Harry Potter and the First Ones

Preparations

Harry was extremely uncomfortable. He'd never been alone with Ginny under the Invisibility Cloak before, and it was awkward on several levels. There was plenty of fabric to allow them to give each other room, of course, but the traffic in the corridor made it more practical for them to stay close. The keen awareness of the curved shape of her body beside him was bad enough, but the slightly flowery smell of her hair seemed to be the thing that really threatened to drive him over the edge.

Fortunately, the necessity of dodging people and aliens (more humans as they left the Green Sector) provided some distraction. Most annoying of all was how Ginny didn't even seem to notice. Or was she just covering it really well, like he hoped he was? Or was he just losing his mind?

When they reached Sheridan's quarters, the door was already closed. Harry and Ginny glanced uncertainly at one another. They probably should have expected this, but Harry didn't know what to do now. Perhaps they should have planned out their contingency plans beforehand. Of course, if they'd taken the time to do that, they wouldn't have had any chance at all of finding out what was going on.

Before they even had a chance to discuss their options, the door slid open, and Lorien stepped out. He nodded in their direction with a slight smile, almost as if he could see them, but Harry didn't really have time to dwell on that mystery. At any rate, Lorien appeared to pause for a moment, which allowed them enough space to slip inside before he left.

Harry and Ginny entered the room quickly, Harry barely pulling the last corner of the cloak out of the way of the door before it closed. Delenn and Sheridan were just a few feet in front of them, and Harry looked frantically around for a secure spot in which to stand. He spied an area behind a purple chair and herded Ginny in that direction. It was situated at an angle with a small sofa, creating a little corner. Even though they couldn't be seen, they both crouched down there as if at an unspoken signal.

Delenn was saying something about 20 years, and as Harry tried to follow their conversation, he gathered that this was how long Sheridan had left to live. Harry wondered how they would know he had a limit to his lifespan. Surely the captain could have lived much longer. Harry could only conclude that dying had drained some of Sheridan's natural life from him, and Lorien must have told them the limits of his restorative ability.

"...I get to spend it with you," Sheridan concluded his speech. "And that's why..." As he said this part, the captain began searching for something. Although he continued to talk, sort of, Harry was distracted by Sheridan's movements, especially when he lifted a throw pillow on the chair that was shielding Harry and Ginny. Harry held his breath as Sheridan picked a box up from that very chair.

"Merlin, is he going to--" Ginny began, but Harry cut her off.

"Sh!" he hissed, afraid they'd be discovered and disrupt what was about to happen. He'd seen enough films to have his own suspicions. Sure enough, Sheridan handed Delenn the small, black box, babbling about where he'd found it and how it wasn't quite what he'd been looking for. Delenn didn't seem to know what to do with the object, leaving it undisturbed on her hand, so Sheridan opened the box and showed her the ring inside. He explained that it was an Earth custom - an engagement ring.

Beside Harry, Ginny gasped, but he didn't try to shush her now. The couple before them was clearly absorbed with each other at the moment, and he found himself thinking many things at once. He was determinedly not looking at Ginny while he pursued these thoughts.

For one thing, Harry was astonished at how awkward the captain was. After all, he knew Sheridan had done this at least once before. Didn't it get any easier? It was already hard enough to ask a girl on a date, as Harry had learned so painfully two years ago. If someone as old and experienced as Captain Sheridan still fumbled through a proposal, Harry's hopes at improving his performance in the future seemed quite dim. It was all rather depressing, actually.

Of course, the whole thing was made more difficult by the fact that Delenn was unfamiliar with human customs, so Sheridan had to explain everything as he placed the ring on her finger. Once he'd made it clear he was proposing marriage to her and they embraced each other, Harry suddenly realized that they had another problem. Since it didn't look like Delenn would be leaving for a while, how were he and Ginny supposed to get out of here?

Finally, he turned to look at his companion. Her brown eyes were shining, and he thought she might actually have teared up a little at the scene they'd witnessed. Harry had always liked that Ginny didn't seem as prone to tears as other girls, but he supposed she was still a girl, after all, and allowances had to be made. For the first time, he considered how his father might have proposed to his mother and wished he could view that memory, perhaps in a Penseive.

Harry's eyes met Ginny's, and he rapidly forgot about their awkward position. Maybe it was the romantic mood that had been set by the older couple, or the humid warmth generated by their breath under the cloak, or just how bloody good she smelled, but suddenly, all he could think about was kissing her. He would just need to lean in a little...

He was rescued by a beeping at the communications monitor. He did his best to stifle his intake of breath as he started in surprise. He was too confused to follow Sheridan's conversation with the screen on the wall, but when it went dark again, Sheridan turned to Delenn apologetically. She was very happy, though, too happy to let a little interruption spoil her mood.

"It's all right," she assured him gently. "You go. We'll talk later."

"Yes, we will," he confirmed confidently, kissing her. "Dinner?"

"Dinner." Delenn nodded and left. Sheridan didn't immediately follow her, presumably needing to do something in quarters before he answered whatever duty was summoning him, but Harry and Ginny slipped out with the Minbari.

Harry was only conscious of one thing: the need to get out from under this cloak. He felt hot, very hot, and Ginny's continuing proximity was driving him mad. As soon as they found a narrow, empty turning, he ducked aside and pulled the cloak off of him, tucking it into a pocket and gasping for the recycled air of the station. Ginny, on the other hand, was laughing with delight.

"That was so much fun!" she exclaimed, leaning against the wall to support her. Harry shook his head at her.

"There's definitely some of Fred and George in you," he remarked.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," she accused, grinning teasingly and giving him a look that made Harry warm all over again and caused his stomach to turn over.

"No, it isn't, but...that was private! I was very uncomfortable!" That was certainly true, if not exactly in the way he was making it out to be.

"Well, we didn't know it was going to be private until we got there, did we?" she retorted reasonably. "Let's go tell Ron and Hermione."

"Why?" Harry asked honestly, although he followed her to the lift that would take them to their deck. "What have we learned?"

"We know that Sheridan's only going to live for 20 more years, and that he and Delenn are going to get married."

"I meant, what did we learn that's useful to us?"

"Does all knowledge have to be useful?" she challenged archly.

Harry had to laugh at her question. She had him there, and he could guess what Hermione's answer would be. As Ginny took off toward their quarters, her red hair streaming out behind her, Harry watched her for a moment before moving to catch up. He couldn't help thinking that if she were a Golden Snitch, he wouldn't want to let her go once he'd caught her.

***

The snogging session had barely got started (Ron had needed some food first, naturally) when the communicator in the other room beeped. Hermione groaned and leaned back.

"Ignore it," Ron advised, diving back in for another kiss. Hermione allowed it for a few seconds, but common sense took over, and she pushed him regretfully away.

"How many calls do we get?" she challenged him, standing up and straightening her clothing. She made one futile attempt at flattening her bushy hair before walking into the main room of the quarters the boys shared. "It must be important."

Ron trailed after her. Hermione answered the communicator, and Commander Ivanova's face appeared on the screen.

"I didn't get an answer at the other room," she explained with no preamble. "Are you all there?"

"Ron and I are," Hermione replied. Ron came up beside her, probably putting himself into Ivanova's field of vision. "Harry and Ginny are..." Hermione found herself at a loss here. Somehow, finishing the sentence with "spying on Captain Sheridan" just didn't sound very good.

"Taking a walk," Ron stepped in, rescuing her. He was a much better liar than Hermione.

"Well, when they get back, the captain would like to see you all," Ivanova informed them. Just at that moment, the door behind them gave a warning chime before it opened, and their two companions entered. Hermione could only surmise that at least one of them must have had the presence of mind to understand what she and Ron might have been doing and decided to give them some notice before barging in.

"Actually, they just walked in," said Hermione, relieved.

"Good. Sheridan's already on his way to CNC, and he wants you to go directly to a small briefing room off the main command center. I'm sending the location to your console. Can you find it on your own, or should I send an escort?"

Hermione was already downloading the best route into a pocket computer that had come with the room. She was getting used to this modern technology. She remembered that CNC was the abbreviation for "Command & Control," which was the primary activity center of the station, at least as far as the crew was concerned. Hermione took a moment to review the directions before answering.

"I think we can get there," she said. Ivanova nodded shortly.

"Be there in half an hour," the commander concluded, and she signed off.

"Not much for chit-chat, is she?" Ron remarked, but he didn't seem to require an answer.

"If you guys need something to eat, you'd better get it," Hermione advised Harry and Ginny, recalling that they hadn't had a meal since Ron's unusual summons. Honestly, Hermione didn't really even know if they were supposed to be awake right now. With all of the excitement over the Vorlon, she hadn't paid attention to the ship's time, and there was no other way of tracking day or night. Although she was curious about what the other two had learned, if anything, it would have to wait.

"Good idea. I'm starved," Harry asserted. They all went to the mess deck first, picking up handheld foods that bore a resemblance to Cornish meat pasties. They ate as they walked, although Hermione didn't think it would take them long to get there.

When she was finished with her pasty, Ginny related Sheridan's proposal to Hermione, who made a mental note to ask the younger girl about the details later. She was beginning to regret that she hadn't gone along, even though she was inclined to agree with Harry's interjections about intruding onto a private conversation.

They arrived at CNC, and once the guards let them through (they were apparently expecting the kids) Hermione had to catch her breath for a moment. It was not just the activity going on in the room or the array of monitors and consoles, though both of these features were impressive enough. What really caught Hermione's attention was the large window in front of her, opening up to the tapestry of stars on a dark background. In truth, however, she could scarcely see the starscape for the fleet of ships in various sizes and shapes either hovering around or in the process of docking. The true centerpiece of the view, though, was the jumpgate, a gigantic hollow circle made out of metal and just hanging there in the void. As she watched, the circle's center lit, and a ship began to come through.

Captain Sheridan was already there, of course, having been on his way sooner. Besides, his quarters were closer to the hub, for obvious reasons. He gave them a brief nod before returning to his conversation with Ivanova. Hermione found the entrance to the room they needed and guided the others inside.

The briefing room was a small space, with a single communications console near the door and an oval table in the middle, surrounded by six chairs. Feeling a little edgy, Hermione went to the monitor and found the channel Babylon 5 used to broadcast news. It was a repeated message, showing Ivanova giving the most recent update about the progress of the deadly Vorlon fleet. A list of planets not responding to communication signals and possibly destroyed was scrolling underneath her, along with the likely places survivors had been or would be sent. It really brought home how devastating this war had become. Death Eater attacks back home were bad enough, but the destruction of entire worlds was still too much for Hermione to really wrap her mind around.

"Shut that off; it's depressing," Ron pleaded. Hermione privately agreed with his assessment, but it was important for them to know what was going on out there. Still, she acceded to his request. A few minutes later, Security Chief Garibaldi walked in.

"Well, I guess I'm not late," he commented sardonically. "Wouldn't want to keep anybody waiting." He sounded unaccountably bitter, and though Hermione didn't know him very well, she couldn't help wondering what was going on with him. Meanwhile, Ginny was scrutinizing him closely.

"There's something wrong with you," the red-headed girl declared. He looked back at her grumpily.

"You're not the first person to tell me that," he quipped, trying to pass it off as a joke.

"No, I mean it," said Ginny persistently. "I'm not sure what, but something in you is...different. Not quite right. Has something unusual happened to you recently?"

"I don't know, okay?" Garibaldi stood angrily. "I disappeared for two weeks, and I don't remember anything from that time. It's a total blank. Is everyone going to ask me this question?"

"I'm sorry," Ginny finally backed down, but she exchanged a significant glance with the others. Hermione remembered that Ginny had blank spots in her memory when she'd been possessed by Tom Riddle/Voldemort and wondered if her suspicions were running along those lines.

"We didn't know," Harry added, stepping protectively in between Ginny and Garibaldi. The security chief visibly relaxed and rubbed a hand over his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," he apologized. "I haven't been sleeping very well."

"Nightmares?" Ginny guessed. Garibaldi looked at her sharply.

"Sort of. Why?"

"Let's just say I've been there."

Garibaldi looked as though he were considering pursuing the topic further, but before anything more could be said, Sheridan walked in. He explained that Ivanova needed to stay at her post for the moment but would be filled in on anything important. Everyone sat down.

"Let's get this party started," Garibaldi muttered, but the humor that may have been intended seemed to be completely missing from his tone.

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