The Dementors' Kiss

Breakfast passed in a blur, though Harry noticed that Ginny had returned to her previous routine of looking at anything but him whenever he tried to catch her eye. He sighed. Whatever his feelings for Ginny, and he still wasn't sure himself what they were, he really needed her to look at him occasionally if he were going to fulfil his resolution.

Hagrid bustled around, setting up Portkeys at each of the Cauldron's tables.

"They're special," he said. "Deliver yeh straight to Platform 9 and ¾, these will. Dumbledore enchanted them especially, so as they'd get though the spells protecting Kings Cross from Dark Magic and the like. Great man, is Dumbledore. Great man," he finished, setting the last Portkey in front of Harry. Harry looked at it nervously, remembering now that he'd even prefer travelling by Floo to another Portkey voyage.

"Now, Harry, there ain't nothin' to worry about," Hagrid said, with a whiskery grin. "Seein' as how your tables a bit less crowded, I'll even come with yeh, if yeh like."

Harry looked around, and realised this was true. Fred and George had avoided sitting with Ron and Ginny, and indeed were sitting at quite separate tables, something previously unheard of. Harry couldn't say he was sorry, having Hagrid around made him feel much happier about Portkey travel.

"Right, everyone," Hagrid said, clapping his dustbin lid sized hands loudly. "Grab yerselves a bit of yeh Portkey. That's right. Everyone hold tight. Now, your bags an' stuff are already on the train. Got picked up las' night, see? So, no worrying about that. Yeh can change when you get to Hogwarts. Right," he added, pulling out his watch. "I reckon as we've got about a minute left. Thanks for all this, Tom," he added, as the Cauldron's landlord appeared from the kitchen. A chorus of thanks rose from the crowd of students, and Hagrid could just be heard over the noise.

"Right. 'Old tight everyone. Five... Four... Three... Two... One!"

The familiar tug jerked everyone forward, and space swirled around them as they plummeted sideways the few miles to Kings Cross. To Harry, it felt much gentler than his previous trips by Portkey, maybe because of the much shorter distance involved. The landing was softer, as well. They dropped a couple of inches onto the platform at King Cross, and Harry grinned as he saw the familiar red locomotive exhaling huge gasps of steam as it prepared for the long haul northwards.

"Right. Ten to eleven. Everyone hop on board now," Hagrid said, looking around constantly. He nodded to other members of the Hogwarts staff, each of whom was shepherding students onto the train. Harry waved to Professor Flitwick, and weathered a sneer from Professor Snape, before he climbed aboard and found the apartment he'd been told his luggage was in. He wasn't surprised to find himself sharing with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, and grinned as he realised that they'd be sharing with Seamus and Lavender as well. He caught Ron's eye, and the two friends struggled not to laugh as they imagined their roommate forced to sit quietly with his girlfriend right beside him.

Hagrid walked along the carriage, ticking names off on his register. When he marked the last of the names, he waved out the window to the guard, who nodded as he collected signals from the other teachers. With the last of the signals, he climbed aboard the last carriage, and waved his flag. The shrill blast of his whistle was greeted by the piping of the engine's own whistle, and the Hogwarts Express began to pull away.

Soon, the train was steaming through unspoiled acres of green countryside, and the six students in Harry's compartment chattered merrily away. "Wonder who'll be Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this year?" Seamus asked, surreptitiously squeezing Lavender's hand. Harry gave a start as he realised he hadn't even thought about the post being vacant again. Would there ever be a teacher who lasted more than three terms?

"Oh, Harry," Hermione said. "Didn't you say you had something for Colin's birthday? I heard one of his friends say that it was next week. Do you want to give him his present now? You know how hard it is to find someone once term starts." She said all this with a series of meaningful glances at Ginny, who was sitting by the window, clearly lost in thought as the scenery sped past outside.

"Yeah, good idea," Harry said, dragging his trunk down from the luggage rack ("Ouch!" "Oh, sorry Ron.") and digging into it for the brightly wrapped package he and Ginny had found in Muggle London, something they hadn't mentioned to Mr or Mrs Weasley. Harry suspected that Voldemort wouldn't want anything to do with such a dense concentration of Muggles, but Hermione had been horrified when he'd mentioned it.

"Ginny, do you want to come and say hello as well?" he asked. Ginny looked up with a start, and Harry could see her blush already starting. He wondered what she'd been thinking.

"Yes, okay then," she managed to say, and was quite pleased with the steadiness of her own voice.

*

They walked along the corridor in silence, the spectre of the previous evening hanging heavy over them. Ginny was the first to break.

"Harry, I..." she said, and cursed herself inwardly. Of all the stupid things to say. Now he wants to hear what you're going to say. Just for once, Ginny Weasley, learn to keep your mouth shut!

"Ginny, if it's about last night," Harry began, stopping to look at her. He paused as his eyes traced over her face, trying to read the emotions playing across it. "Um, if it's about last night, I just wanted to say thank you for saving me from having to spend the next five hours washing my face. I reckon Fred still had soot behind his ears this morning."

In spite of herself, Ginny couldn't help but smile. Harry grinned as he watched her expression brighten.

"Besides, I'd have got it all in my hair and, well, you can imagine how long it takes to wash this hair. It all gets tangled, and it grows at all kinds of angles anyway..." He ran a hand through his hair, giving it a whole new range of angles to grow out of. "Your hair is amazing," he heard himself saying.

"You really think so?" Ginny said, blinking as though she couldn't quite believe what she'd said.

"Er, that is, yes," Harry said, wincing. "I mean, it catches the light, and it looks like fire dancing..." Appalled at the words emerging form his mouth, he reached out and stroked a hand through her hair, anything to distract her from the clumsy phrases tumbling unguarded from his lips.

He raised his eyes, trying to meet her gaze. Just for once she held the look, her eyes meeting his as she bit her lip, unsure of her thoughts, unable to speak, just knowing that she was standing alone with Harry Potter, his fingers tracing gently through her hair. She trembled slightly, her nervousness, she was sure, perfectly visible. This is all I've ever dreamed about. Why am I so nervous? He must think I'm so stupid...

Suddenly, Harry was reaching up, taking her head in his hands, and tilting her head back slightly as he moved his face closer to hers. He was faintly aware of her trembling, and then-

A colossal BANG!!! threw Harry and Ginny to the floor of the carriage, and was followed by the smashing of glass. The train was screeching along the rails, its brakes magically augmented to shorten stopping distances. Through the shattered windows Harry could see black against the bright sunshine. An ice-cold jolt of fear stabbed deep into his stomach, and even as he tried to climb to his feet, he sank back to his knees, vivid images that he would rather forget flooding his mind, oblivious even to Ginny sobbing violently beside him.

Harry shook his head, muzzily. The voices seemed to be coming from across a great distance, and he thought he knew why. He'd met the real Voldemort just a few months previously. The childhood memory didn't seem to hold as much fear for him anymore.

"Dementors..." he managed to say. Then a great hoarse bellow shook the carriage, and Harry realised that, even as he began to fall back to that dreadful night when his parents died, Hagrid was under attack from the former Azkaban guards.

He shook his head, trying to clear the memories. His mind seemed to be working somewhere, somewhere far off. The teachers. They're going after the teachers. Then we'll be easy to take.

"Hagrid!" he cried, and suddenly his mind was clearer. Hagrid had survived Azkaban, so Harry could survive now. He'd beaten the Dementors before, so he could do it again. He felt a pressure on his leg, and when he looked down, he realised Ginny had reached out to him. He took her hand in his, and felt a great warmth flood through him. He climbed to his feet, supporting Ginny on one arm as he reached for his wand, pulling it grimly from his belt. Slowly at first, then faster, he made his way down the carriage. He could see great bursts of silver light illuminating the sudden darkness that had fallen over the train, and then-

The Dementor pulled itself through a broken window, and unfolded itself to its true height. Towering above Harry and Ginny, it advanced upon them, it's scabrous hands extending from its sleeves toward them. Harry smiled grimly, and extended his wand.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!!" he bellowed, and at once a huge stag erupted from the end of his wand. The stag charged down the Dementor, bowling it over and trampling it beneath its shining hooves. The Dementor fought ferociously, clawing at the insubstantial stag even as it was borne to the ground. The Patronus reared up on its back legs, before bringing its full magical weight down on the Dementor's chest, knocking the creature unconscious.

Harry collapsed against the wall of the carriage, watching as the Patronus turned and trotted back to him. As the silvery stag grew nearer Harry felt the fear dissipate, and smiled faintly. He helped Ginny to her feet, and threw her arm over his shoulder. With one arm around her waist, he half led, half carried her past the unconscious thing, further toward the far end of the carriage, where he could hear Hagrid's voice bellowing. The Patronus trotted alongside them, its silvery glow illuminating the corridor. As they neared the end of the corridor, it charged forward once again, heading toward the sound of Hagrid's voice. It slammed into something solid, bearing it to the floor, and Harry realised that part of the blackness had been another Dementor, its dark robes hiding it in the shadows.

"Harry!" Hagrid's voice cut through the gloom, and Harry grinned as Hagrid appeared from out of the darkness. "Well done," he said, his pink umbrella incongruously bright in the darkness. "I think that's the las' of 'em in this carriage. I'm going teh

Harry nodded, feeling the cold fear begin to resettle in stomach as Hagrid strode away. Beside him, the Patronus began to fade. He slowly became aware that Ginny was still beside him, and he squeezed her gently, trying to get any response from her as she shook in his arms. "Ginny," he said "Ginny!" he repeated, louder this time.

He took her chin in his hand and tilted her head back. Her hair was streaked across her face, and he could barely make out her eyes, even as red as they were from the tears she had shed. She was still weeping, apparently deaf to the world. He frowned and began to lead her towards the compartment they were sharing with the others.

When he got there, he slammed the door open and found himself staring at the spell ends of four wands, each with one of his friends behind it. Lavender looked surprisingly calm, Ron and Seamus grim and determined, while Hermione looked a little nervous, her wand weaving slightly. When they realised who was at the door, they relaxed, and Hermione rushed forward to help Ginny.

"I have to go back out there," Harry said, noting with a certain sense of irony how his resolution to be mature, and a guiding light, was coming back to haunt him. He tried to hand Ginny over to Hermione, but Ginny refused to release her grip on Harry.

"No," she said, her voice weak. "Harry, please. Don't leave." Harry looked down at her, knowing that her face was buried against his chest. He relented.

"It's okay, Gin," he said. "I'm not going anywhere right now. If another Dementor comes in, I have to go, though, okay?"

She nodded against his chest, and he sighed. He wrapped his arms around her, feeling her shaking as he did so. He lowered himself gently into the compartment seat, and let Ginny settle herself in his lap, her arms wrapped tightly around him, her tears soaking slowly through his robes and wetting his shoulder. Ron looked to be full of questions, but Harry shook his head. He could see Ron's jaw tighten, doubtless in frustration at his inability to help his sister. Then he jumped to his feet and began rummaging through his trunk, before pulling out a big bar of chocolate and breaking it into chunks.

"Here," he said, handing it to Harry, and pushing some at Ginny. "Professor Lupin used chocolate, remember?"

"Thanks, Ron. I forgot. Do you know what happened?"

"No. All we know is that it went dark, then Hagrid came running down here, yelling his head off, and slamming all the doors with magic. Next thing, we started to hear the screams, and..."

"It was horrible," Seamus continued. "Like when me gran died. I felt just like that all over again."

Hermione nodded. "The Dementors must have swarmed the train. I wonder how they got it to stop? There are a lot of spells protecting it. Probably more today than usual."

"Ginny?" Ron said, stepping forward and stroking his sister's head as she slowly ate the chocolate. "Ginny, come on. We're all here, Gin, you're okay."

Slowly, Ginny's shaking became less violent, and she raised her head from Harry's shoulder, looking around blearily, her mouth surrounded by a ring of chocolate. "Are they gone?"

Harry listened intently, stretching to hear any sounds of battle. "I think they have. I don't feel scared anymore."

"You were scared?" Ginny said, still holding him tightly. "But you fought them off. You saved me again..." she tailed off.

"Gin, the first few times I saw the Dementors, they made me black out. Professor Lupin taught me how to beat them, and that's the only difference. I was just as scared as you were, believe me."

"Harry, how do you beat them?" Ginny asked, weakly. "I've seen you do that silver spell before, when you were playing Quidditch. What is it?"

"It's a Patronus," Harry said. "A guardian, I suppose. It's like all that is brave and good about you taking on a body and charging down the Dementor."

"Could you teach me how to do it?" Ginny asked, timidly. "I mean, if it's not too much trouble-"

"Of course I will," Harry said immediately. He'd gladly do anything he could do to keep Ginny from feeling this bad again.

Suddenly the train gave a lurch, and began moving again. Hermione heaved a huge sigh of relief. A couple of minutes later, Hagrid appeared at the door.

"All right, everyone?" he asked. Harry could see a cut above his eye, but he didn't look too bad. "Nasty business, all that. Already sent an owl up to Hogwarts to let 'em know what happened. Reckon Professor Dumbledore will 'ave a few words to say, so I do.

"Listen, Harry," he went on. "Jus' wanted to say thank you for helping out back there. Almos' got overwhelmed. Then I had to help Professor Sinistra in the next carriage down, so I reckon you bein' here helped a lot. Good on yeh," he finished. With a whiskery smile he moved on to the next compartment along.

Ron grinned at Harry, who had gone quite as red as Ginny ever did. "Hey, Harry, reckon you've got off to an early start winning us some house points?"

"It all happens to you, doesn't it Harry?" Lavender said. "But thank you for taking care of those Dementors. I really didn't want them coming in here."

"Yeah, thanks Harry," Seamus said. "D'you reckon the teachers will let us all learn how to do that Patronus spell? Could be useful if them things are going to be about."

"I expect they will," Hermione said. "Ron's father said that he would be advising all wizards at the Ministry of Magic to practise the spell. I do hope that Professor Dumbledore agrees."

Harry felt Ginny's grip on him loosen, and she sat up, brushing the hair from her eyes. She seemed to suddenly realise that she was sitting on Harry's lap, and gave a small squeak, trying to jump up again. She lost her balance, and fell back onto him, which made both of them flush red. Harry saw Ron's mouth open, and then slam shut, as he decided not to repeat Fred and George's mistake. Instead, he got up and helped Ginny to her feet. Ginny took a seat next to Hermione, as far from Harry as she could manage, and he sighed inwardly. She made a great show of checking her appearance in a makeup mirror, and gave a small wail as she realised how red her eyes were. Jumping up, she grabbed Hermione's hand and fled in the direction of the toilet.

Ron looked after them, and sighed. "Girls!" he said, with feeling. "Uh, no offence, Lavender," he added, hastily.