Family

Family

Chapter Four
Night Out

"I can't believe I let myself on this."

Fifteen minutes later, Harry and Ginny were crouched under the Invisibility Cloak, tiptoeing their way to the kitchens, Harry squinting into the Marauder's Map under the light of his wand.

"The rewards are invaluable, trust me," whispered Harry.

Peeves the Poltergeist was bobbing up and down in the trophy room; Snape was in his bedroom (and so were the other teachers); Mrs. Norris was far from where they were right then, and so was Filch. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he led Ginny to the portrait of the fruits, which was just ahead.

"Tickle the pear," Harry whispered. "Nox."

"What?"

"Tickle the pear."

Under the dim light of the moon shining from a nearby window, Harry saw Ginny look at him as if he had lost his wits. Then she shrugged and obliged.

"Harry Potter!"

Next thing Harry knew, he was knocked to the floor by a house-elf that had grabbed him by the waist. "Harry Potter has come to see Dobby, sir!"

Harry groaned out loud. "Yeah--uh, hi Dobby." Despite how fond Harry was of Dobby, this part of stealing food from the kitchens had always proved to be the worst.

Ginny was staring at Harry and Dobby in shock. Upon seeing her, Dobby climbed off Harry's stomach and bowed lowly to her. "How do you do, miss? Can Dobby get you anything?"

"Er--hi," Ginny said unsurely, a lopsided grin on her face. She looked around, at the dozens of house-elves who all looked so happy to see them in the kitchens after midnight. "Er...no...I think Harry does, though...."

"Yeah," Harry grunted, sitting up. His expression suddenly brightened. "Do you still have--hmm...roasted chicken legs, potatoes and gravy? Oh, and please throw in an apple pie--and blueberry cheesecake, only if you have it of course--"

Delightedly, the other house-elves walked away, and almost immediately came back with just what Harry had asked for. But when the house-elf carrying the blueberry cheesecake arrived--

"LILY EVANS!"

Harry's head shot up at the name of his mother being called. But the house-elf--it looked like a girl, but old--there were more lines on her green face, and her eyes had a droop in them--the house-elf dropped the tray she was holding and ran towards...Ginny.

Ginny was suddenly seized at the waist, like Harry just a while ago; Ginny had backed off to the wall behind her, but the house-elf was still hugging her.

"Lily! Nana is not believing this miracle! Lily Evans has come back!"

"B--but..." Ginny was taken aback in shock and confusion. "...My name is Ginny Weasley."

Harry looked at Dobby, who was staring at the other elf rather sadly. "Nana is knowing your parents, sir," Dobby explained. "Nana is telling Dobby that since Harry Potter visited the kitchens, sir."

Dobby went to Nana and tried to pull her off Ginny. "She is not Lily Evans, Nana," he said. "Lily Evans is gone now, and Nana knows that."

"He's right," said Harry in a calm voice that surprised even himself. "That's my friend, Ginny Weasley. She's Ron's sister--you know--my Wheezy."

The house-elf Nana stared at Ginny for a while. Then comprehension mixed with disappointment crossed her face. If it were possible for a house-elf to blush, Nana was surely doing it.

"Oh--Miss--Nana is terribly sorry, Miss--" Nana seemed to be on the verge of tears as she backed away. "N-Nana just t-thought...."

"It's all right," Ginny said quickly. She took a glance at Harry. "Isn't it?"

"What? Oh yeah," said Harry. He flashed Nana a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I mean--that's great--you still remember my mum."

Tears brimmed Nana's large eyes. "Lily Evans was always kind, and gentle, and loving, and giving, and selfless," squeaked Nana, and she blew her nose on the pillowcase she was wearing. The tears fell down her pitiful face when she spoke again. "Nana will never ever forget Harry Potter's mother, sir."

"You've been here long, then?"

"Yes sir," Nana answered. She blew her nose again. "Even back in the days when James Potter and his friends visited us here, sir."

"Oh." Harry's face fell once more.

By this time, the other house-elves were pulling Nana towards the stoves at the other end of the room. "We house-elves must always be happy serving our masters!" one reproached Nana, which was strange because he was surely ages younger than Nana. "Nana is a bad house-elf, crying in front of our guests!"

Dobby shook his head. "Poor Nana," he almost whispered, but immediately lit up as he handed Harry a basket. "Here is your food, Harry Potter...Dobby put the blueberry cheesecake in."

Harry took the basket of food. He suddenly lost his appetite--he even felt like he had lost his stomach as well.

"Thanks, Dobby," he said, forcing himself to smile, even for the house-elves' sake.

"You are most welcome anytime, Harry Potter!" squeaked Dobby. "And you too, Miss Wheezy!"

"Thank you so much," Ginny, who had been quiet for a while, said graciously; the house-elves bowed at her.

"C'mon." Harry took her arm and led her outside.

Harry and Ginny quietly left the kitchen. Harry draped the Invisibility Cloak over Ginny and himself.

"Harry, you okay?" Ginny said gently.

Harry secured the Cloak over Ginny. "Yeah," he replied quietly. "Let's--"

"You're not," said Ginny. "Harry--"

"Ginny."

Harry's voice was low and grumbling. Ginny kept quiet. There was heavy, eerie silence over them as they headed back to Gryffindor Tower. All Harry heard of the two of them were their mutual labored breathing as they climbed the six flights of stairs back to the tower...until--

Harry and Ginny fell over in front of a knight's armor. Ginny let out a shriek, coupled by a cat's; the basket rolled out of their reach, and the Marauder's Map flew to the feet of the armor.

"Mrs. Norris!" Harry gasped. He saw Filch's cat dart out of the corner. Both of them were so lost in thoughts that they had tripped over her.

Ginny crawled quickly to retrieve the basket; Harry stood up, seized the blank Marauder's Map and grabbed her hand to help her up. As he did, he heard Filch.

"Who was it, my sweet? Who screamed?"

Ginny stifled a cry. Heart pounding hard on his ribs, he pinned Ginny by his side on the wall beside the armor and wrapped the cloak over the two of them. He had just covered their legs when Filch appeared, Mrs. Norris sniffed around her.

"Where did they go?" Filch asked his cat. His eyes flashed--he looked quite pleased to discover that a student will get detention in just over an hour since Harry finished cleaning the dungeons. Ginny was clutching Harry's arm--he could just feel her cold palms on it. She was trembling slightly. Why hadn't he bothered to check the Marauder's Map as they made their way back?

They both stiffened when Mrs. Norris began sniffing at their feet. She poked at Ginny's fluffy pink slippers. Harry suddenly became aware of the aroma of the roasted chicken from the basket. He closed his eyes, praying Filch hasn't noticed.

And he hadn't. Filch picked something up from the ground--a slice of blueberry cheesecake.

"They can't be far," growled Filch. "I can still smell food...come on, my sweet, let's find them."

Filch, lantern held up high, turned the opposite direction from that of the Gryffindor Tower. Mrs. Norris was still looking straight at Harry and Ginny, as if she could see them there like they weren't wearing the Invisibility Cloak. But then, she turned, following her master.

Harry and Ginny let out their breath. Not wanting Filch to notice that the aroma has diminished on his way, Harry hastily led Ginny to the Gryffindor Tower.

Harry removed the Invisibility Cloak as they approached the portrait hole to the common room. "W-walrus blubber!" Harry gasped to the Fat Lady.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" the Fat Lady scolded them, but let them in all the same.

As soon as they got in, Ginny collapsed on an armchair, still breathing hard. Harry looked at her anxiously--she seemed to be hyperventilating, or something--

Suddenly, Ginny began to giggle. Then she laughed--and laughed hysterically at that. Harry watched her for a while--she looked as if she didn't know how close she came to getting a detention. Sweat was running down the sides of her flushed face, and yet there she was, her mouth wide in a grin, her laughs coming from deep in her throat.

Harry set the Invisibility Cloak and the basket down. A slice of blueberry cheesecake was still left inside the basket. He stared at it, remembering the house-elf.

So his parents regularly "visited" the kitchens in their time, too. He knew they were both of good heart, as many others told him countless of times. He supposed he should be happy--he had always been happy when someone told him of how wonderful his parents were when they were still alive--but for some reason, at that moment--like every other moment in his whole fifth year when he thought about them--he wasn't happy at all.

Almost unconsciously, he reached for his pajama pockets.

And came up with his parents' wedding rings.

"Harry," Ginny finally said, looking sideways at him, "this is the most amazing night in my whole life, you know that?"

Harry turned to her, and the wide smile on her face slowly faded upon seeing his face.

For a long while, their gazes locked with one another's. Ginny's brown eyes became unfathomable orbs, became windows to her own soul, and Harry saw his own emotions were reflected on them. And at that moment, he knew that she understood.

Ginny stood up, walked up to Harry, and pulled him into an embrace.

Harry didn't understand what he was feeling at first. Mrs. Weasley and Hermione were the only women he could remember hugging him, and he felt a different emotion for each--but this one was different, foreign. He felt warm and serene and content, and somewhere inside his chest he felt a painful pinch that made him limp with delight, and at the same time he wanted to break down and cry.

Although he tried to prevent it, the third emotion prevailed. Harry wound his arms around Ginny as he felt tears fight their way out of his eyes. "Damn," he heard himself mutter, and chuckled. "I wasn't a crybaby when I was younger, and look at me now." He ran the back of his hand harshly across his face.

"It's all right," Ginny whispered to his ear. Her voice was sweet and soothing. "It's okay to cry."

"They spoke to me last year, Gin," Harry went on, unable to contain himself any longer. "They saved me one last time. They helped me escape. I saw them, Gin...."

Ginny held him closer to herself. "I know, Harry."

"At that moment I realized how badly I missed them, and how I wanted them back, and all year I've thought about nothing else but--them." And at that point, he broke down completely.

Harry wanted to curse himself. He had tried to suppress his loneliness all year, but he had failed in doing so that night, since Ginny gave him permission to cry. He had promised himself no one else would know about how touchy he became this year when it came to his parents'. It slowly showed, unfortunately.

"This is stupid," Harry said suddenly, pulling himself out of Ginny's arms and removing his glasses. As he did, the rings he was clutching fell to the carpeted floor. "I shouldn't cry over them, I can't bring them back. I know I can't."

Ginny was quiet as Harry picked up the rings. Through the blur created by his tears, he noticed something different about them. He quickly wiped his glasses on his pajamas.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the emerald on his mother's ring was glowing, making it even greener than before. The stag engraved on his father's was also glowing--there was a yellow-orange light in it.

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

Harry held out his palm to her, with the rings in them. "They're my parents'. It's strange, though--I've never seen them glow before."

Ginny's eyes widened at the sight of the rings. "Wow," she whispered throatily. "Harry--can I--?"

"Go on," said Harry.

Ginny picked up the emerald ring and held it in front of her eyes. "It's...beautiful," she said slowly.

Harry, however, was staring at his palm. His father's ring was still there.

"Hold on," he gasped. "How did you--why did that ring--?"

Ginny knotted her forehead as she handed the ring back to Harry. He pressed the bands together, trying to clasp them together again--but he couldn't. It seemed as if they had simply unclasped themselves at Ginny's touch. He explained this to Ginny.

"B-but...I didn't do anything!" she stammered. "I just picked it up and...."

"I know, I know," Harry said, confused as ever. He didn't know what it meant at all. But something inside him told him to do something--

He took Ginny's hand and placed the emerald ring on her palm. "I want you to have this," he whispered. As he did, he suddenly realized the absurdity of what he was doing--for he didn't know why he was doing it.

"Why?" Ginny was as confused as he was.

"Would you...believe me if I say something inside me tells me to give it to you?" said Harry. "Dumbledore gave me those rings clasped together, and I doubt anyone else has made those rings unclasp themselves."

"But...it's your mother's."

"Maybe--just maybe--she's the one telling me that you should have it."

Ginny looked up at him, sympathy written all over her eyes. She probably thought that Harry was still being stupid, bawling over his dead mum. Finally, she nodded firmly and put the ring on her right ring finger. "Thank you," she whispered.

Harry put his father's ring on his own right ring finger. It fit him perfectly.

Ginny began to smile again, and passed him the basket of food. "Well--the hungry ones go first, of course."

The hunger pangs went back in Harry's stomach. "Right," he said. He took out a chicken leg, which had gone quite cold, but was as delectable as if they just came out of the oven. Ginny had begun on the potatoes, but she was still looking at Harry as if he was about to burst any moment.

"Look," Harry told Ginny when he noticed her staring at him, "I'm sorry about a while ago. I was just--I dunno...just...don't stare at me as if I'm going to blubber again."

Ginny smiled wryly and shook her head. "You just have a bit of chicken on your nose."

And so it went on. Harry and Ginny talked, laughed and ate in the Gryffindor common room, with Harry forgetting about the crying spell he just had a while ago. He felt decidedly better afterwards. As the first rays of sunlight entered the windows, Ginny fell into sleep. Harry watched her for some time until he himself felt sleepiness overcoming him--but not without a last peek at Ginny, who was smiling as she slept, just to make sure that she was safe and comfortable.

If they hadn't been that sleepy, they would have noticed that the rings were still glowing.

* * *

"I'm dying here," James Potter muttered to himself.

Sirius Black, James's best friend, looked sideways at him. James was tugging at the collar of his navy blue dress robe.

Sirius laughed. "Is it just because of your dress robe or because you're burning with jealousy?"

"I'm not," James snapped, his face reddening. As he did, he threw (for probably the two hundredth time that night) a glance at the dance floor--where Lily Evans danced a lively tune with a partner.

Sirius snorted. "Yeah. Right."

It was the Yule Ball of James Potter's fifth year, and his first. Nothing eventful had happened all night--at least at him. Sirius had already gone up to dance with a few Gryffindor girls. James, on the other hand, knew perfectly well that there was only one girl he wanted to dance with. And there she was, dancing a fast song with their friend, Peter Pettigrew.

"I'm going to strangle Wormtail," James said between gritted teeth. "Who is he to ask her to dance? He was just sitting beside me, and he suddenly got up. He knows I wanted to ask her out."

"Better ask her to dance already after this song," said Sirius, grinning.

James also knew that Lily had gone alone to the ball. He was supposed to ask her, but he was, as Sirius had constantly reminded him, too chicken to do so. He was afraid he was going to spoil the platonic friendship he had built with her--and she had been a great friend to him indeed.

"You've got a problem, though," Sirius had pointed out. "You like her not just as a friend."

Lily shared a table with some who'd others call social outcasts--all of them apparently without partners. James had seen that she had kept a conversation going, and after about fifteen minutes since she had joined them, the others had begun to feel much, much better. She had danced with the guys who were on her table all night. She almost didn't stop dancing. She was flushed, yet she was still beaming beautifully; indeed, she looked as if she was having the time of her life.

That was Lily Evans.

James sighed. Lily was just being herself. He had no reason to be jealous at all.

"All right," Sirius suddenly said. "The song's almost over--be prepared, now."

James took a deep breath, as if getting ready for a five-hundred-meter dash. The last chords of the song were struck by the band, and he stood up.

"Hurry," Sirius growled. "You're a stag, not a chicken."

James tugged at his collar again and walked towards Lily. A slow song had started. Talk about timing, James thought.

"Er--Lily," he called out although he was still a few yards away from her.

Lily whipped around, still smiling after her last dance; as she did, her flowing red hair tossed itself backwards. She was wearing an emerald green gown, enhancing her lovely eyes. Her smile widened as her gaze fell on James, and James suddenly felt as if something was writhing inside his stomach.

She walked towards him, still wearing that dazzling smile. "Hi, James," she said.

"Hi," James managed to croak out. "Uh--may I...have this dance?" He made a mental note to ask Sirius for a better line after this.

However, Lily simply held her skirt on her sides and curtseyed teasingly. "By all means, Mr. Potter."

James's nervousness magically disappeared; he grinned back and bowed lowly. Then, still grinning, he wound his arms around her waist as Lily put hers around his shoulders, and they began swaying on the spot.

"You and I, we have moments left to share

You and I, we can make it anywhere--"

"'You and I, we belong in each other's arms'," Lily began to hum softly, looking straight at his eyes. Her voice sounded as fresh and wonderful as the spring breeze. "'There can be no other love...now I know we can have it all...forever....'"

All James could do was to gaze back into Lily's sparkling eyes, sensing their depth, knowing that the loving expression on them were also present on his own. I love this girl, he thought, sighing, for something heavy and yet fantastic seemed to build up in his chest. I just do. I really, really do.

It was the most intimate he had ever been with Lily Evans in his whole life, and he knew he wouldn't trade that single, perfect moment for the world.