Just Plain Harry

Chapter 31 A Party and a Picnic

Harry pushed open the Fat Lady's portrait and heard, to his surprise, complete silence. As he climbed in, though, he realized why it was so quiet. Fred stood on a table near the fireplace, hands held over his head, and the rest of Gryffindor watched and waited to hear what he would say.

"And here he is, ladies and gentlemen, our hero, our savior, our Seeker, Harry Potter!"

Harry stiffened all over, and he knew his face must look as red as the wall-hangings to all the students turning to look at him. He didn't think he could say anything if his life depended on it - he knew he wasn't really the hero, after all - and he just stood there, barely hearing the cheers that made the walls ring, until Ron pushed him from behind.

"Budge up there, mate," Ron said. "What's going on?"

Harry automatically took a step to the side, allowing Ron to climb through, too. He heard a thump from the direction of Fred's table, and then George's voice rang out over the din.

"And we can't forget the other half of the dynamic duo, the best Keeper this school's seen since Oliver Wood, our Ickle Ronniekins!"
Ron's ears turned red, and he glared at George, but after he heard the mass of Gryffindors applauding him, he stopped glaring, and beamed around at everyone. Fred and George started directing traffic from atop their perch, and a path opened up between Harry and Ron, and the table. Ron started through immediately, only pausing long enough to grab Harry's arm firmly, before he could slip away into the crowd. Before he knew it, Harry found himself being pulled up onto the table-top by Fred, and trying to suppress the sudden dizziness he felt at being confronted by so many upturned faces. He barely listened as Fred and George, constantly interrupting and finishing each other's sentences, rehashed the entire match, to the accompaniment of cheers and gasps from the rest of the room. He just shifted from foot to foot, and wished that it was over. He did look around to see where Lee was - he usually led these post-match recaps - and saw him sitting on the arm of one of the big, squishy chairs. He had his arm around Alicia, who sat, with Katie, smushed together in the chair. Angelina perched on the other arm, cheering with all her might. Lee wasn't, though; from the way he kept putting a hand to his throat and swallowing, Harry suspected that he wouldn't be able to speak for the rest of the evening.

Harry's eye was caught by a flash of fire-red, and he looked involuntarily in Ginny's direction. He'd been avoiding it, because he still wasn't sure exactly what to say to her, and Fred's lauding him as a hero hadn't helped. He just wasn't, and he knew he couldn't pretend with Ginny. He should have known better, though. She locked gazes with him, her eyes holding only happiness, pride, and understanding. Harry started to jump down from the table to go to her, when Fred suddenly draped an arm around his shoulders.

"And then Harry, here, completely faked out Malfoy, leading him on to actually think he could catch the Snitch," - here, he paused for the assembled throng to snicker and jeer - "before pulling off the most brilliant catch he's ever made!"
"And that's saying a lot!" George sang out from right behind Harry, making him jump, and the crowd break out into the loudest cheers yet.

Harry just stood there, hating every second. He hadn't been faking out Malfoy, he hadn't made a brilliant catch, he'd just gotten lucky, and used somebody else to achieve his ends. And even though Theo said he was all right with it, this once, he wasn't. He couldn't say any of that, though, because it wasn't his secret to tell. It was Theo's, and while he knew Theo wouldn't mind him telling Ginny, Ron and Hermione, especially since they knew part of it already, he certainly couldn't tell all of Gryffindor. So, he had to just stand there, letting the adulation of his housemates wash over him. Ordinarily, Quidditch was the one thing for which he didn't mind being praised, because he knew he was really being praised for his own talent, but this time he wasn't, and that hurt.

Just then, the portrait hole opened, and Professor McGonagall entered, making everyone quiet down immediately. She never attended the after-match parties, only appearing quite late in the evening to break it up and send everyone to bed. It had been the longest match Harry had ever played, but it wasn't even four in the afternoon yet, much too early for this. Everyone stared at McGonagall, who was at least smiling. It was a slightly wintery smile, but Harry was sure she wouldn't be smiling at all if something horrible had happened. The smile twisted a little when her eyes met Harry's, but he thought that was because she at least suspected what had happened between him and Theo. She held his gaze for a moment, but eventually looked away, allowing him to breathe a fervent sigh of relief.

"Well done, team, well done," she said, as she allowed the portrait to close behind her. She cast a look at Fred and George that said quite plainly that she knew whose idea it was to stand on the furniture, but she didn't say anything about it. "You all deserve an afternoon's entertainment, so enjoy your party," she continued, her eyes beginning to search the assembled throng. "Ah, Mr. Thomas, may I have a word with you?"

Everyone turned, as one, to the clump of students that included Seamus, Lavender, Parvati, and Dean. Ginny and Hermione were standing quite close to them, and Harry saw Ginny's hand lift, as though to reach out to Dean, but Dean either didn't see it, or didn't want to see it. He stood for a moment, locking eyes with McGonagall, but seemed to be comforted by what he saw there, because he turned back to Seamus, punched him lightly in the shoulder, and then walked toward the portrait hole, through the throng of Gryffindors, most of whom reached out and thumped him on the back or shoulders as he passed.

After the portrait closed behind him and McGonagall, the rest of the Gryffindors looked around at each other, clearly unsure of what to do. Harry saw Hermione put an arm around Ginny, who was gazing at the floor, and he used the opportunity of everyone's attention being elsewhere to jump off of the table and start towards her. As though his movement had broken a spell, suddenly everyone else started moving, too, and soon the noise level rose to its earlier heights. Ron had followed Harry, though, and so Fred and George, deprived of their quarries, were reduced to letting off a few Filibuster's Fireworks to get the party rolling again.

When Harry reached Ginny and Hermione, Hermione was patting Ginny's arm and saying, "You did everything you could, Ginny - no one could have prevented this!" She sounded slightly exasperated, which annoyed Harry. No one could blame Ginny for wanted to prevent all of the horrible things she Saw in her visions, even if it wasn't possible. Hermione did look at him imploringly, though, so maybe she just felt that she didn't know what else to say.

Harry looked around to see if anyone else was paying attention to them, before putting his arms around Ginny. It was silly of him, he knew - everyone had seen their embrace on the Quidditch pitch - but he still felt self-conscious about showing affection publicly. He thought that Ginny needed a hug right now, though, and by the way she gasped and clutched at him, he knew he was right.

"Didn't you see McGonagall's smile, Ginny?" he murmured into her hair. "She wouldn't have been smiling if Dean's parents had been killed." The din in the room was so loud that he wouldn't have been surprised if Ginny hadn't heard him, but apparently, even Hermione, still standing very close to them, could, because she sighed.

"Yes, but Ginny thinks they were still tortured, just like in her vision," she said.

Ginny pulled back slightly, so that she could look into Harry's eyes, though she stayed within the circle of his arms. He couldn't help but smile at her, even knowing how distressed she was.

"I did see her smile, Harry, and I saw what kind of smile it was - she didn't really look happy," she said, her voice pitched low, so he could hear her through the din.

Harry nodded. "But, Ginny, you couldn't really have expected to prevent what you Saw," he said. "You Saw it, so it was going to happen. You know that."
"And you prevented more than what you Saw from happening," Ron said, reaching out to pull on Ginny's ponytail. "I'm sure you did."

Ginny put her forehead down on Harry's shoulder and sighed. He hoped that everything he was feeling wasn't written across his face, but from the amused and affectionate look on Hermione's face, and the slightly disgusted one on Ron's, he suspected it was.

"I know," Ginny said, her voice slightly muffled. "I'm sorry to be so unreasonable."

They all quickly assured her that she wasn't being unreasonable (or very unreasonable, as Hermione put it) and then, as though to deliberately change the subject, Ron asked Harry, "What exactly did happen up there, mate?"

This time, it was Harry who sighed, before looking around for an empty group of chairs in a corner, away from the loudest students. He led the way over there, and they all settled in.

"Malfoy was saying...horrible things," he said, as quietly as he could. The other three leaned closer to hear him. "I don't need to go into that," he added, meeting and holding Ron's eyes. He felt Ginny shift beside him, but he really didn't want to tell her exactly what Malfoy had said. He didn't want to tell anyone that. "And...well, you saw...I went after him." He felt Ginny stiffen, and turned to look at her, surprised to see that she was stifling laughter.

Hermione didn't bother to hide hers. She let out a soft snort, and said, "Really, Harry, what were you thinking? Don't you know better than to go after someone on a broomstick? Didn't you learn anything in our first flying class ever?"

"I guess not," Harry said, glaring at her. "Anyway, by the time I realized he'd seen the Snitch, I was much too far behind to catch up. And I got so angry...more at myself, I think, than at him. You know, for letting him get to me. So I reached out to Theo - I didn't mean to," he added quickly, when Hermione drew in a breath, "but I did, and that gave me the extra push to catch the Snitch."

"Funny, it looked to me like you weren't even trying to catch the Snitch at that point," Hermione said. "I thought you were trying to punch Malfoy, or something like that."

Harry thought about that. What had he been thinking right then? Oddly, he couldn't quite remember - couldn't quite recapture the emotions that had been roiling through him. If that's the way Hermione remembered it, though, she was probably right. He gave her a weak smile.

"Well, I did catch the Snitch," he said.

"Yes, but you used someone else to do it, Harry. Someone who shouldn't have been -"

"Don't you think I know that, Hermione?" he said, resting his elbows on his knees and putting his head in his hands. "Why do you think Ron and I were so late coming back here? I've already explained and apologized to Theo, and he said he understood. He even said that he'd been expecting something like this, that he knew I'd be tempted by the power at some point. If you ask me, he was happy that it happened now, and not in the match against Hufflepuff."

"Well, that makes sense," Ron said.

"You'll have to guard against that, Harry," Hermione said.

"He knows that, Hermione," Ginny said, and Harry nodded.

"I promised Theo I would," he said. Then, he felt Hermione's hand on his head, and Ginny's on his shoulder, while Ron smacked his other shoulder. He didn't think he could look up if his life depended on it, so he kept his head buried in his hands while he swallowed convulsively and tried to get his emotions back under control.

After that, the four of them simply sat quietly, as the party whirled around them. Somehow, Harry didn't really feel like joining in the celebration, even though he was glad for everyone else that they'd won the match. Through the tumult, Harry felt Ginny give a little sigh, and then her head came down to rest on his shoulder. He sat rigidly for a moment, not sure what to do, but then he saw that Hermione sat in an almost identical position, her head on Ron's shoulder, and Ron had his arm around her. They weren't looking at Harry and Ginny, they both had their eyes closed, and Ron stroked Hermione's hair, still lying wild and unbraided on her shoulders, with one hand. Harry looked away - he felt uncomfortable watching such a private moment - but he slowly stretched his own arm around Ginny's shoulders. He held himself stiffly at first, hoping that was what she wanted him to do, but he soon forgot to feel nervous as she snuggled into his shoulder, giving another sigh. Her eyes were closed as well, he saw, but he kept his own open. He knew what all of them were thinking about - even talking about his problems with Malfoy and self-control couldn't take their minds off of Dean - and he knew they were safe in the Gryffindor common room, but he still, for some reason, felt the need to keep watch. So he was the only one who noticed the even greater commotion coming towards them from the portrait hole.

Suddenly, Dean was right there, throwing himself down on his knees in front of Harry and Ginny. He looked like he'd been crying recently, but all that was on his face now was joy. Harry was about to withdraw his arm, when Ginny's hand came up and held his so that he couldn't. She did raise her head from his shoulder, but he could feel her almost trembling. He didn't understand why - surely, she could see the way Dean was beaming, the same as he could. He watched as Dean grabbed the hand that Ginny didn't have clutching Harry's, and said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Ginny sat up straight. "The attack didn't succeed? Your parents aren't hurt?"

Dean waved his other hand dismissively. "They're a little hurt, but they'll be fine. The important thing is that they weren't killed, Ginny. That's what you did - you saved my parents' lives!" He suddenly threw himself at her and enveloped her in a hug, which Harry would have been just as happy not to have witnessed. Ginny just stiffened, though, enduring it, and when Dean finally drew back, she had tears in her eyes.

"But...they were still hurt? The...Cruciatus?" she almost whispered, so that both Harry and Dean had to lean in very close to her to hear her. The party still continued unabated; someone throwing themselves on someone else wasn't exactly uncommon at Gryffindor parties. Ron and Hermione had noticed, of course, and now stood just behind Dean, along with Seamus, Lavender and Parvati.

"They'll be fine," Dean repeated, hugging her again, then leaping to his feet. "C'mon," he said to Seamus, Lavender and Parvati. "Now I feel like celebrating."

Ginny just watched him go, and at the look on her face, Harry tightened his arm around her. Her hands were balled into fists, her arms rigid.

"Doesn't he realize? Doesn't he know what the Cruciatus does?" she said, staring after Dean.

"'Course he does," Ron said, kneeling down in front of her. "We all do. There are just more important things to Dean right now. Like the fact that his parents are still alive."

"I know that, Ron," Ginny said. "I just...how can he thank me? If I'd really helped, nothing at all would have happened! His parents would never have been hurt!"

"Ginny, you know that's not true," Harry said, taking one of her balled fists in his hands. "That's not the way visions work. Toby has told you that, over and over."

"Then it should be!" Ginny exploded. She shook him off and stood up, startling Ron so much he toppled over backwards. "What's the point of having this talent if I can't prevent things like this? And don't tell me I've asked these questions before," she added, turning to Harry, "because I know I have, and I'll ask them again. What does Toby know about it, anyway? She hasn't had a vision in fifteen years..." She trailed off, her eyes fixed on Harry, but he could tell she wasn't really seeing him. Suddenly, she whirled around. "I have to convince him it's not all right." She started to take a step over Ron, but he caught hold of her foot before she could.

"Who?" he asked her.

"Dean," she said. "He has to realize that they're still in danger!"

She stopped, because Hermione grabbed her shoulders and forced her to turn and look at her.

"He does," she said. "He knows it, Ginny! You know he does. But if he wants to celebrate what he has, why do you want to spoil it? Let him be happy, Ginny!"

Ginny just stood there, one foot still held by Ron, her upper body twisted around to face Hermione, and Harry could see how angry she was by how rigidly she held herself. He almost thought she would hit Hermione, but suddenly, she crumpled against her, instead.

"I don't know," she almost wailed. "Oh, Hermione..." The rest of what she said was muffled against Hermione's shoulder.

Harry jumped up and started reaching for her, but Hermione shook her head at him.

"C'mon, Ginny, let's get you upstairs," she said, putting one arm around Ginny's shoulders, and beginning to lead her towards the girls' dormitory stairs. Harry just watched them go, until the partying Gryffindors blocked his view.

"Some things, we'll just never understand," Ron said, from where he still sat on the floor. "Sisters. Girls. Hermione. Not in a million years."

"Yeah," Harry said, desperate to believe that it was just that. "Yeah."

"You know," Ron added, as he scrambled to his feet. "I think I'm going to go ask Dumbledore what happened. See how closely it matches my predictions."

"You predicted this?" Harry asked, turning to stare at him.

"Well, after Ginny's vision, it was pretty obvious something like this would happen. There have been Aurors on duty at the Thomas' all the time for awhile now."

"Then, how could the Death Eaters cast Cruciatus on Dean's mum, like Ginny Saw?"

"I don't know," Ron said, frowning over Harry's head towards the staircase to the girls' dormitory. "That's what I want to ask Dumbledore. You coming?"

Harry shook his head. "You'll get more from him than I will," he said. "He never tells me anything." Before Ron could say anything to that, he turned and headed for the stairs to the boys' dormitory. He didn't look back, and he barely noticed the party still going strong around him as he walked. He trudged up the stairs and sat down on the edge of his bed. Not bothering to kick off his shoes, he flopped over onto his side, but he sat up again, when he felt something jabbing into his hip. He reached into his pocket, and drew out his pocket watch, staring into the crystal ball fob as though he could really see something in its depths. But nothing appeared, and after a moment, he gave a short laugh and flicked open the watch.

"Despondent and exasperated," it said, which he knew without its help. Then, those words disappeared, and new ones formed. "Snap out of it."

Harry laughed again, and fell back onto his back on the bed. It was quite clear that Sirius had had a hand in the creation of this watch, though Toby might have said those same words, too. For that matter, maybe his mother had had the same blend of bracing practicality and determined humor. He would never know, though, because she'd been murdered. And Dean had just avoided the same thing. Why shouldn't he be happy? Harry knew that if his parents were alive right now, he wouldn't care if they were so badly hurt he'd have to take care of them forever. Why did Ginny want to take that away from Dean? And why had she turned to Hermione, and not to him? Wasn't he supposed to be there for her? He wanted to help her and support her, not just enjoy her. It amazed him, this overwhelming feeling of tenderness towards her - towards them all, actually...all the Weasleys, Hermione, Sirius, Remus. He wanted to protect them all, and he new he couldn't.

Stop thinking about it, he told himself. Listen to your mum and her friends - snap out of it. But he still lay on his back on the bed, staring out of the window at the dark grey sky.

Some time later, Neville burst into the room.

"Hey, Harry," he said, as he rummaged through his trunk and pulled out parchment and a quill. "You'll never guess what's happened - they've announced a Hogsmeade weekend!"

"Really?" Harry said, pushing himself into a sitting position. There hadn't been any Hogsmeade weekends since before Christmas, and everyone had assumed it was because of the attacks. There had been rumors of a dance, to keep the students' minds off of being cooped up inside for so long, but nothing had come of that. "What made them change their minds?"

"Dunno," Neville said. He'd written several lines while Harry had sluggishly responded, and now he read over what he'd written, chewing on the end of his quill. "Suppose Dumbledore just decided it was safe enough. We can't stop all normal activity, just because of You-Know-Who, after all. That would be letting him win." He signed his name to the note with a flourish, then looked up at Harry with a small smile. "That's what Ginny always says, isn't it?"

Harry agreed absently, but his thoughts were focused on Neville's note.

"That's for Hannah, isn't it?" he asked. "You're asking her to go with you to Hogsmeade. Why? Aren't you seeing each other? Isn't it a...a given?"

Neville turned red, and looked down at his feet, but he shook his head firmly.

"Girls like to be asked," he said to his shoes. "That's what my Gran always tells me, and she's usually right about these things. Besides, remember how angry Hermione was when Ron didn't really ask her to the ball?"
"She told you about that?"

Neville looked up, holding Harry's gaze soberly. "Lots of people tell me things," he said. "You'd be surprised at the things I know."

He was obviously trying to tell Harry something, but Harry had no idea what.

"I suppose I'd better ask Ginny, then," he said, hoping that was it, but he couldn't help wondering if Ginny would still want to go with him.

Neville smiled at him, and after a moment, the smile widened. "Ron isn't going to make the same mistake twice," he said. "He asked Parvati to fetch Hermione down to the common room, as soon as he'd told everyone about Hogsmeade."

"Ron brought the news?" Harry asked. "How...how did he find out?" He knew how, of course, but he was surprised that Ron would make it that obvious that he knew more than the other students. He was also a little surprised at how much time had passed, while he had been wallowing in self-pity.

"He said he'd passed McGonagall in the hall, she told him, and he offered to tell us," Neville said.

Harry should have known better - obviously, Ron would have thought of a good story.

"Say, Harry, would you mind if I borrowed Hedwig?" Neville added. "If I go all the way to the owlery, I might as well go to the Hufflepuff common room, and ask someone to fetch Hannah."

As Harry tied Neville's note to Hedwig's leg, he realized two other odd things about the news, but he didn't want to share them with Neville. As soon as he was alone in the room again, though, he sat back down on his bed and stared at Hedwig's now empty cage. Why would Dumbledore decide to have a Hogsmeade weekend now, right after Dean's parents were attacked? Obviously, Muggle-born wizards were targeted, and, just as obviously, many of the students going to Hogsmeade would be Muggle-born. He knew Dumbledore must have a reason, though, and he supposed he would get it out of Ron. Whenever Ron came up to share his own news, that is. That was what hurt Harry the most - that Ron, straight from Dumbledore's office, would put asking Hermione to Hogsmeade over telling Harry about the attack. He knew it shouldn't hurt him, because he was happy his two best friends were together, but it did. He was being unreasonable, and he knew it, but that didn't change anything.

Suddenly, he realized that he actually envied Ron. And Neville. Anyone who was...well, normal, who could fancy a girl and do...normal things with her. He knew that both Neville and Ron realized the troubles that faced the wizarding world. And he knew that Ron, at least, expected to help him face those troubles. That was the difference, though - everyone expected Harry to be the one at the forefront of the fight. Expected it so much that they didn't even think about it anymore; it was just a given. Harry knew he would do it, knew he would do what must be done. But that didn't mean that he couldn't wish things were different.

Well, why can't they be? he asked himself. Not that he would really change things, just...well, take this Hogsmeade weekend. He could take Ginny, and just act like a normal boy for a day. He thought that she would like that, too; with her own burden of a talent, she knew all about wishing to be normal.

He climbed off the bed and pulled out his own quill and parchment. As he started his note, though, he had a sudden picture of what the day would be like. A trip to the Rowan and Oak, with Hermione lost in the stacks, and Ron grumbling about how long she was taking. A stop in at Honeyduke's, with the roles reversed. Listening to the two of them flirting by bickering all day long. As much as he enjoyed their company, this would be his first real date with Ginny, and he realized that he didn't want it to be a double one with Ron and Hermione. They'd probably feel the same way, come to think of it. So, all he had to do was mention it to Ron, and then he and Ginny could be alone...along with half the school, in Hogsmeade.

Harry rubbed the end of the quill along his scar as he thought. He'd found himself doing that quite a bit, ever since Brenna had touched it in the Muggle Studies classroom. He knew she couldn't have done anything to it - a seventeen-year-old witch, however bright, couldn't alter a curse scar like that - but ever since, he'd felt more like the scar could remind him of good things, rather than bad. Like Hermione, crying in his arms in the Owlery, telling him how much everyone loved him, and how they'd always be there for him. Like Ron, knowing he would tell him the truth about Ginny. Like Mrs. Weasley, hugging him after the Third Task. Like his mother, dying because she loved him.

Several days after the Communication Charm had failed, Harry had been on his way to one of Hermione's review sessions, and had come across Brenna crying silently in the library. Of course, he'd asked her what was wrong, and she'd told him that she was crying over his memories. He hadn't realized the charm had worked both ways, and could hardly believe he hadn't even thought to ask. All at once, he'd felt horribly guilty - his memories weren't something he'd wish on anyone, after all, and Brenna had her own problems. But when he'd said something like that, she'd shaken her head.

"Oh, no, Harry," she'd said, tears still pouring down her cheeks. "You just don't understand." She had reached up and touched Harry's scar again. "Your mother died for you...there are mothers like that in the world. It's wonderful, knowing that, isn't it?"

Harry had just stared at her then, not sure what to say, but he'd thought about it often since then. It made him realize just how lucky he was, and just how many good things he had in life.

One of those good things was Ginny, and he really wanted to spend a day alone with her. Suddenly, he remembered the cave Sirius had hidden out in last year. They could take a picnic, like they had done in the autumn, but this time it would be just the two of them. It was only April, and rather chilly still, but he knew Ginny was an expert with Warming Charms, after all. He scribbled down an invitation, and had just time enough to wish he hadn't lent Hedwig to Neville, when Ron entered the room.

Ron's ears were a bright red, and he almost slammed the door shut behind him, difficult as that was to do with the heavy oak. He then proceeded to glare at it.

"I can't bloody wait until next year," he said, his hands balled into fists as he stared holes through the door. "At least then I'll only have Ginny teasing me. And Seamus and Dean."

"Ginny was teasing you?" Harry asked. If Ginny was back down in the common room, he wanted to see her.

"No, not this time; she's still up in her room," Ron said, finally turning to face Harry and sitting down on his bed. "But Fred and George -"

"And Seamus and Dean -"

"Do I tease them about Angelina and Brenna? I mean, lately?" he added, when Harry nodded vigorously. "I thought they liked Hermione."

"They do," Harry said, surprised. What had the twins been saying, to make Ron unsure of that?

"Then why do they deliberately try to embarrass her?" Ron said. "They're horrible. Any other girl would refuse to have anything to do with me after that."

"Not Hermione," Harry said.

"I know," Ron said. His eyes became a bit unfocused, and his face took on an almost sickly enraptured expression that Harry really didn't want to see.

"So, anyway," he said, looking away, "what did Dumbledore say?"

"Oh," Ron said, his attention snapping back to Harry. "We've got to convince Ginny this wasn't her fault, because it bloody well wasn't. If only that sodding Fudge and his miserable excuse for a Ministry would listen to Dumbledore..." He trailed off for a moment, and Harry was glad that Hermione wasn't here to listen to his language. "How they can argue with the vision of a True Seer, I don't know. I even wrote to Percy, y'know, but he just repeated the Ministry's bloody official position when he wrote back. Stupid git."

"But, what happened?" Harry asked. He shut his mouth after that, so he wouldn't say anything about Percy. He certainly agreed with Ron, but saying so wouldn't help anything.

"Fudge found out about the Aurors watching over people's families - you know, Dean, Brenna, Neville, people like that - and he recalled them."

"What? Didn't he know they were doing it for Dumbledore?"

Ron gave a barking laugh. "That only made it worse. Moody had to forcibly explain to him that what Aurors do on their off time is entirely their own business." Ron's eyes shone as he said that, and Harry couldn't blame him; the thought of exactly how Moody had explained things to Fudge cheered him up considerably. Then, Ron's eyes fell. "But there must be a spy in the Ministry - not that we didn't know that before - because the timing was just too bloody perfect. They knew there wouldn't be any Aurors protecting Dean's parents - they must have!" He jumped up and started to pace about the room.

Harry watched him, fascinated by this martial side of his friend. "I take it Sirius and Remus went to help?" he asked. Ever since he'd heard of the attack, he'd suspected that was why they hadn't been at his match.

Ron nodded. "Since everyone else had been called to the Ministry, they had to try to patrol everywhere. Y'know, we really need that Communication Charm of Brenna's, Harry. Do you think it would help if I offered to try it out?" He looked at Harry, his eyebrows lifted, but luckily didn't wait for a reply, because, for one, Harry didn't know, and for two, he suspected it wouldn't, because of Ron being George's brother. "Anyway, Remus and Sirius had to stay together, so that if they did find something, Remus could go for help." He took another turn around the room, then turned back to face Harry, waving his arms over his head as though he didn't know what else to do with them. It should have looked silly, but it didn't.

"Because of Fudge, two innocent Muggles almost died! Remus and Sirius saw the Death Eaters, Harry; they heard them cast the Cruciatus Curse. And Fudge wouldn't believe Remus, just because he didn't want to. Moody said that he even came really close to accusing Remus of sending the Dark Mark into the air himself -"

He broke off, because Harry had thrown his pillow across the room. He had to concentrate very hard on that pillow, because he could feel the connection to Theo waiting tantalizingly for him to reach out and use it. It was the first time he'd felt that when Theo wasn't nearby, but there wasn't anything he could use it for, so he just stood up and joined Ron in pacing the room.

Ron looked annoyed at himself. "I hadn't meant to tell you that," he said.

"Why not?"

Ron waved a hand at the pillow that lay wedged in between their two trunks, because Harry had thrown it so hard. Harry reached down and picked it up, then stood twisting it between his hands.

"What else?" he asked.

"What else?"

"What else did Fudge say?"

"Isn't that enough? He's bloody well not going to change his position, no matter how much proof there is. And this is our Minister of Magic!" Ron windmilled his arms over his head again, then collapsed on his back on his bed.

Harry stared at him. Ron seemed to be taking Fudge's incompetence much more personally than he was; but then, Ron had grown up in the wizarding world, with the Ministry of Magic his only real government. It was still difficult for Harry to imagine a greater wizarding authority than Dumbledore, and he still thought that the headmaster would convince Fudge somehow, though it was starting to look like it might be too late by the time he did. Thinking of Dumbledore reminded him of his other question for Ron.

"Neville said there's going to be a Hogsmeade weekend," he said.

Ron nodded. "Next weekend."

"Why?" Harry asked. "Won't it be dangerous?"
Ron sat up. "Yes, of course. But Dumbledore and Remus both insisted that the students desperately need some time away from school. Moody didn't like it -" he flashed Harry a sudden grin - "but he gave in. You won't believe the security there's going to be - more Aurors than you can imagine, because Fudge oh-so-graciously agreed to send some, and all of Dumbledore's off duty ones who aren't going to be guarding people's families at that time will be there, too." Suddenly, he jumped up. "I'm going back to the common room; I need to move. You coming, Harry?"

Harry shook his head. Ron looked at him for a long moment, then shook his own head.

"Fine, be a lazy prat," he said, tossing a smile over his shoulder at Harry as he left the room.

Harry sat and stared at the closed door, without really seeing it, until Hedwig flew back into the room. She had no note tied to her leg, so either she'd already delivered it to Neville, or Hannah had decided to give him her answer in person. Seeing her reminded him of the invitation he'd written for Ginny. He reread it, wondering if he should send it to her, after all. Dumbledore obviously didn't think Hogsmeade would be completely safe, no matter how much the students needed the visit, and Harry suspected that he wouldn't be happy to hear that two of his students went off by themselves, away from the protecting Aurors, just for a picnic. On the other hand, very few people knew about that cave, and none of them were Death Eaters...Harry quickly folded up the note, wrote Ginny's name on the outside, and attached it to Hedwig's leg. He patted her, then, before he could change his mind, asked her to take it to Ginny. She cocked her head at him and hooted, but then spread her wings and flew off into the night.

The next weekend found Harry and Ginny walking up the long hill towards Sirius' cave. Harry was surprised at how easy it had been to escape everyone, let alone to plan a private picnic in the middle of a school full of adolescents. Of course, he had a secret weapon in Dobby. All he'd had to do was to tell Dobby that he and Ginny wanted to get away from everyone for some time alone, and that he was counting on Dobby to take care of everything, from the choice of picnic food to security in the cave. That had been enough - Dobby was so eager to prove to Harry that he could do all that, that Harry had no idea what was waiting for them in the cave. Not that it really mattered; all he'd wanted was some time alone with Ginny. Everything else was secondary.

They were walking very close together, occasionally bumping arms or hands as they climbed the hill. Harry wondered if he could take her hand, but thought he'd better wait until they'd finished climbing. He risked a glance at her, and saw her cheeks flushed and her eyes shining - he hoped with happiness, though it was probably from walking in the chilly April afternoon.

Ginny had joined Harry in the common room the morning after the Quidditch match, and immediately whispered in his ear that she'd love to go on a picnic with him. She hadn't mentioned, then or since, her strange reaction to Dean's happy news, and Harry hadn't felt comfortable bringing it up himself. He did want to know why she'd reacted that way, but he still didn't feel quite ready to about things like emotions with anyone, not even Ginny.

They finally reached the top of the hill and stood there for a moment to catch their breaths. Ginny turned and looked back the way they'd come, and Harry followed her gaze. He saw trees, mostly evergreens, but with some bare branches sprinkled among them, stretching down to the roof tops of Hogsmeade. It was too sparse to be called a true forest, but it was so different from the world of the Dursleys and Privet Drive that he couldn't help staring in wonder. The other times he'd been here, he'd been too preoccupied to notice.

Suddenly, he realized that Ginny was no longer standing beside him, and when he turned to see where she was, he saw her stopped in the mouth of the cave. She had an arrested look, as though she wasn't quite sure she wanted to continue, and he quickly walked over to stand beside her. What he saw was nothing more alarming than a large, fuzzy blanket spread on the floor of the cave, with an absolutely enormous picnic basket sitting on it. He definitely understood why Ginny had paused. Suddenly, his innocent picnic, which he'd set up just so the two of them could spend some time together without the whole of Gryffindor watching, didn't feel so innocent anymore.

It was, though, and he just had to keep telling himself that. He turned to Ginny, trying to reassure her with a smile, but before he could say anything, there was a loud pop.

"You is here, Harry Potter, sir, and Miss Wheezy!" Dobby said, as soon as he'd materialized in front of them. He seemed to notice their expressions, because he added, "I is hoping everything is satisfactory."
"Oh!" Ginny said, the word exploding out of her. "Oh, of course it is, Dobby. Everything is perfect." She smiled at him, took a deep breath, and then, without looking at Harry, took Harry's hand and stepped into the cave.

As Harry walked in beside her, the air suddenly felt warmer and...smelled odd. He sniffed, trying to place it. Some sort of flower, he realized, wrinkling up his nose. He felt Ginny's hand trembling slightly in his, and he risked a peek at her, only to see that she was struggling to hold in laughter. She didn't - she couldn't - think that he'd planned...all this...could she?

They reached the blanket, and Ginny swiftly knelt, putting a hand down to touch it. She hadn't let go of Harry's hand with her other one, so he was forced to kneel as well, and duplicated her action. The blanket did feel soft and fuzzy, and warm, and - Harry's eyes widened - padded. He hardly dared to breathe as he turned to Ginny, but all he saw in her eyes was amusement and fun. When he realized that she wasn't going to run screaming from the cave in disgust at him, he was able to let out his held breath and turn to Dobby.

"This is just right, Dobby, thank you," he said, making the house-elf's smile stretch almost past the sides of his face. "You thought of everything."

Ginny, who had crawled over to the picnic basket and begun opening it, choked with laughter, but Harry ignored her for the moment. She wasn't helping. He lowered his voice, though of course Ginny would be able to hear everything he said.

"You've taken care of the...security, right?"

Dobby nodded, his smile disappearing in an instant, and he actually saluted Harry.

"Yes, Harry Potter, sir," he said. "Liny, Sammy, and I is guarding Harry Potter and Miss Wheezy well."
"Dobby, I told you to call me Ginny," Ginny said.

Dobby's bright green eyes opened even wider at that. He leaned in to whisper in Harry's ear.

"Ginny is a house-elf name," he said.

Harry almost burst out laughing, but he knew Dobby was perfectly serious, so he managed to keep a straight face.

"Thanks for everything, Dobby," he said, instead.

Dobby's smile returned, and then he disappeared with a loud crack.

"What did he say?" Ginny asked from the other corner of the blanket. She had been pulling food out of the basket while he'd been talking to Dobby.

Harry crawled over to her. "It seems that your name is also a house-elf one," he said. "Wow!" he added, as he surveyed all of the food. "How many people did Dobby think were coming?"

"You heard him, he knew it was just us," Ginny said, pulling out a pink-frosted layer cake and setting it beside two others she'd already laid out. "He must just think you'll eat this much." She met his eyes, her own twinkling. "And what about `Wheezy'? If that's not a house-elf name, I don't know what is. Besides, Winky calls me Ginny. Well, Miss Ginny, if you must know, but still."

Harry shrugged. "You'll have to ask him," he said, reaching for a bag of crisps, so he wouldn't have to look at her. He was beginning to feel his awkwardness return, and he didn't really know what to say to her. He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye, and looked over to see her shrugging out of her cloak.

"It's so lovely and warm in here," she said. "Dobby really did think of everything."

Harry couldn't help staring at her. She just looked so wonderful, sitting there with her cheeks flushed, and her eyes bright with laughter. She was wearing a dark purple jumper that somehow clung to her more than her usual jumpers did, and her hair was done almost the way it had been for the ball, with part of it piled on top of her head, and the rest spilling down over her shoulders. It shone, as usual, in a million different shades of red, and Harry really wished he could reach out and touch it. He knew he actually could, now, but he didn't want Ginny to think that he'd set up this picnic just so he could...well, snog her senseless, even though that was basically what he wanted to do.

"So," he said, desperately trying to think of something to say, "how's your Protection Charm coming along?" As soon as the words escaped his mouth, he could have bitten off his tongue. She never liked talking about her Protection Charm.

She definitely didn't want to now; he watched the light disappear from her eyes, and her cheeks go from delicately flushed to pale.

"I," she said, then stopped. Then, she looked up and fixed him with a gaze that reminded him strongly of her mother. "All right, suppose you've invented a charm that will only work a certain, very specific way - very definite, very unlikely circumstances have to be met before it will work. If it does work, it will work extremely well, but the necessary ingredients are so difficult to come by that it might as well not exist at all. Would you tell people? Would you say, `By the way, there's this Protection Charm that will provide one person with a practically impervious shield, but in order for the charm to work, you both have to -'" She broke off suddenly, her hand to her mouth.

"You both have to what?" Harry asked. He remembered her telling Hermione months ago that `it' had to be mutual, but he still didn't know what `it' was.

Ginny shook her head, her eyes wide. "Anyway, would you tell people that? Raise their hopes, just to dash them down again?"

"I suppose not," Harry said. "But...would it really be so difficult to find what you need?"

"Not...not for some people," Ginny said. She looked down at her plate and picked up her sandwich, but put it back down again. "But it's something that could...cause pain to people if...oh, I can't explain without telling you what it is."

"Well, why can't you tell me, Ginny? I...I want you to tell me everything." Actually saying that last sentence was probably the hardest thing Harry had ever done, and he was quite proud of himself.

"Oh, Harry," Ginny said, reaching a hand out to him. "I want that, too. But this...I can't, I just can't. Trust me?" She gazed into his eyes, her own big and pleading.

"Of course I do," Harry said, reaching his own hand out to grasp hers. Suddenly, he never knew exactly how, he was sitting right next to her, one hand tangled in her hair, and the other still clasping her hand.

"Ginny," he breathed, before covering her mouth with his own. She gave a little moan against his lips, and that was enough for him. When he actually started thinking again, he realized that her hair was every bit as messy as his always was, that he wasn't sure if he was so out of breath because of physical or emotional reasons, that quite a bit of time had passed, and that he'd done just what he'd been determined not to do. He pulled back, not quite able to remove his fingers from her hair, to look uncertainly into her eyes. They weren't quite focused at first, but after a moment, they fastened on his.

"What's wrong, Harry?" she asked, her forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"I...I shouldn't have done that," he said, cursing himself and wishing his traitorous hand would start behaving itself. What must she think of him, that the first thing he'd done when he got her alone was to jump on top of her? And he still couldn't let go.

Ginny, though, gave him a small smile. "Why not, Harry?" she asked.

"Because...because I wanted this to be perfect," he said, but he still couldn't quite concentrate on anything other than the feel of her hair. It was just as soft and silky as he'd always thought it would be, and so alive... He came to himself when Ginny giggled.

"Harry, this is perfect," she said, turning her head so that her cheek brushed the hand still stroking her hair, sending shivers up his arm. "You're here, I'm here...do you know how long I've waited for this?"

Harry shook his head, and began tracing lines between her freckles with his finger. He still couldn't quite equate the Ginny who had made him singing get well cards and Valentines with the Ginny who was here with him right now. Or rather, he could see every step that she had taken to get from one to the other, but he still marvelled that she'd taken them. That they'd taken them.

"So," he murmured, fixing his eyes on her nose so he wouldn't be overwhelmed by the look in her eyes, "you don't need flowers and...and chocolates, you just need..." He trailed off, not able to finish that thought out loud.

"You," she finished for him, and laughed. "That's right, Harry. I'm a hopeless romantic, and quite shameless about it. Promise me you won't tell Ron."

Harry's gaze did fly up to hers at that, and what he saw there made him catch his breath. There was really only one thing he could do to relieve this happy pain he felt, so he brought his other hand up to her face, and rubbing both of her cheekbones with his thumbs, lowered his mouth to hers again.

The rest of the afternoon went like that, with quiet conversation intermingled with kissing. Harry really couldn't remember when he'd been so happy. He knew that the rest of the world was still out there, ready to pounce on them when they left the cave, but for this afternoon, the two of them were alone, and could enjoy it. Or rather, he thought they were alone.

They talked about a huge variety of things, from strange games the Weasleys had played as children, to Harry's experiences in Muggle primary schools, which held Ginny fascinated, to just how serious they thought Bill and Fleur were, to her blossoming friendships with her dormmates. Ginny tried to explain the other girls' point of view to Harry, though she was obviously hampered both by Harry's indignation at their treatment of her, and by her own deeply ingrained defense mechanism of mutual mistrust.

"They thought I wasn't a true Gryffindor, for giving in to the diary so easily," she said.

"But, Ginny," Harry said, staring at her in shock. "You resisted him for almost a year! That took such courage and determination..." He trailed off, griping her hands tightly. "How dare they?"

"They've apologized, Harry," Ginny said, shrugging slightly. "Even Brie. I think they meant it. And I like having friends, y'know? Besides..."

"Besides, what?"

"Well, I can understand why they think it, that's all. I don't," she added, when he opened his mouth to speak. "Not anymore, anyway. But I understand why they do. The only one who knows about Joanna - that she's a magical diary, I mean, not a Muggle one - is Annis, and that's what really convinced me that I've finally put most of my demons from that time behind me."

Harry tried to keep the skeptical look out of his eyes. He knew that she was managing extremely well - much better than her silly dormmates would be - but battling those demons would be a life-long fight. But he knew she knew it, too, and he didn't exactly feel comfortable forcing her to face it.

"So, erm...how is Joanna?" he asked, to divert her attention.

Ginny giggled. "She's a diary, Harry, she doesn't really change much. But -" She broke off, gazing at him intently, then turned and began rummaging in her cloak. She pulled out a small book and a Self-Inking Quill. "You can ask her yourself," she said, opening the book. She wrote a string of letters on the blank page, and suddenly, it wasn't blank anymore. She covered the part that had writing on it with her hand, and wrote something new on the page, then held the book out to Harry, still covering the other part.

Harry eyed it with trepidation. He could vividly remember writing in Tom Riddle's diary, and the diary pulling him in to witness events that had happened in the past. At least this diary didn't swallow up the words as soon as Ginny had written them, the way Riddle's diary had. He could see quite clearly what she'd written.

"Hi, Joanna! I have Harry here with me, and I'd like to introduce him to you."

He could also see what the diary had said in reply.

"Hi, Ginny! I'd love to meet him."

Ginny was still holding the book and quill out to him, and he took the quill slowly. This is silly, he told himself. You know this diary is safe - Molly gave it to Ginny, and it's from the same place as Hermione's. Besides, Ginny has been writing in it all year, and she had an astronomically worse experience with Riddle's than you did. Buck up, Potter. He took the quill, and wrote quickly.

"Hi, Joanna. I'm glad to meet you."

"Me, too, Harry," appeared on the page. "I've heard so much about you."

"Really?" Harry wrote. He looked up at Ginny, who had her eyes fixed on him, not the diary. He couldn't help but wonder what she'd told Joanna about him.

"I won't ask," he wrote firmly.

"Good, because I wouldn't tell you, anyway," Joanna wrote back. "Besides, I have a question of my own. Ginny said that you two were going to Hogsmeade today, but you're not there. Why not?"

Harry stared down at the words on the page in shock. How did the diary know where they were?

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked.

Harry turned the diary towards her and watched her cheeks turn pink as she read.

"I forgot about that," she said, taking the quill back from Harry. He watched over her shoulder as she wrote.

"We're quite close to Hogsmeade, Joanna. We're in the same cave we came to that time before, with Remus and Sirius."

"But Remus and Sirius aren't with you right now, correct? You said you were going on a date with Harry."

Harry couldn't help glancing at Ginny's face at that, and watched her turn even pinker.

"We're alone, Joanna," she wrote. "But -"

"But nothing, young lady. Now, you two march right back to Hogsmeade, where you'll be safe. If you don't, I'll tell Gwen, who'll tell Hermione. You don't want me to do that."

"Joanna, you wouldn't do that," Ginny wrote.

"Oh, yes, I would. What are the two of you thinking? Breila, you know how important both of you are - it's positively irresponsible of you to go wandering off like that. I'm terrified for you right now."

Ginny looked up at Harry and sighed. "I suppose we'd better go," she said. "I think we're safe here with Dobby's protection, but I know I won't be able to convince Joanna. I'm sorry, Harry, I should have known better than to bring her out."

"That's all right, Ginny," Harry said. "We'd have had to be leaving soon anyway. Besides...I'm glad she's so worried about you."

"Oh, you," Ginny said, then leaned over and kissed him on the tip of his nose.

Harry sat there in shock, while she wrote back to Joanna. There was something about that gesture - a familiarity, an understanding - that affected him more than the earlier kisses they'd shared. Well, almost.

The two of them packed up the remains of the picnic into the basket, then walked out of the cave. At the entrance, Ginny turned around and looked all over the cave, then turned back to Harry and smiled at him. He smiled back and, after calling out good-byes and thank-yous to Dobby, they headed back to Hogsmeade.

They reached the Three Broomsticks in time for a butterbeer, and no one seemed to suspect that they hadn't been in the village the whole time. Most people had paired off for most of the day, but now the pub was full of couples merging into larger groups. Harry and Ginny joined an already full table consisting of Ron, Hermione, Neville, Hannah, Seamus, Lavender, Dean, Parvati, Padma, and a sixth-year Ravenclaw boy Harry didn't really know. Before they reached the table, he asked Ginny if she would rather they sit with her dormmates; he could see them squeezed, along with four boys, in a booth in the back corner. He was relieved when she shook her head, because he didn't know any of them very well, and he wasn't feeling very charitable towards them after what she'd told him in the cave. Besides, Ron and Hermione were waving at them, though Hermione gave Harry a quizzical look as they approached. He grinned at her, silently daring her to try to guess where they'd been.

This was fun, too, this loud and boisterous crowd. It was nice to forget about the outside world for awhile, and just be normal teenagers. He hadn't seen either Ron or Hermione so relaxed in quite awhile, and he was glad to see Dean talking so cheerfully with Padma. He didn't know Padma very well, but it seemed like she took the world slightly more seriously than her twin did, and Harry thought that would suit Dean. As soon as he'd thought that, though, he had to grin at himself; he knew he only hoped Dean and Padma would get together so that he wouldn't have to worry about Dean still being interested in Ginny.

When Professor Figg came into the pub to tell everyone that it was time to head back to the school, there was a collective groan, but no one really protested. The students poured out of the pub and streamed down the road to Hogwarts, flanked by teachers and Aurors. Harry was amazed at how easily, it seemed, his fellow students could take their guardians for granted, and he saw Hermione looking around as well, her eyes wide. She must have noticed him watching her, because she gave him a small smile.

"I do hope we don't just accept this as normal," she said, quietly enough that only Harry, Ginny, and Ron could hear her. All three of them nodded and the rest of the walk back was a silent one, for them at least.

When they reached the main entrance, Professor McGonagall was there to greet them.

"Miss Granger?" she said. "Would you please come with me?"