Family

Family

Chapter Five
The Big Brother

"Hey. Harry. Wake up."

Someone was prodding him awake. He rolled about, not wanting to be disturbed. He was having a dream--and it was a great one--

"Ginny, it's morning!"

Harry groped around for his pillow to cover his ears, but found none; he instantly realized that he was on an armchair by the fireplace in the common room. He had fallen asleep there last night.

He opened his eyes a crack and saw the blurry face of Hermione.

"What time is it?" he asked sleepily.

"Seven-thirty," someone else said. It was Ron.

"Still early," said Ginny.

It suddenly hit Harry. He had fallen asleep in the common room. With Ginny. Ron was there. And he had caught them.

Harry was awake all of a sudden. He reached down for his glasses, which was on the floor. When Ron's face came into focus, Harry saw that he was wearing the sternest face he had ever seen on him.

"What were you two doing all night?"

"Ron," Hermione said bracingly.

Ginny yawned and stretched. "We were talking and eating," she replied. She wore a wistful expression on her face. "That's all."

"After midnight?"

"I--got some food from the kitchens," said Harry. He wouldn't dare tell Ron Ginny had been with him.

"Oh, but of course," Ron said sarcastically, still fixing Harry with a suspicious glare.

"Look," Harry said, standing up. "We slept on separate armchairs. They're about three feet apart. We're innocent."

"Don't be stupid, Ron," said Ginny--but in Harry's opinion, she was saying it the wrong way, for she was still smiling dreamily as if something had indeed happened to her and Harry that Ron shouldn't know.

Ron stared at his sister for a while, then looked away. "Go to bed, Ginny."

Ginny yawned once more. "'Hanks," she said.

Harry took the Invisibility Cloak from the armchair he had slept in. "I think I'm going to bed, too."

Ron opened his mouth, as if to say "I don't think so," but Hermione laid a hand on his shoulder. Harry took the opportunity to sprint towards the boys' staircase.

"G'night, Harry," Ginny called. She still had that smile on.

Harry smiled back, blushing hard--especially when he saw Ron and Hermione looking at the two of them searchingly. "Good morning, Gin."

As Harry entered his room and collapsed on his canopy bed, he suddenly remembered the dream he just had. It had been so clear when he was still dreaming it, but it had slipped off his memory now that he was awake. He knew, though, that it had been himself--and Ginny. And he had been dancing with her. And there was this other guy--he looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place a finger on who he was.

But...now that he thought about it...it didn't seem like it was him and Ginny. But it had felt like it was he...and the girl there felt like it was Ginny....

Deciding to think about it later on when he was fully awake, Harry closed his eyes and fell asleep again.

* * *

"How did you find the entrance to this place?"

James slipped the Invisibility Cloak off himself and Lily. He had taken her to a wide marble terrace near the North Tower, where they had a clear view of the night sky, on which the stars were winking down on them as if teasing them for being alone together in that place.

James smiled at Lily. "By doing what I do--explore the castle."

James clambered on the wide immaculate white railing and sat on it. He swiveled around so that his feet were dangling above the Hogwarts grounds, which seemed to be a mile downward.

"James, don't do that," Lily chided, looking worried. "You might lose your balance!"

"Me? Lose my balance?" James puffed his chest outward. "James Potter doesn't lose his balance."

"Ha ha," said Lily sarcastically. "Don't think I'd Summon you or something if you fall from there."

"Come on." James patted the flat top of the railing beside him. "This is fun."

Lily hesitated for a while, then sat down beside James, though facing the castle so that her feet were above the terrace floor.

James watched Lily look upwards at the stars and smile to herself. The stars were reflected on her incredibly green eyes, making them sparkle like two bright emeralds. Her lips were slightly parted, and James noticed how thin and soft and red they looked--

"'Fun' doesn't begin to describe this place," Lily whispered. She suddenly let out a gasp; at the same time, James saw two flashes of yellow-orange dart across the sky. "Shooting stars!" she exclaimed.

"Wow," James sighed. "First time I've seen one in years."

Lily grinned at him. "And you saw two," she said softly. "Must be your lucky night."

"Must be...."

James's voice got caught in his throat. Lily was gazing at him differently, and it was as if her eyes were magnets, pulling his face close to hers.

He bent down and touched her lips briefly with his.

It was a strange, electrifying moment; he felt a heavy weight on his stomach, yet didn't acknowledge it; when he pulled back, he realized that he was blushing, and so was Lily. Yet she fixed him with a gaze that held his.

And she spoke. "Why?" Just one word.

James knew that he looked just like how Lily did at that moment: blushing at the sudden, unexpected kiss, yet seemingly wanting to repeat the moment.

"I..." James began. His stomach began to writhe again, knowing that he didn't have an answer. "I...don't know."

Lily's gaze didn't falter. To the contrary, she looked satisfied with his reply.

Then she smiled and took his hands in hers. "Maybe you'll know someday, James." She gave his hands a squeeze. "And maybe I will, too."

James didn't quite comprehend what Lily was talking about, but he let her tug at his hand as she hopped down from the railing. He hopped down, and following her, left the terrace quietly.

Maybe someday, James thought as they headed back to their dormitories. The feeling in his stomach had settled down, but he kept biting at his lips, thinking about how soft Lily's were, and how his emotions threw themselves in chaos at the lightest kiss.

* * *

It was exactly lunchtime by the time Harry managed to get up from bed. Still feeling a bit wobbly (if it was because of his detention or the amount of food he took in last night, he didn't know), he put on his robes and headed to the Great Hall. But as he was making his way down the Great Hall, he met an annoyed-looking Ginny stomping up the stairs.

"Ginny?" he asked guardedly.

Ginny looked up at Harry. Hew whole aspect suddenly changed. She smiled widely. "Hey," she said, walking up to him. "Had a good nap?"

"Pretty much," Harry said. "Why were you looking so furious?"

"Oh. It was--" For a moment, she looked angry again, but her face brightened up quickly. "Ah, forget it. Such a lovely morning, isn't it?"

Harry's reply died in his throat, because Ginny suddenly hooked her arm around his. "Shall we go down to the Great Hall together?"

Harry's face reddened. It wasn't like Ginny to be as straightforward as this--not at all. He knew he used to have a crush on her (used to being the key phrase), but she wouldn't do this, ever. Or was she being straightforward? Why was she doing this?

"Er," he managed to squeak. Ginny's grin widened and dragged him down the stairs to the Great Hall.

All of the Gryffindors who were in there gaped at Harry and Ginny. Ginny didn't look embarrassed at all--unlike Harry, who was red to the roots of his hair that his face could have matched Ginny's locks. Ginny smiled smugly as Parvati and Lavender stared at them with their mouths hanging open, as if Harry were a prized trophy.

Harry began to pull away and protest, until he looked at who was in front of him.

Ron and Hermione.

Hermione wore an expression like that of Parvati and Lavender. Ron, on the other hand, looked close to murderous.

"Hi, Ron," said Ginny. Harry thought Ginny sounded as if she was teasing Ron.

Ginny finally let go of Harry as they sat down, with Ginny sitting between Hermione and Harry.

"I don't believe this," Hermione groaned, putting her head in her hands.

"Why not?" asked Ginny cheerfully, reaching for a green apple. Ron's eyes widened when his eyes fell on the ring on Ginny's hand. "We didn't mind when Ron began snogging you, did we?"

Hermione's jaw dropped open. Ron turned red at his ears. Harry wanted to duck down under the table.

However, Hermione's face began to relax. She smiled at Ginny. "Very funny, Gin."

Ginny and Hermione seemed to understand each other, for Ginny returned a knowing smile.

"Ginny!" It was a third year Gryffindor that Harry knew only by her first name, Bridget. She was waving at Ginny.

"Oh dear," Ginny muttered, standing up. "Gotta go now. See you later, okay?" She winked at Harry. Harry could only nod and blush as Ginny went to Bridget. Bridget and her two guy companions, on the other hand, were grinning at Harry in a knowing manner.

Harry let out air that he had been keeping in his lungs for a while. "So," he tried to say in the thick silence that had fallen over him, Ron and Hermione, "er, nice morning isn't it?"

Ron and Hermione didn't say anything.

"Hey Ron, over here," called Fred from the other side of the table. Beside him, George seemed to stifle a smile. He winked at Harry.

Ron quickly stood up and stomped to where Fred and George sat. Hermione, meanwhile, sat beside Harry.

"Nice morning, yeah," she muttered derisively.

"Hermione--it's not what you and Ron think," Harry protested. He glanced at Ginny--she was deep in conversation with Bridget and a couple of other third years.

Hermione broke into a grin. "I know. I know nothing's going on between you and Ginny." Her tone began to grow serious. "Look here, I know why Ginny was acting like that all morning. Ron talked to her before you came and they got pissed off at each other. Ron was insisting something happened last night--and the mildest thing he suggested was you kissing the heck out of her. And Ginny was angrily saying that nothing as...intimate as that happened."

Something at the back of Harry's mind made him blush once more. He didn't kiss Ginny, but for some reason, he felt guilty, as if he had really kissed her....

"I did not kiss her, whatever Ron says," said Harry, blushing harder. "You know I wouldn't." You only hugged her, a voice said in his head. And another voice answered, No, she hugged you.

"I believe her," Hermione replied, "and I believe you. Ron can be such a jerk at times--"

"You tell me," Harry muttered darkly.

"--and Ginny was just annoying him because he was accusing her of something. But the thing is, everybody else suspects what Ron thinks. Because you and Ginny are hanging out with each other nowadays, and you're looking cozy with each other. And it's known all over Hogwarts that she's carrying a torch for you since she saw you that first day at Platform Nine--"

"She does not carry one for me anymore," Harry interrupted angrily. "We're friends."

Hermione stared at him for a while, as if searching him. Then she straightened up. "All right, then. Tell me--right in front of my face, all right?--that you don't feel anything for Ginny, none at all."

Harry began to open his mouth, but suddenly stopped.

Saying that he didn't was a lie. Saying that he did was too fast.

He suddenly saw an image of him and Ginny sitting on what looked like the railing of a balcony, enveloped in the darkness of the night with only the stars and moon to light them up. Then he kissed her lightly.

It struck Harry that this was the dream he just had, just this morning. But why did he have it?

And...why did it seem that, like the dream he had before that one, they weren't really the characters in the dream, but it was them all the same?

Harry shook his head mentally. His head ached just by thinking about it.

"Listen," Harry began. "I don't know what I feel for her, really. I like her--a lot," he added. "But it's still all so...confusing. I have to sort it out first."

Hermione continued to stare hard into Harry's eyes. After a while, she reached out and gave his arm a squeeze. "I understand, Harry," she said softly. She tossed her head to Ron's direction (Ron was telling Fred something, and he looked heated). "I know exactly how you feel."

Harry began to smile. Now that he thought about it, Hermione and Ron must have felt confused as well during their transition from being friends to a couple.

On the other hand...he and Ginny had absolutely no plans of becoming a couple.

Yet.

Harry found Ginny that evening in the common room, talking to some first years in the study table there, and seemingly trying to read in between. Ron and Hermione were deep in conversation on the other end of the table. Ron was looking irate, and even more so when Harry entered the common room.

He knew he was going to infuriate Ron even more by sitting beside Ginny, but he knew he just had to.

Ginny was so immersed in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts that she didn't notice Harry until he sat down on the seat beside hers. Ginny quickly closed the book and told him matter-of-factly, "Did you know that the Death Eaters used a lot of spells unknown to other people when You-Know-Who was still at the height of his powers?"

Harry shrugged. "No, but it's quite obvious, isn't it?" He took the book from her hands casually. "They are the only ones who know how to conjure the Dark Mark, remember at the Quidditch World Cup? And Voldemort--sorry," he added hastily when Ginny suddenly went rigid with shock, "You-Know-Who invented a few spells...not a few only, come to think of it...."

Harry was thinking of the spell Voldemort had invented to bring back his own body, as he had witnessed last year when he had risen again....Shaking himself from those unwelcome thoughts, he opened the book.

His heart leapt to his throat. He had opened a page devoted to his defeat of the Dark Lord. But what caught his attention was the moving black-and-white picture on the corner of the page.

His mother was sitting on an armchair, holding a baby, while his father, wearing a pointy party hat, sat on the armrest. Both of them were beaming and laughing back at Harry while the baby pointed at him. Behind them floated balloons of different sizes. The caption read, "Lily and James Potter, with their son, Harry James. Taken on Harry's first birthday, three months before the Dark Lord met his end thanks to the young boy."

He stared at the photograph for a while, fingering it absentmindedly. He had pictures of his parents--a lot of them--but seeing his own family in a widely-read library book felt strange. Everyone knew that Harry caused Voldemort's downfall, but they really didn't know the whole story--

"Wait," he suddenly said. "Have you been staring at my baby picture all evening?"

Ginny, Harry saw, blushed furiously. "I was not!" she declared, grabbing the book from him.

Harry grinned naughtily. "Yeah..."

Ginny shoved him sideways. "Don't be a prat," she said, opening the book again to a page devoted to the curses the Death Eaters used.

Harry watched her, noticing that the red on her ears had no signs of diminishing yet.

Ginny must have noticed Harry staring at her. "Listen," she spoke up, noticeably changing the subject, "I'm really sorry about this morning. I was just annoying Ron, 'cause--"

"I know." Harry put both palms up, stopping her. "Hermione told me."

Ginny goggled at him. "What?" she exclaimed, causing those around them to look their way. "Told you what?" Her face was becoming red again.

Harry shrugged. "That you and Ron had quite a fight--because of me," he said, suddenly feeling awful. "Why? Is there something else?"

"Oh--no," Ginny said hastily. "And no--don't blame yourself, for God's sake!"

Harry stared down at The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, deep in thought about something that had been nagging at him all day--something that Hermione had said. Again, as he wondered how he was going to tell Ginny, he felt something writhing inside his stomach.

"Harry, don't mind Ron," Ginny said quietly--Ron was still venomously looking their way. "He's just--my big brother, you know."

"Fred and George don't give me dagger looks, though."

"'Cause they're Fred and George," Ginny said. "They're more...should I say liberal?" She grinned.

Harry didn't smile back. He kept quiet for a moment--before blurting out, "Don't you mind that I hang out with you nowadays?"

Ginny raised both eyebrows.

"I mean." Harry swallowed before going on. "Years back I never hung out with you, the way I do now. I never paid much attention to you. I was indifferent about--you know, your...uh, crush."

Ginny's face was void of expression as he spoke, making him feel edgier.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, I hope I'm not making you feel--uh, bad--'cause I only noticed you now, and not before, when you really deserve to be noticed despite that...crush." He was still having difficulty with the word. "'Cause you're really a nice person, and I mean it."

Ginny was not smiling, and neither did she look mad. She simply shrugged. "I don't mind. You were always the slow one. After Ron, come to think of it," she added as an afterthought.

Harry stared at her. Ginny began to giggle.

"No, Harry," she said, her eyes sparkling with laughter. "Fine--I felt deprived of attention from you, but that was because of that stupid crush."

Harry smiled lopsidedly.

"Besides, you saved my life in my first year, remember?"

"Hey, it's not that you should leave me alone after that," Harry protested.

Ginny laughed again. Her laughs were somewhat comforting. She gave his shoulder a squeeze. "I know it's not," she said. "The reason I'm hanging out with you now is because I finally discovered the real Harry Potter. He's not just the hero who defeated You-Know-Who before he knew what he was doing. He's got a good heart, he's a good friend--and he's a sunrise person." She smiled, somewhat encouragingly. "He's not worth hero-worshipping. You're worth being a friend, and that's it."

Harry wanted to hug her when she uttered the last sentence. However, he contented himself by patting her hand that was on her lap.

"Thank you," he whispered sincerely.

Ginny just smiled and nodded.

"Can you do me one favor though?" asked Harry. "Can you tell Ron what you just said?"

Ginny broke into uncontrollable laughter. It was infectious--Harry began shaking in laughter himself.

"I don't have to," Ginny told him finally. "He already knows that."

* * *

A large, shaggy black dog walking alongside a majestic chestnut-brown stag with black markings around its eyes was a strange sight indeed, but Lily Evans positively glowed at the sight of the two animals.

"Hey guys," she said. She was standing on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She ambled towards them and gave both a pat on the head. The dog wagged its tail, while the stag reared back. "Coast is clear."

Where the stag had been, there stood James Potter, arranging his glasses. "You know I hate it when you do that, Lil."

"I like annoying you," replied Lily. Sirius, who had transformed into his human form, snickered. James glared at him even as he pulled Lily close to him and kissed her gently on the lips.

"That," said James after a while, "is much better."

"Can't argue more," said Lily, mesmerizing James with her dazzling smile.

"Why don't you kiss me as a stag, though? Sure beats being groped around."

Lily grimaced disgustedly. She put a hand over his face and pushed it away, loosening James's hold on her waist.

"Hey," James said as Lily began to walk away, "I was just kidding!"

"I know!" Lily called back with a wave of her hand.

"Ah, c'mon, Lil," James groaned. "I love you!"

This time, Lily turned around and grinned widely. "Yeah, me too!" Then she turned back around to the castle.

James sighed to himself, smiling. He felt Sirius clap a hand on his shoulder. "You know," he told him, "whenever I watch you two do that, I get the goose bumps."

"She gives me those, too, when she does that," James said dreamily.

Sirius looked at him, looking disgusted at James's corniness. Shaking his head, he followed Lily to the castle, with James following close behind, still grinning to himself.