Fate

Chapter 6 -- Quite a Paradox

Ginny watched through worried eyes as she saw Harry pick at his breakfast the next morning, his eyes staring at the table and his face frowned in concentration. She glanced over to Ron and Hermione who were bickering amongst themselves, apparently oblivious to the downcast mood that their best friend was in.

He had to talk to someone; that much was obvious. Hermione, Ron and Ginny had all done their best yesterday to convince Harry that they would always be here for him, but it didn't seem to affect him.

She remembered and knew what Harry was going through, maybe not exactly, but her first year experience had definitely exposed her to a lot of feelings that she hoped she would never have to experience. She could tell what he was going through: You don't want to talk to anyone about anything, and you do your best to be moody enough to keep them away...but, deep down, you're bursting to just talk to someone, not necessarily about your problem...preferably about anything other than your problem.

Checking her watch quickly, Ginny reached over, tapping Harry's hand. He looked up quickly, confusion on his face. She just smiled at him and spoke up over Ron and Hermione's argument.

"Wanna go on a walk?" She asked him.

He looked at her peculiarly for a moment before finally smiling and nodding in the affirmative. She sighed in relief and stood up, starting to walk out. She heard Ron and Hermione inquire as to where Harry was going, but was happy when he just brushed them off, following her into the entrance hall as they both made their way out into the sunlight, the snow crunching under their feet and their breath clouding up in their faces.

She wasn't quite sure how to start a conversation. Now that she had gotten him at least this far, she didn't want to mess it up for any reason. She started biting her lip in nervousness. Did he expect her to say something? Maybe offer more condolences? Cheer him up? Could she cheer him up?

She snuck a glance over at him and saw that he was staring ahead of them, his eyes not really focusing on anything, his hands jammed in his pocket and his expression thoughtful.

Looking back down quickly (she would never live it down if he caught her staring at him), she shuffled her feet, kicking at the snow and trying to think of what to say.

"It's quite a paradox," he said softly.

She tried not to seem so surprised that he had spoken and found herself almost gaping at him. He turned and saw her expression, his face going into an unmistakable smile.

"The snow, I mean. With the sunlight," he smiled and looked up into the bright sunlight. "You don't expect it to be so bright with all the cold and gloomy snow around, but..." he looked back at her, still smiling, "it is."

She couldn't help but smile back, thankful that she had gotten him out of the crowded Great Hall and seemed lightened his mood the tiniest bit.

"I'm glad it's the weekend," she supplied, trying to keep the casual conversation going. "We had a horrid potions class yesterday and I don't think I could deal with seeing Snape again without wanting to curse him into oblivion."

To her surprised, Harry threw back his head and laughed; a cheerful and upbeat laugh that Ginny didn't know if she had ever heard before. It seemed so natural...she couldn't help it, and she started laughing as well.

They laughed for almost a full minute before they died down to giggles and they were both smiling, as if they shared a secret that no one else knew.

"Thanks, Ginny."

It was so soft and sincere and Ginny could tell that it was meant just for her to hear and no one else. She smiled and looked over to him again, finding that he was looking at her with a smile that mimicked hers and a slightly twinkle in his eyes.

"You're welcome."

----

"Where are they both going?" Ron asked Hermione, seeing that not only Harry, but Ginny was walking quickly out of the Great Hall.

Hermione smiled at Ron's baffled look and shook her head in exasperation. What was the reason she had fallen for this guy again?

"Don't you know, Ron?" she asked him in a matter-of-fact tone, picking again at her food, "They're going off to a closet to snog each other senseless."

She died laughing at Ron's shocked face, his head twirling around to look at her and his mouth dropping open.

"Hermione!" He chided her as he saw her laughing, realizing the joke.

"Oh, really!" She backfired, getting a hold of herself enough to slap him on the arm softly. "Couldn't you tell? Didn't you see how upset Harry was this morning?"

"Well, yeah, but what's that got to do with Ginny?"

Hermione finished the last of her meal and started gathering her things. "I imagine she knew we were too busy biting each other's heads off that she would have to be on 'cheer-up-Harry' duty this morning."

"'Cheering-up-Harry' duty?" Ron asked cluelessly as he stood up with Hermione, both of them starting out of the Great Hall. "Is that what we do now?"

"Certainly seems like he's been needing it more than usual, wouldn't you agree?" Hermione closed her book and tucked it under her arm, finally looking up at Ron. He seemed to be thinking quite hard which could be good or bad.

"Well, bliminey, of course he does!" Ron replied. "I'd probably be lying dead in a ditch somewhere if I had to go through everything he's been through."

Hermione smiled as she saw how much Ron had matured. There was a time when Ron's jealousy of Harry was set off by the slightest comment, but it seemed the years had done their work and her friend was actually starting to grow up.

"I think it'll be good for him and Ginny to talk. She could help him with certain things that we can't."

"What?" Ron asked, confused. "What could Ginny do that we couldn't?"

But their question was answered almost instantly as they heard a laugh echo through the Entrance Hall, a familiar laugh that neither of them could mistake. They looked at each other quickly before rushing over to the giant doors that lead out onto the grounds. Ron's jaw dropped open and Hermione's eyes twinkled as they saw Harry and Ginny walking in the snow together, both of them laughing loudly at something or other.

"That, Ron...That is what Ginny can give him that we can't."

----

"Remus?"

Sirius stood stiffly at the doorway, waiting for permission from his friend to enter. Since their fight the day before, their friendship had seemed rather strained, forced almost. In fact, all that they had really talked about was Remus' visit to Dumbledore while Sirius was trying to comfort Harry. Sirius knew that Remus had probably been just as worried about Harry as he had been and the guilt from their argument in the Room of Requirement seemed to be hanging over both their heads.

"Come on in, Padfoot," Remus said quietly from the table where he was, reading a book as usual and smiling at his friend in exhaustion. The night before had been a full moon and Remus had spent it alone. On top of that he had the worry of Harry over his head along with the argument with his best friend ringing through his mind.

It must have been an awful night.

Sirius slipped over and sat across from Remus at the table, peering over to the book her was reading.

"What's that?"

Remus peaked up again and, with a sigh, set the book down, looking at Sirius again.

"Nothing, I was just hoping to answer some questions."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments as neither knew quite what to say. Finally Sirius blurted out. "How was the full moon?"

Remus grimaced and leaned back, running a hand through his prematurely grey hair. "Bloody awful."

"I'm sorry," Sirius said quietly.

Remus looked back again and heard the unspoken meaning behind those two little words.

"Yeah, me too, Sirius."

They managed to smile at each other and the ice seemed to thankfully break around them.

Sirius looked back down at the book and saw its title this time.

"Dimensions of Reality? What's that about?"

Remus nervously picked the book up and flipped through a few pages. "I've had this book for a few years, picked it up from a second hand shop owned by some old witch who assured me it was priceless..."

He stopped on a page and his eyes started trailing over it, but he continued speaking. "It certainly has been handy."

Sirius' ears perked up. "What's that?"

Remus heaved a sigh. "No rubbing it in my face that I'm finally agreeing with you, alright?"

Sirius grinned widely and said, "Not a chance."

"It has a lot of interesting information about the veil..."

----

Harry was surprised at how...happy...he was feeling at the moment. True, he was freezing, his rear end was starting to hurt and he was literally skating on thin ice, but for some reason, his spirits were lifted and his thoughts were not as dark as they had been just a few hours ago.

For some bloody, psycho reason, Ginny had actually convinced him to go ice skating on the lake. As neither of them actually had ice skates, they had spent the first 30 minutes trying to transfigure their shoes which resulted in Ginny's feet turning into bananas and Harry having to put out a fire on his feet with his hat.

All in all, they had dismissed the idea and just attempted to "skate" with their shoes.

The first attempts had ended with several falls and many laughs. Getting the hang of it after a while, they had taken to trying to "dance" with each other on the ice, a feat which looked more like two chickens with their heads cut off than a pair of teenagers dancing.

Now they were both just trying to stay on their feet while trying to pull the other down.

Harry laughed with victory as he successfully avoided Ginny's push and made her fall over herself.

"Grrr! Harry Potter!" She cried out, scrambling up as fast as she could and making her way over to where he was unsuccessfully trying to dash away across the ice. He was laughing too hard thought and by the time she reached him, they both ended up falling down, a jumble of arms and legs mixed with winter cloaks and hats.

"Oy! You two! Are you trying to freeze to death?"

Still laughing, they made their way over to the snow covered lawn where Ron and Hermione had just come out and were watching them.

"You two look positively frozen!" Hermione said in horror as she took off her own scarf and wrapped it around Ginny's neck, making the younger girl roll her eyes in exasperation, trying to ward off the motherly affections from a girl only one year her senior.

"Well, it was Ginny's idea, not mine," Harry said quickly, smirking over at Ginny when she glared at him and stuck out her tongue playfully.

Neither noticed the suspicious look that Ron shot them or the long sigh from Hermione.

The four friends trudged back up to the castle, chattering together. Harry could tell that Ron and Hermione were slightly amazed at his good mood, but he didn't really care. No matter how it came about, he was going to enjoy the good times while they lasted.

"That is SO not true!" Hermione bit back bitterly, glaring over at Ron who was wearing a smug face. "I'll have you know, Ronald Weasley, that I never even kissed Victor Krum! Much less snogged!"

Ron started glaring at her and Harry caught Ginny's eye. She rolled her eyes, exasperated and mouthed 'closet'. Harry smiled bigger and nodded his head to a door a little bit ahead of them.

The Room of Requirement.

'Prefect', Ginny mouthed, grinning with anticipation. With the Room of Requirement they could probably leave Hermione and Ron in their indefinitely because they would automatically be supplied with anything they required.

Ginny carefully moved over to walk on the other side of Harry as Ron and Hermione continued to bicker.

"Has dear Vicky forgotten to write you this week?" Ron's voice dripped with disdain and Hermione was positively exploding.

"For the last time, his name is VICTOR!"

Harry motioned to Ginny and she immediately whipped the door open, making room for when Harry quickly shoved the two unsuspecting Gryffindor's in, their shouts of surprised cut off as Harry shut the door, quickly locking it with his wand.

"Harry Potter don't you dare!" Hermione roared from the inside.

Harry and Ginny laughed with glee at the protests but gave them no heed.

"Think of it this way you two," Ginny called out. "We'll come back in the morning and if you're still alive, we'll let you out!"

Harry could just see the blood draining out of Ron's face and Hermione's mind working furiously on how to unlock the door. Whipping out Sirius' old gift, Harry jammed it into the lock, making sure that it was snug so that any spell Hermione used wouldn't work.

He turned to Ginny who was still listening to the shouts of protests inside the room, noticing his gaze, she turned back to him.

Feeling daring, Harry held out his arm to her and smirked.

"Shall we?"

Ginny looked rather taken aback for a moment, but quickly hid her surprise and smiled majestically, taking his arm and allowing him to lead her back down the hall, their chatter and laughter drowning out the calls for help from behind them.

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