The Knights Of Walpurgis

Chapter Fifteen: First Dates

Even though Harry wasn't entirely sure what he felt about Susan Bones, he did know that he felt increasingly nervous as the rest of the week passed and the Hogsmeade trip grew nearer. He tried to keep himself busy.

On top of his lessons, he was dueling with Marchbanks, asking other staff members for help whenever he saw them and helping students with questions about the HA and the things they were studying.

As well as this, he had frequent Quidditch practices - Ron had increased the number of practices in the wake of the Slytherin defeat, and was asking Madam Hooch for help with tactics and training regimes - and was still working on his Occlumency training.

When they both had the time, he was also spending time with Ginny and - to his consternation - a number of her friends, as they continued his lessons on girls.

He also found time, somehow, to write to Remus.

December 19^th

Dear Moony,

I don't know if Bill told you about the conversation that we had before I met you in Hogsmeade a few weeks ago. He had a go with me about how I should be doing more to enjoy myself, especially as I've got to fight Voldemort and I never know exactly when I'm going to have to do that. Sirius left me a letter telling me much the same thing.

Well, I've met the cute Hufflepuff that Sirius suggested in that letter. Her name's Susan Bones - do you know her Aunt Amelia? - and we're going to Hogsmeade on Saturday.

I've been trying to work out how you know when you fancy someone. You know that I went out with a girl last year, sort of, and she was really pretty. Susan isn't pretty like that. I mean, she's not ugly or anything, but she's just ordinary. She's had a rough time of it this year - the sort of rough time that I'm used to having - and I couldn't really say no when she asked me to go with her.

Not that I said yes because I feel sorry for her. She's nice, and clever and brave. But I don't know her that well, and if she's asked me out, she must like me, right? I just don't want to give her the wrong impression if I don't end up liking her that way.

Any advice? And any idea what's happening for Christmas? Ron hasn't said anything about going home. Are we staying here?

Harry

P.S. How did my Mum and Dad get together in the end?

Remus' reply had arrived on Saturday morning, as Harry was carefully buttering his toast and trying to avoid making any mess on his clothes.

Harry, it was nice to hear from you again. Firstly, Tonks says to tell you that she's proud of you, but that if she hears that you've been anything less than a gentleman that she'll hunt you down and hex you bald. Apparently she's been practicing her Depilation Hex at work as part of the Minister's initiative, and wants to try shearing something trickier than a sheep.

Anyway, I'm also glad to hear that you are making an effort to enjoy your time at school. I know that you have a great deal on your plate at the moment. I shan't bother suggesting that you give up on any of your commitments, however. I know you, and exactly how stubborn you can be. Why else would you have dragged yourself to St. Mungo's every day to visit me over the summer?

Your father possessed a similar stubbornness, which at times drove your mother to distraction. It is fair to say, I think, that we would not have been the marauders we were had James not taken it upon himself to try and wind your mother up. Every time she tried to put her foot down - and she tried an awful lot, especially when she was made a prefect in our fifth year, and saw how little control I was prepared to exert over your father and Sirius - James would find a way to get around her.

Your parents had a tumultuous relationship from very early on in their school careers, Harry. They were quite brilliant, and along with Sirius were the brightest students of our time at Hogwarts. Often they would be partnered up on work projects, and at times they could be quite friendly. Still, it drove your mother quite wild that James approached our schoolwork with very little effort, for her intelligence was hard won, the result of many long hours spent improving herself, whereas James was naturally gifted.

You have seen for yourself one occasion on which James and Lily were at odds. What I have never been able to tell you was the exact story behind that. It all began with a small wager between Sirius and his girlfriend at the time, Simone Hill. She was Lily's greatest friend, and a good friend to the four of us as well. She and Sirius had danced around one another for some time before going out and, as with most of Sirius' relationships, it never became anything serious. But while they were together, they made a bet about who would do the best on our end-of-term History of Magic exam - Yes, Professor Binns set an exam as well as our OWL exam in the subject, be grateful that he was talked out of that little tradition before you arrived at Hogwarts - Anyway, Sirius bet on James, Simone on Lily.

When James heard about the bet, he was determined that Sirius would win. He studied as he had never studied before and, of course, finished ahead of everyone else. Lily, when she found out, was furious, and they had a big argument in the middle of the Gryffindor common room. Lily all but ordered James to work that hard on all of his work, and James yelled that he didn't have to, that it all came naturally to him and that he didn't want to spend all day with his head in a book, unlike some booky little swots that he could mention.

Lily had, over the years, learned to let insults about both her Muggle heritage and her love of learning flow like water off a duck's back, but James had a special ability to get to her. Later, of course, he would use that power for good, but on that night you could have heard a pin drop.

Then Lily exploded. I'd expected her to be upset, or to stalk coolly past James and find someplace to cry in private, but instead she let James have it with every inch of her wand. I can't even begin to remember what spells she used, but at the end of it he looked like a whitish-grey slug in Hogwarts robes.

Lily came within inches of being suspended, until James took the blame for it all. It was weeks before Lily would even give James the time of day, but from that day forwards, James made a conscious effort to change the way he was. Of course, he slipped up occasionally, as you saw, but even at that point James Potter was becoming a changed man. He was proud, and he had little time for fools and no patience at all for those that he suspected of belonging to the Dark side, but he was a good man, and one well worthy of your mother by the time, midway through our sixth year, that she cautiously agreed to go on a date with him.

Your father needed to put in the work to be the man that he knew your mother deserved. He did it, and he never regretted a moment. He even saved Severus Snape's life. What do you think convinced your mother that he had changed? He stood before Dumbledore and McGonagall and told them that Sirius had tried to trick Snape into facing a werewolf - me.

It was a trying time for everyone. Sirius wasn't happy with James, because he thought that James' actions had resulted in a heavier punishment than he deserved. I wasn't happy with Sirius, for obvious reasons. Peter tried to get everyone to be friends, but I'm afraid to say that we completely ignored him. It took Lily to get us all to be back on talking terms, and shortly after that she and James began dating. I believe that you can guess how that turned out.

So, that's how your parents ended up together. Perhaps when I next see you, I'll tell you some more of the details, because many are funny stories in their own right.

As for your own problem, Harry, all I can say is this: You won't know until you've tried.

In agreeing to go to Hogsmeade with this girl, you have not entered into a vow of marriage, nor have you agreed to father her children. You will spend a day together, and hopefully have a very enjoyable time in doing so. If you are not suited to spending more time together, you will find out in due course. Do not do anything you feel uncomfortable with, and you should be fine. Attraction can take many forms, and can take time to appear. What you felt for this other girl last year was immediate, it seems, but remember that it took your father and mother several years to get past the stage of disliking one another. Molly Weasley will tell you how long it took her to get Arthur to notice her, as well.

So, enjoy yourself in Hogsmeade. I'm sure that you'll be able to decide for yourself whether you find this girl attractive or not. Tonks says that if you're shopping for Christmas presents, then she'd like a bottle of Ridgeback Schnapps, although as you're too young to buy alcohol, I suppose that she might be telling me, rather than you.

As for Christmas, I'm afraid that you'll be spending it at Hogwarts. There has been some Death Eater activity recently, and while they haven't been making any attacks, we're worried that after so long without doing so, that they might be getting itchy feet and decide to lash out. While Voldemort seems content to bide his time, his followers might decide to make a show of strength to spoil everyone's Christmas.

Enjoy your weekend, and I shall try and see you over the holidays,

Remus

P.S. Tonks says 'Good luck' and that she hopes you have 'better luck with this one'.

Harry grinned as he folded the letter and stuck it into his pocket.

"Interesting?" Hermione asked. She sat opposite him, carefully eating a plate of scrambled eggs and readjusting her napkin after each mouthful. Further down the table, the Grey Lady and Nearly-Headless Nick sat deep in conversation, and Harry found himself wondering whether ghosts ever fell in love. Shaking his head, he turned back to Hermione.

"From Remus. It's about my mum and dad, and how they got together even after everything I saw last year."

"Good," Hermione said rather absently, setting her fork down. "Harry, has Ron ever mentioned whether he likes my hair up or down?"

Harry blinked, and then shook his head. "No, sorry."

"Oh. Okay."

Harry turned back to his toast.

"What about my clothes? Is there a particular top he likes?"

"Er, no, not that I know of."

"Okay, thanks."

Harry took another bite of toast.

"Does he prefer jeans or skirts?"

"Hermione..."

"I'm sorry," she blushed. "It's just..."

She tailed off, and made a rather wild hand gesture which Harry thought that he understood perfectly.

"If it helps, he's nervous too," Harry said.

"He is? Oh, well, that's good," she said, looking rather surprised that Ron might be nervous about going on a date with her. Harry knew that Ron would not have believed that Hermione might be nervous about going on a date with him.

He hoped that they'd manage to work things out.

"Yeah, he is," he said. "Look."

Hermione looked where Harry was pointing. Ron and Neville were walking in to the Great Hall together, and both looked extremely nervous. Ron stopped short at seeing Harry and Hermione looking at him and, looking rather green, turned abruptly on his heel and walked quickly back out through the doors.

"Shirt change," Neville said, as he joined them. "Fourth one this morning. At least."

Harry and Neville exchanged a meaningful glance of exasperation at the effort they were putting themselves too for what, to all intents and purposes, was a simple trip to Hogsmeade, and shook their heads. Hermione looked rather touched by how much effort Ron was putting into their date.

*

Harry and Hermione returned to the Gryffindor common room after breakfast. Hermione went to get her scarf from her room, while Harry walked up the stairs to his own dormitory to fetch his coat and hat. Remembering how cold his hands had felt on his previous visit to Hogsmeade, he decided to double-check that he had his gloves with him this time, as well.

He opened the door to the dormitory he shared with the other sixth year boys to find one of the most unusual sights that he had ever seen.

Shirts lay all over the room, folded, balled up, or just lying in a heap. It looked as though Ron, who was standing in the middle of the room without a shirt on but with a panicked look on his face, had ransacked the trunks of all five of the room's occupants. Harry even spotted a huge shirt of his that he never wore, as it had once belonged to Dudley.

The thing that made the scene truly unusual was Ron himself. At Harry's entry, he had grabbed at himself, as though trying to hide his bare torso from Harry's view. Unfortunately for Ron, there was rather a lot of him and he did not have particularly large arms, and so he could do little to cover the network of scars that criss-crossed his body.

*

After a few minutes in which Ron and Harry practiced their packing charms, and in which the room was restored to some semblance of order, Harry chose a blue shirt for Ron to wear.

The two friends sat down on Ron's bed, and for a long moment neither said anything.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry said, eventually.

"It's not like you don't have enough on your plate," Ron said. At Harry's hurt expression, he quickly added, "Besides, it's not anything to talk about, really. It just is. You of all people should know how boring scars can be."

Harry grinned, but said: "I thought that the scars were supposed to fade."

"So did everyone else," Ron said. "Madam Pomfrey even had Dumbledore take a look at me, but he just said that he wouldn't remove them even if he could, that scars can be useful sometimes. He showed me one on his knee which is a perfect map of the London Underground. It even changes to include new lines and stations, he reckons."

Harry snorted, and Ron grinned.

"Really, it's nothing," he said. "They don't hurt, but I just didn't want anyone knowing about them."

"I understand," Harry said.

"Yeah, I reckon you do," Ron said. "Even Hermione doesn't know about them. I didn't want her to think I needed sympathy, or to lose interest in me 'cause of them or anything."

"Lose interest in you?"

"Yeah... I sort of figured out that she might like me last year, but it took me all this time to do something about it."

"Good job you did. You nearly left it too late."

"I know. I guess I'll find out soon enough if I still have a chance."

"I think you do," Harry said. "I wondered over the summer why you stopped getting changed around me."

"Well, now you know," Ron said. "It's been bloody difficult trying to keep it hidden from you lot all term. I've been getting dressed in bed when Seamus has been late getting up before now."

"So, how does Dumbledore reckon your scars'll be useful, then?"

"I reckon they already have been," Ron said. "I've been thinking a bit more this year, trying to do well at my work, trying not to fight with Hermione so much, even the things with Luna and the Slytherins in the HA... I've got all these," he made a gesture that indicated his chest and arms. "They're probably going to be there forever, and all because I did this one incredibly stupid thing when I was knocked silly. Have to learn to be more careful, right?"

"I guess so," Harry said.

"It's weird, though... Mostly I don't even notice it. It's usually just like I'll be thinking about doing something, and as well as all the stuff that I'd normally do, there's other stuff I might do as well, like get some fruit and go and study out by the lake, even though it's cold out there. Apparently whoever had this brain liked doing that. Anyway, sometimes, I'm doing stuff, and it seems like I've done it before, really long ago. Dumbledore reckoned that I might have picked up some of the memories of that brain that grabbed me. Sometimes it's even like I know what's going to happen next."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, last week at dinner, Terry Boot and Malfoy walked into each other, 'cos Terry was reading a book and not looking where he was going. I knew what Malfoy was going to say, and what he was going to do. I knew that he was going to grab Terry's book and throw it on the floor."

"Weird."

"Yeah. It's happened a couple of times, actually. Dumbledore had me talking to Bane about it, in case I was seeing the future. But Bane reckons that some events happen over and over, that there are only so many ways that anything can happen, and when an event happens in a certain way it can make me remember a memory of when it happened before, even if it was different people and a different person who saw it the first time."

"How does it feel?" Harry asked.

"Weird. It's like I'm remembering something that's been nagging me for ages, something that I forgot a long time ago. And the memories aren't always exact, either. Whoever's brain that was, they were at Hogwarts too, but it wasn't Hagrid teaching them about Selkies, or Malfoy and Terry squaring up to each other."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"It's how I knew how to ask Hermione out," Ron added. "The wizard whose brain it was, he asked out a woman that way. He was older then, but it was really weird, 'cause she said almost the exact same things, except for her it was a Ministry Ball they ended up going to, and the other guy was her colleague at work."

Harry grinned. "I told Ginny that you'd done it all by yourself."

"Bet she didn't believe you."

"No, she didn't."

"She reckons I can't be romantic," Ron said. "Just because I talk with my mouth full. I tell you, Dean's better off out of it. My sister can be a right pain."

*

Neville, Ron and Harry walked down the stairs to the Entrance Hall together again. All three were in fairly cheerful moods this time, and looking forward to the day ahead.

They took the trick stair on the last flight in their stride, and in doing so caught sight of their respective dates. This led to some confusion as Neville lost his balance and collided with his friends. The three of them came within a few seconds of tumbling into the Entrance Hall in what would have been a dramatic, if rather undignified, arrival. Ginny and Seamus, who had followed the three of them down from Gryffindor Tower, laughed at their friends' plight, and grabbed the backs of their coats to help keep them upright.

"Hi," Harry said to Susan, as the two groups met. "You look nice."

"Thanks," she said, beaming at the compliment. "You look nice too. You look like you had a good night's sleep, as well."

"I did. I usually do," he said, slightly puzzled.

"Oh, sorry," she said, smiling. "It's silly of me. I just think sometimes that you look as though you haven't slept properly, especially last year. This year you just look as though you're trying to do fifteen things at once, all the time."

"No, that's not silly. It's about right, to be honest," he said. "What with school, and Quidditch, and the HA..." ...and Occlumency, and Marchbanks' Dueling Club, and all the time I spend chasing after other teachers to see if they've got any tips for me, and conversations with Ginny to make sure I don't make a complete idiot of myself today, and finding out that my best friend has been scarred for life because of a situation that I led him into, and worrying about Voldemort whenever I have a free moment...

"Well, hopefully you'll be able to relax and enjoy yourself today," she said.

"I hope so," Harry said.

"Shall we be going?" Hermione said. "I imagine that we all have some shopping to do."

Ron and Hermione led the way nervously through the main doors and out into the weak, wintry sunshine. Filch was, as always, zealously guarding the doors to make sure that no-one snuck into Hogsmeade who wasn't supposed to. Susan giggled, and pointed out to Harry that the caretaker still had soot behind one ear, and the presence of a fresh burn mark on his overcoat suggested that he was still struggling with the bobby-trapped filing cabinets. Trying hard not to laugh until they were safely out of Filch's sight, they stepped out into the cool air and followed the other couples into Hogsmeade.

*

Once they reached Hogsmeade, the four couples began to break away from the group. Seamus and Ginny went into the Three Broomsticks for a drink, while Hermione led Ron away to Scrivenshaft's in search of a pack of new quills. Neville and Hannah looked to be eager to go on their way as well, and were having a whispered conversation about where they would go first.

Harry turned to Susan.

"Where would you like to go?" he asked.

"As far out of my sight as possible, Potter," a too-familiar voice drawled.

Harry sighed. The speaker was no surprise, although unwanted all the same. His companions, however, were something of a shock.

He turned around slowly, a feeling that this confrontation with Draco Malfoy might not end up with Harry victorious.

"Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. Well, I imagine that you deserve one another," Malfoy said. "I don't know what you ever saw in her, McMillan."

A small part of Harry's brain was calculating the odds. Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle flanked Malfoy, as always, and as always, Harry knew that they wouldn't be much of a problem if it came to a fight. Still, Pansy looked as though all her Christmases had come at once, and Harry knew that she was looking at this confrontation as a chance to pay them back for her humiliation earlier in the term.

But of more concern to Harry were the students standing to either side of the Slytherins. Ernie, Justin and Cho were with them, and Harry had serious doubts about his ability to beat seven people in a fight, even with the backing of three other members of the HA.

"We're not looking for a fight, Malfoy," he said, his eyes still on Ernie, who had drawn his wand.

"And you think that we are? Potter, I've found something much better than just cursing you," Malfoy laughed. "I can destroy your reputation, and you can't do a thing about it. To think that everyone sees you as some kind of saint, when all this time you've been running around with any girl who'll stoop low enough to be seen with you. God knows what you get up to behind closed doors." His eyes flickered to Neville and Hannah. "Decided to share, have you, Longbottom? I suppose that it's the only way that a useless little Squib like yourself is going to get anything."

"What about you, Malfoy?" Neville asked, his eyes narrowing. "It's nice to see you're making friends outside Slytherin, or is it just that no-one in your house wants to associate with you apart from these three?"

"Shut up," Malfoy said, his cheeks flushing brightly against his pale skin. "I could have anyone I wanted on my side, even your hopeless girlfriends here."

Neville lunged forward, but Harry was just fast enough to snap his arm up and catch Neville across the chest, preventing his friend from charging into a fight that he couldn't win. Malfoy sneered at the two of them and then turned to Cho.

"What about you, Cho?" he asked. "What do you think of your Mr. Noble now?"

"He tried to use me last year," Cho said, softly. "I see that now. You were right, Draco. He's not what he makes himself out to be. I'm glad that I listened to you. You were stupid, Harry. I was hurting last year, but I wouldn't sink that low. I wasn't prepared to share you with Hermione Granger."

"Hermione is not, and has never been, my girlfriend," Harry said, though gritted teeth. He was rather stung by Cho's accusation, as he certainly hadn't been the one to make the first move in their brief relationship. "You know that, Cho. You know that I had to meet her last Valentine's Day to do the interview for The Quibbler. Ask Luna Lovegood, she was there."

"Oh, is Loony Lovegood another of your conquests, Potter?" Malfoy laughed. Cho looked way, and seemed to be on the verge of tears, a sight that raised unpleasant memories for Harry.

"I suppose you're the one who's been spreading all this rubbish about me this year, then?" Harry asked. His fingers itched, and he had to fight to keep down the anger inside him. He tried filtering the anger out by using the Occlumency techniques that Dumbledore had taught him, and that he had used before when he had been angry or stressed, but he couldn't do it. Not with Malfoy standing before him, surrounded by his followers, grinning like the cat who got the cream.

"Just telling the truth, Potter," Malfoy said, with malicious glee. His smirk, ifanything, seemed to grow even wider. "I would have thought that the noble Gryffindors and the just Hufflepuffs would applaud that. Certainly Ernie and Justin here were eager to help, but I was surprised to find that Cho was as well. I would have thought that your ex-girlfriend would have thought better of you, but I guess you're just a disappointment to everyone, aren't you?"

Harry ignored the jibe and looked at the two Hufflepuff boys. Justin squirmed under his gaze, but Ernie stood resolute, casting an angry gaze of his own over Harry and the others.

"And, well, I guess we have some more news to share now, don't we?" Malfoy said. "Decided to share with Longbottom, Have you? Couldn't handle two girls on your own?"

Neville lunged again, and this time Harry didn't try to stop him. Crabbe however, lumbered in front of Malfoy and swung a long, slow, powerful backhand that caught Neville across the side of his head. Neville staggered backwards and crashed into Hannah, sending the two of them sprawling to the ground.

Malfoy laughed. "Enjoy it, Longbottom. Probably the furthest you'll get today, if Abbott has any taste."

He waved sardonically, the ring on his right index finger glinting dully in the weak sunshine, and walked away, the others trailing after him. Justin cast an unhappy look back over his shoulder before catching up to them, but Ernie was too busy comforting Cho to even acknowledge them.

Harry cursed silently, and thought about firing off a barrage of the dueling hexes he'd learned recently. He settled for grasping Neville and Hannah's hands and pulling them back to their feet. He exchanged a dark, anger filled glance with Neville.

"These were new jeans, as well," Hannah sighed. She swiped at some of the mud, but it seemed like a hopeless task.

Susan laughed, and broke the mood.

"A couple of cleaning charms will take care of them," she said. "Scourgify!"

With a wave of her wand, most of the mud disappeared from Hannah's jeans.

"We can do the rest later," she said. "Are you okay, Neville?"

"Yeah," Neville said. "I sort of fell, well, more on top..."

Harry and Susan couldn't help themselves. They began to laugh, and didn't stop until an amused Hannah had led a confused-looking Neville away.

*

Harry and Susan walked through Hogsmeade, each with their heavily-laden bags weighing them down. Harry had managed to find an autobiography of the Chudley Cannons' star Chaser for Ron, and an enchanted slide rule for Hermione to use in Arithmancy, and was feeling rather cheerful. He'd bought many pairs of socks for Dobby as well, as his lessons with Madam Marchbanks usually conflicted with dinner, and Dobby had taken it upon himself to ensure that Harry was always fed afterwards. Along with gifts for his other friends, he'd also managed to buy an enchanted hair grip for Susan without her noticing.

They dropped into the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer to warm themselves up, and spent a few minutes chatting with Ron and Hermione, who also seemed to be enjoying themselves. When Hermione and Susan disappeared off to the toilet together, however, Ron turned a panicked expression on Harry.

"Harry, how am I supposed to know if she wants me to kiss her?"

Harry blinked in surprise, and then carefully shared what Ginny had told him about understanding the mood of the moment. He decided not to mention exactly where he'd learned it -- he didn't think that Ron would appreciate where the knowledge came from. As far as Ron cared to know, Ginny hadn't even held hands with a boy, and Harry didn't want to put him in a bad mood.

Harry and Susan took their leave of the others shortly afterwards and began to make their way back to the school. Harry's spirits dipped slightly as he thought about the mound of homework he had awaiting him once he got back.

"Knut for your thoughts?" Susan offered.

"They're not worth that much," Harry said. "Just thinking about all the work I have to do when I get back."

"Do you have much?" she asked.

"Three essays," he said, frowning. "And a drawing of a kelpie for Hagrid, a research paper for Snape on Love Potions, of all things, and a plant genealogy for Herbology."

"Wow," she said. "How'd you end up with that much work?"

He shrugged. "I just did."

"Have you ever thought about doing it during the week?" she said, smiling.

"I do some," he said, returning the smile. "But I have other stuff on during the week, too."

"Such as?"

He hesitated, not sure exactly how much he felt comfortable telling her. "Well, I've been having those lessons with Ginny," he said. She laughed, and Harry felt his stomach flutter at the sight.

"So, what have you been learning this week that's made you risk having Professor Snape putting you in detention for handing in rushed work?"

"Er," Harry said. "She was telling me how to know when it's okay to kiss a girl," he said. Immediately, he wanted to kick himself. Her smile disappeared so quickly he might have sworn that she'd been hexed, and from the stunned look on her face, he would have sworn that she was as appalled by the remark as he was.

"Oh," she said. His shoulders fell as she turned back to the path and began to walk along it. He followed on after her, and for several minutes they walked in silence. Harry watched the sun setting behind the mountains and almost didn't notice when Susan stopped again. He managed to stop just in time to avoid walking into her back. She turned to face him and managed a half-smile.

"H-harry?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"Did Ginny say anything about whether it's okay to... kiss a girl at a moment like this?"

For a moment, Harry seemed to be aware of everything around him, the way the setting sun was just hitting the mountains, the white knuckles of Susan's hand as she clutched tightly at the strap of her bag, the way she was biting her lower lip, and the way she was watching him nervously from behind her eyelashes.

Although Ginny hadn't covered that precise setup in her lessons, Harry felt reasonably sure of whether it was okay or not.

He moved a little closer to her and tentatively reached up to touch her face. His fingers curved delicately around the base of her neck, and as he leant forward, she bent her head slightly back.

Their lips touched, and Harry's awareness of his surroundings suddenly became very limited indeed.

To be continued...