confused. "What on earth are you babbling about?" she said tersely

"I thought that you were... and he was..." He pointed some more, his head still shaking in misbelief. "Aren't you?"

Cho followed his finger to see where he was pointing. Michael Corner was sitting there scowling at them both. Cho's anger came back in full measure now and she turned back to Harry and shook her head fiercely.

"You mean you're not?" He asked in total confusion.

"Not anymore."

"But you were?"

"Not anymore," she enunciated slowly and firmly.

"No?" Harry said as if he could hardly believe it. His state of pure confusion began to clear a little as it was replaced by something he knew all too little of: hope.

Cho's anger vanished as Harry's face changed and her expression began to soften. She shook her head and repeated, more gently this time, "No."

"But you wanted... You said... He was..." Harry struggled to find words. "Safe."

Cho looked up into his eyes, her own soft and kind. "Well, maybe I thought about it some more and reckoned: what's the point of seeing someone if you really don't care if they're there with you or not?"

"But I thought... You said that... I was..."

Cho was now smiling up at him with just a hint of mischief in her eyes and she said, "Well, after spending my summer hanging about with the most Gryffindor of Gryffindors, I suppose I've developed a bit of a taste for danger."

"You have?" Harry asked, gaping at her again.

"Yes, I have," she nodded.

"And you want...?" Harry asked incredulously and pointed at his own chest.

"Yes, I do." She laughed a bit. "Who knows, maybe I can even manage to add a few more firsts to my list of personal accomplishments?" she said with a saucy tilt to her head.

Harry stretched to look over her shoulder and down at her bum. "I dunno," he said with a glint in his own eye, "it doesn't look like there's much more room left back there. I don't think anything else would fit."

She swatted his arm, remembering their conversation from early July, and replied, "Not to worry; I'll just start doubling up on my puddings in the evening and there'll soon be plenty of extra room." She smiled shyly up at him. "So?"

"So?" Harry returned.

"Do you?" she said, a bit of her previous apprehension returning to her voice.

Harry nodded vigorously. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

Cho took a step towards him and Harry took her in his arms. He lifted her to him and kissed her for all he was worth. Cho's arms went around his neck and the rest of the world disappeared. Neither one of them heard the whistles and catcalls that swelled up from around the Great Hall. They didn't hear Harry's friends cheering from the Gryffindor table, or the hisses from Slytherin. They also didn't hear Professor McGonagall clearing her throat.

"Hemm... Excuse me...," she began with a trace of discomfort in her voice. "Excuse me, Mister Potter. Mister Potter! HARRY POTTER!"

Harry and Cho broke their kiss as the Deputy Headmistress shouted in their ears. Their cheeks bloomed crimson as the hall broke out in laughter at their predicament. Harry saw tiny Professor Flitwick, seated on his pile of cushions at the head table, struggling to hide the wide grin he wore as he wagged his finger at them. From the corner of his vision, he saw Cho blushing as she bobbed a quick curtsy to her head of house and scampered off to her seat. And standing right before him, Harry saw Professor McGonagall, as tight-lipped as he had ever seen her, staring daggers at him from a distance of about three feet.

"Mister Potter! That will be 10 points from Gryffindor for your deplorable lack of decorum!" she snapped.

Harry stared at her. "What? 10 points? For one kiss?"

"Yes, Mister Potter," McGonagall replied with a snarl, "10 points for one kiss."

He felt anger building up within him. 10 points! It was as if he wasn't allowed to have anything for himself. All summer he had fought to try to make some kind of a life for himself and now that he was back at school they were doing their best to take it away from him again. His arms began to shake with fury as he looked over at the Gryffindor table, expecting to see accusation and reproach from his housemates. Instead, he saw them cheering. Hermione was wearing the broadest grin he had ever seen on her. Ron was giving him an enthusiastic double thumbs-up. Lavender and Parvati were practically swooning in their seats, and Dean, Seamus, and Neville were standing on their chairs clapping. As suddenly as it came, his anger vanished. He turned back to Professor McGonagall wearing a wide grin of his own.

"Sounds like a bargain to me!" he said as he dashed off to the Ravenclaw table and proceeded to lose another 10 points.

Back at the Gryffindor table, Dean, Neville, and Seamus were climbing off of their chairs and sitting again, talking nonstop. Hermione turned to Ginny and was surprised to see that her friend was as sour and tight-lipped as McGonagall.

"Ginny," Hermione asked, concerned, "what's wrong?"

"This is not going to end well," the younger girl said.

"Oh come on, Ginny, you're not jealous, are you?"

Ginny harrumphed in response. "You know I gave up on that git over a year ago. I am not jealous."

"Then what's the problem? Can't you be happy for him, even if it is with Cho?"

"That's just the point. It is with Cho. You know her, and you know Harry. Harry wouldn't know an honest emotion if it bit him on the arse. He's got no experience with them, and she has gone through more boys in the last few years than Lav and Parvati put together. This just isn't going to end well."

Hermione sat still and considered her friend's words. "What are you saying, Ginny?"

"Oh, come on, Hermione. You're a clever girl. Can't you tell how this is all going to work out? He's going to fall absolutely head over heels for her, and then one day she's going to get bored and dump him like last years fashions."

"But he seems so happy now, isn't that something?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, he's giddy with it all now, but that is only going to make it that much harder on him when she finally does it." Ginny shook her head sadly. "She's going to break his heart... and then I'll have to kill her."

Hermione's eyes went wide at the seriousness Ginny put into her words. "You can't mean that. Sure you don't like her, but that's... that's just... Well, I don't know what it is but it's barmy."

"She's going to hurt him, Hermione," Ginny said, her words beginning to catch in her throat. "You know it and I know it. I'm supposed to protect him, but I can't protect him from this."

Hermione's hands fell into her lap. "Ginny, really! I know you like Harry, we all do, and we don't want to see him get hurt, but you have to be reasonable."

Ginny's eyes lit with an inner fire. "NO! I don't have to be reasonable. You may want to protect him but... but I have to," she said so earnestly that Hermione had to take a breath to deal with it.

"You have to?"

"Harry saved my life," Ginny tried to explain. "I owe him a debt that I have to repay."

"Come on now, Ginny. In a way, we all owe Harry our lives. After what happened when he was a baby, and then again with the Philosopher's Stone, you could say that we all owe him that, in a manner of speaking."

"Well, I'm not speaking in generalities," Ginny snapped. "When I went into the Chamber that last time, when Riddle was going to kill me to come back to life. Harry came and saved me." Hermione opened her mouth to speak but Ginny cut her off. "When he went down into that pit, he didn't go to fight Tom Riddle, and he didn't go to save the whole bloody world. He went to save me, a silly little girl with a silly little crush." Ginny wiped savagely at her eyes, as if her anger could take away her shame. "A twelve year-old boy went down into hell for me, and he barely knew my name. A skinny little orphan fought and killed a 60 foot Basilisk for me.

"Then, with poison running through his veins, he fought and destroyed Tom's ghost. And then, when it was all over, when I was alive and he was just waiting to die, do you know what he said?" Hermione just shook her head, not knowing any words that would suffice. "He told me to go and find Ron; that my brother would get me out of there. He was dying! He didn't whinge, he didn't cry, and he didn't ask for help. He was relieved. He looked almost glad that it was all going to be over. He told me to leave him there. He told me to just leave him there alone to die and save myself." Again she wiped at the tears that threatened to spill down her face. "And I would have done it. If Fawkes hadn't shown up and saved Harry, I would have just left him there. I was so frightened, I would have run away. Some Gryffindor I am." Hermione reached out to her friend but Ginny pulled away. "But no more! I owe him my life, and if I have to die to repay that debt then that's what I'll do! Because if I don't, how can I ever be seen as his equal?"

"Oh, Ginny, I'm sure that Harry doesn't see you as any less..."

"That's how I see myself!" Ginny spat. "If I'm not willing to sacrifice as much as he did, if I'm not willing to die to save him the way he was willing to die to save me, how can I ever think of myself as worthy of what he did for me?"

Hermione just sat there. For the first time in her life, she could think of nothing to say. Next to her, Ginny saw that further discussion was pointless. She pasted a broad grin into place and raised a hand to her brow in a mock swoon and fell against the boy sitting on her other side.

"Oh Dean, sweetie," she said breathlessly, "will you come to Azkaban to visit me after they take me away?"

Dean snapped his head around from his discussion with Seamus and looked at her questioningly. "What did you say? Why would you be sent to Azkaban? Are you planning to try to cheat on your OWLs?"

Ginny shot him her false grin and said, "Do you think that'll be necessary?"

Dean grinned back and said, "Hush, Harry's coming back. Budge up and make room; I want to hear about this!"

Harry was indeed trotting back to the table but Ron, sitting on the opposite side, waved him over and made room for him there. He sat with his cheeks aflame with embarrassment and a huge, but genuine, grin all over his face. Ginny turned and looked over her shoulder at the Ravenclaw table. Cho was sitting there, just as red as Harry, with her head bent in whispered conversation with the girls around her. Ron leaned over to Harry and said something about how, since he got two such great kisses, he ought to be willing to share one with his mates. Harry laughed and Ginny had to admit it was a richer and more open laugh than she had heard from him in god-knows-how-long. He was about to reply when Professor McGonagall's voice cut through the noise throughout the hall.

"Now, if we are quite ready," she said, giving all of the students a withering glare as if daring one of them to put so much as a toe out of line, "we can begin this year's Sorting." She drew a roll of parchment from the table behind her and opened it. Scanning the first name on the list, she called out in a loud and clear voice, "Ima Nayhole!"

The stern Professor looked out at the excited and somewhat frightened faces of the gathered new students. None of them stepped forward. The professor cleared her throat and called again.

"Ima Nayhole!" Still no response, except for a low buzzing that was building across the tables. "Can anyone here see Ima Nayhole?"

Seamus leaned over to Dean and whispered, "I think I'm beginning to get the hint." Dean smothered his snickers in his sleeve.

Nonplussed, McGonagall consulted her list again and moved on to the next name. "Chuck Wagon! Where is Chuck Wagon?"

This time it was Dean who spoke, "I reckon it's waiting for the Sorting to be finished, like the rest of us." There were scattered giggles spreading across the various tables.

Again Professor McGonagall read a name from her list, "Richard Hertz." The firsties just stood there like so many chipmunks caught crossing a road. The usually stern Deputy tried to look non-threatening and genial. She stooped down towards the children, to get closer to their level, and said as gently as she could, "Come now, children, who's little Dickie Hertz?"

Dean nearly burst when one of the fourth year boys said, "If I tell her mine does, do you think she'll kiss it and make it better?" Ron looked totally flummoxed when a nearly choking Harry leaned over and whispered in his ear. Ron's ears went red and he appeared to be about to have a heart attack. All across the Great Hall, muggle-born and muggle-raised students were whispering to their pure-blooded mates and snickers, giggles and all out guffaws were starting to erupt. Hermione looked absolutely outraged, but Ginny sat there innocently as if she were just mildly curious as to why none of the new students would come forward when their names were called. Harry noticed this and shot her a questioning look that she returned unblinkingly.

Professor McGonagall was now calling for "Uri Nation". "I wish to see Uri Nation up here right this instant!"

It was obvious that Professor McGonagall was starting to become annoyed that none of the children were stepping forward to be sorted. She looked at her list again and called out the next name, "Michael Hunt!"

No one said a word. The firsties stood there in shock and no one at any of the tables dared to so much as breathe. McGonagall looked around, thoroughly exasperated and shouted out, "HAS ANYONE HERE SEEN MI... oh dear."

Her face flamed bright red to match the Gryffindor kerchief she was wearing and her lips disappeared into an almost nonexistent line. She turned on her heel and stormed back to the head table. As if on cue, the hall erupted into chaos. People were rolling on the floor in laughter. The new students seemed to all be thinking that they had made a drastic mistake by choosing to come to Hogwarts at all.

Seated at the center of the Head Table, Dumbledore gazed serenely down at his approaching deputy with his eyes twinkling brightly. For her part, McGonagall didn't even seem to notice when the parchment she was holding burst into flame and turned to dust in her hand. Harry blanched; she had to be really furious to trigger that sort of accidental magic at her age and ability. He watched as the Headmaster mouthed 'Is anything wrong, Minerva dear?"

For her part, McGonagall just threw the ashes she was carrying onto the table and grabbed the other roll of parchment that was laying there. She unrolled it and Harry watched her lips moving as she read through each name several times, as if testing it. Finally satisfied, she returned to the new students and the Sorting finally got underway.

After feast was over and Dumbledore completed his customary opening announcements - the Forbidden Forest was still forbidden and Filch had banned the entire catalog of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes - the now exhausted students were released to go to their dormitories. Harry was struggling through the crowd, trying to reach Cho to say 'good night', when an extremely angry looking Professor McGonagall stopped him.

"Mister Potter," she said through clenched jaws, "would you happen to know anything about this evening's incident?"

Harry held his hands up in front of him in surrender. "I swear, Professor, I had nothing to do with that and I had no idea it was going to happen."

"If you didn't, Potter," came the greasy voice of the Potions Master from behind him, "then you most assuredly know who did it."

Harry turned to face him. "I don't know who did it, Professor," he spat back. "I might have some suspicions, but we all know that suspicions aren't sufficient justification for making accusations, don't we?"

Snape held Harry's gaze momentarily than, with a swirl of his robes, he turned and stalked away. After going about ten feet, he stumbled and would have fallen flat on his face if some Hufflepuffs hadn't had the misfortune of being directly in his path so that he could grab onto them for support. He turned on Harry like a snake.

"Hexing a teacher now, Potter?" he snarled.

"I did no such thing, just because you're clumsy..."

Snape fired back, "I know a Tripping Jinx when I see one, Potter!"

"Oh yeah? I'd bet you're quite familiar with them, I would. But rest assured, if I had wanted to trip you it would have been down a whole flight of steps." Snape grew even paler than usual at this. "Maybe we'd all get lucky and you'd break your greasy neck!"

"Potter..." Snape began threateningly.

McGonagall interrupted them, "Now Severus, I was looking right at Mister Potter when you stumbled and I can assure you that he had nothing to do with it."

Harry and Snape just glared at each other. Snape spoke, "That's a detention for you Potter." Harry balked. "For talking back to a member of the staff. Tomorrow night at seven." With this he turned on his heel and stormed out of the Great Hall.

Harry swung a kick at the dais that held the staff table and stomped out after him. In the hallway, he almost ran over Ginny Weasley who was standing in his way.

"Harry?" she opened hesitantly.

"What?" Harry snapped then he thought a moment. "I'm sorry Ginny; it's just that Snape gets me so angry sometimes."

"I know Harry. That's sort of why I wanted to speak to you. I wanted to say I'm sorry for the detention."

"Why?" Harry said stunned.

"Well...," Ginny began, "I'm sort of the one who tripped Snape there in the hall. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to get in trouble, he was just being such a git..."

"What else is new?" Harry injected.

"...I just wanted to get back at him for you. If you want, I'll serve the detention with you... or I could tell him that I did it, then I would be the one he blamed," she offered.

Harry grinned ruefully back at her. "Naw, just forget it, Ginny. It's not like I'm going to go anyway."

"What!" Ginny said shocked. "You're going to try to skive off a detention?"

Harry answered as calmly as if he were discussing the weather, "Not try to, I'm going to. I didn't deserve that detention and so I'm not going to serve it. I served enough detentions I didn't deserve last year. I'm not doing it again."

"But Snape'll..."

"Snape'll what?" Harry said with a sardonic smile. "Do you really think he could treat me any worse than he already does?" With that he led their way back to Gryffindor Tower and to bed.