The Awakening Power

* * *

Harry and Ginny broke away from their kiss, Ginny giving a satisfied sigh as she smiled at him. The last few weeks or so had been incredibly confusing and difficult for her, but it had somehow ended on... well, an unbelievable note. She had been so frustrated with him, finally getting fed up with his indecision and his habit of seeming to grow closer and then draw farther away.

She glanced at Harry, who looked happy and contented. He had seemed to open himself up to her, and she had a feeling that it was the first time in his life that he had ever done that to this degree. She felt - honored, somehow, that he could trust her enough to be so vulnerable at this moment.

Undoubtedly it wouldn't last, and Harry would become his normal, guarded self before long, but at this moment she felt an extremely strong connection to him.

Ginny had teased him about traveling together, but it was just starting to sink in exactly what Harry had offered to her. He wanted her to travel with him? What did that mean? With Harry, everything he said had some sort of meaning, and he wouldn't make an offer like that unless he really meant it, deeply and honestly.

Somehow the biggest thing she took from it was - reassurance. What had he actually said to her? Not much, truth to be told. He had awkwardly said that 'this' meant a lot to him, which, for Harry, was practically a Shakespearean love sonnet. Something like an 'I love you' seemed laughably ludicrous. She was certain that Harry had never said those words in his entire life.

Maybe none of this would last forever. She had fantasized a thousand times about marrying Harry, but anything like that was far down the road, and might never happen. The last thing she wanted to do was let herself build some new fantasy of expectations around him; she'd learned that lesson last time. But at this moment, Harry had implied unambiguously that when he imagined his future, she played some sort of role in it. She meant something to him.

And he had certainly physically demonstrated his affection, she thought wickedly. She had imagined numerous scenarios about how their first kiss might go, but she had never imagined anything like this. And watching him drive that sword into that bloody basilisk had been... amazing. A shiver ran down her spine.

She had been so emotional after watching the events in the Pensieve and Harry had stepped up when she had needed him the most.

She was thankful that Harry had stopped things when he did. If he had made any sort of move to further things along... she wasn't entirely certain she could have stopped. It had been extremely difficult to stop as it was; in fact, she had to admit to being slightly conflicted that he had stopped it... Now, Ginny, none of those thoughts...

If the day ever came that she and Harry decided to take that step, she wanted it to be when they were both ready, in a special place. This place was unique in its own way, but... definitely this wasn't the place.

The way that Harry had stopped - passionate, out of control... She felt powerful to be the one to cause Harry to lose control like that. She sensed that he had very badly wanted to continue, but was noble enough to stop, and that was definitely enough for now.

Harry is my boyfriend, she thought incredulously, looking at him. The whole idea had an air of unreality about it. She had loved him for so long - even when she told herself that she'd given up, her love had still been there, desperately longing to be given to him. And now he was willing to accept it and perhaps even return it.

In fact, the entire morning felt unreal. In a very odd way, the Chamber felt like their place, where they had first created a bond with each other, when Harry had risked his life to save her. She might not have imagined revisiting this place before, but it felt entirely appropriate now. It was almost as if they had completed some unfinished business, from when they had been too young to finish it. Well, we finished it now, she thought with a smile.

Ginny glanced over at Harry, who appeared lost in thought, almost a little apprehensive. She wondered what he was thinking about; with Harry, one never knew what he might be worrying about.

"Harry?" she asked tentatively, wondering if she should let him have his thoughts. They had both been very quiet for some time.

He appeared startled out of his reverie. "Yeah?" he said, looking at her curiously.

"Are you worried about something?" she asked. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's all right. I just..."

Harry paused, gazing down at the blanket nervously. He glanced up quickly, then looked down again. "Erm, well, I guess I was wondering... well... what your parents will think of... us. Together."

Suddenly it hit Ginny what had been going on with him lately... why he'd seemed to be drawing away from her in the month before the Ball. It was all so clear... he was worried about her family's reaction. He was worried about losing them if things didn't work out between them. Compassion rose up in her, and also a little guilt for how angry she'd been with him over the Ball. He had still waited an insultingly long time, but she understood him better now. Somehow all those problems seemed trivial now.

She reached over and squeezed his hand. "Have you been worrying about that for a while now?"

Harry swallowed and nodded silently, still keeping his gaze down.

"Harry, one of the best days of my mother's life will be when she hears we're together," Ginny said, smiling. Harry looked up with such a startled expression that Ginny couldn't help giggling. "Why does that shock you so much? My parents love you."

"Erm, I guess I just figured... that it might be different... if we were... you know, going out. I mean, Ginny, you know I'm not the safest person to be around," Harry said reluctantly.

"If my parents were concerned about that, do you think they would invite you to our home?" Ginny said. "Er, this is a little embarrassing, but if it will make you feel better... let me tell you something. My mum isn't the subtlest mother on earth. She asked a lot of questions about... well, you and me, over the summer. I'm certain she thought she was being very clever, but I think I can safely say that she was very much in favor of things."

"Over the summer!?" Harry asked, appearing mortified. "What... what did she... how did... she know?"

"Oh, Harry, don't worry. She just saw us spending more time together over the summer," Ginny said. She laughed at Harry's expression of relief.

There was a long pause as she smiled at him, just enjoying the connection that was so strong between them right now. She then sighed, thinking it was probably time to go. "Are you about ready?"

Harry nodded, actually looking a little reluctant. "Yeah."

They got up off the floor, peering around the Chamber. It felt so different to Ginny now; looking at Harry, he appeared to see it differently as well. She suspected that the whole thing had cleared out a few of his burdens, too.

Ginny walked up to the statue, peering up at the face and the open mouth. "This is where the basilisk lived?" She looked at the base of the statute, and then noticed an odd seam... and there was a serpent symbol next to it.

"Harry, come here... look at this," she said curiously.

Harry walked over. "What?" he said, peering at the wall. He blinked at the serpent symbol, then glanced at Ginny. He hesitated, then concentrated on the symbol, and then a hissing sound emitted from his throat.

A stone door slid open with a grinding sound, revealing a tight corridor. Ginny pulled her wand and lit it up. "Harry, I think I see something... there's a little room in here."

She could see the corridor go back about ten feet, and then on the right side at the end was a square entrance to a room. Harry glanced at her uneasily. "Let's take a look," Harry said. He lit his wand as well and led the way, Ginny following closely.

They peeked around the edge of the doorway and saw a small, round room carved inside the stone statue. A wooden desk was set up with a few items on it, as well as some things stuck to the wall. Everything was covered with dust and cobwebs, obviously not having been disturbed in some time.

Harry waved his wand and cast a few cleaning spells, clearing out the dust and revealing the objects. Seeing a torch on the wall, he lit it, and then they both extinguished their wands. The smoke from the torch disappeared into a ventilation hole in the ceiling.

Looking at the items on the desk, Ginny noticed that they were photographs. Harry picked up one of the muggle-style pictures, showing a young woman smiling into the camera. Another showed the same woman, but with what looked like a man next to her, but the man was cut out of the picture. Similar photos sat on the desk and were also stuck to the wall.

"Harry," Ginny said in a hushed voice. "Do you think that's..."

"...Tom Riddle's mother?" Harry finished. "I don't know, but I can't imagine who else it would be."

Harry opened up all the drawers. All of them were empty, except for the last one, in which he saw a letter. He pulled it out of the drawer and laid it on the desk. Ginny looked over his shoulder as they both read:

12 March 1944

Dear Mum,

I know where he is. Soon I will find him and make him pay for what he did to us. You and I will both rest easier once he's gone. I promise.

Sometimes, I feel so much anger at him, and, to my shame, at you. I don't know why I feel it at you. It's stupid, I know it's stupid... I didn't used to feel this much anger... I used the Dark Arts spells to find him, I needed to find him, but sometimes I wonder if they're changing me. I thought they would make me powerful, and they have, but I can't help wondering what they're doing to me. Sometimes I want to stop, but it feels too late, the power is so wondrous. I think I even have some clues on how to conquer death. Maybe I could live forever, be the most powerful wizard in history...

I wish you were here... I get so angry that you're not... I wish I knew what to do. I have many followers, yet no friends. They love me because they sense I'm a path to power. And what is love anyway? I can't help but think that love is only dependence. I long for you, but it weakens me. My followers only use me, and I use them. Girls believe I'm charming and witty, but they know nothing of the true me, so what is it they would claim to love?

I've done many secret things. What is love against the power I have felt? What is love against immortality?

And yet, why am I writing this letter today, toward the end of my seventh year, when I am so far along in my plans, when I haven't written to you in so long?

Rest in peace.

Tom

Ginny and Harry gazed at the letter in reflective silence. Ginny rested her head on his shoulder, not certain what she felt about the whole thing. Finally, Harry sighed.

"Let's get out of here," he said.

They silently moved back out of the room and corridor. Harry began walking around the room, extinguishing the torches. Ginny suspected he was doing it mostly to clear his head, so she let him have some reflective space. He came up to her and smiled, and then embraced her. She embraced him back tightly. They stood that way for several minutes; Ginny sensing that Harry needed a bit of time to recover. Finally they pulled back and Ginny kissed him, giving him a supportive smile. Harry smiled back, appearing much better.

They gathered up their belongings and exited the Chamber, lighting up their wands in the dark corridor outside. Harry turned back to the doors, watching them close and waiting for them to slide completely shut. He looked at the closed doors for several more seconds and then smiled at her.

They held hands as they traveled along the passageway. Ginny squeezed and caressed his hand periodically, the feeling of sensing him in the dark very different than what it had been when they'd first arrived.

They climbed through the rock slide, and then finally reached the bottom of the access pipe, with their brooms leaning against the wall where they had left them.

"I never thought I'd actually be a little sorry to leave this place," he said, smiling shyly.

She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at him as she smiled at him secretly. "Why, Mr. Potter, are you saying you like being alone with me?"

Harry chuckled. "It does have its... charms."

She gazed at his green eyes reflecting in the wand light, his sheepish grin looking entirely too attractive. She felt her heart thumping.

"Is that so? Charms like this?" She gave him a long, gentle kiss on the lips. "Or charms like this..." She planted slow kisses along his neck.

"Erm..." Harry said, his voice failing him as his breathing grew very shallow.

They kissed for another minute, then Ginny sighed, suspecting they had better stick to business if they wanted to get out of there sometime today. She had waited so long to be able to play like this, though... "More later, I promise," she whispered in his ear.

Harry nodded reluctantly, giving a sigh himself as they separated and picked up their brooms. Ginny couldn't help feeling very gratified that Harry responded to her... so well. She didn't want to be insecure, but... there was a lot of history to overcome.

"I'll go first, all right? You follow closely, er, so I can see you," Harry said, looking a little embarrassed. Ginny thought it was incredibly cute that he wanted to keep her in sight.

The mounted their brooms and flew up the pipe, keeping their wands out in front of them to light their way. After a long time, they finally they reached the top and flew up into the girl's bathroom.

As Ginny cast a pair of Scourgify spells to clean themselves up, she saw a pair of ghostly eyes peeking up from a toilet. Myrtle let out a loud sigh before sinking back into the bowl, apparently disappointed that Harry was still alive.

Walking back down the corridor to Gryffindor Tower, memories of kissing Harry were running heatedly through her head. Finally spotting a dark corner, she impetuously pulled him aside and started kissing him passionately for several minutes. Harry was a bit nervous at first, but grew very enthusiastic before they continued on. She could hardly believe she was allowed to do this, to kiss Harry when the mood struck. One thing was for certain; now that they were together, she wasn't going to wait around for Harry to make the first move anymore.

They stopped several more times to sneak kisses; Ginny marveled that it was Harry doing this - his greater problems seemed to be gone from his mind temporarily. She had to fight to keep from laughing at him for being so silly and relaxed.

Relaxed, at least, until they began to approach the portrait hole. He started slowing, as an expression of apprehension crossed his face. He glanced at Ginny then back at the Fat Lady. Ginny had a suspicion what was bothering him.

"Ron and Hermione?" she asked.

Harry looked startled, then chuckled. "Yeah. I guess I was just wondering what to tell them. I mean, I guess I should tell them... something. I dunno... I mean, what will Ron say..."

"Well, they're going to find out eventually," Ginny said reasonably, then paused, as she had a rather mischievous thought. "Of course, we could just tell them the easy way."

Harry blinked at her. "What's the easy way?"

"Let's find them!" she said, giving the password. The Fat Lady swung open the door as Ginny walked through, scanning about the room. Harry followed, looking very confused and reluctant. "There they are. Come on!" Ginny said, grabbing his hand and pulling him along.

"I'm not certain this is the easy way..." Harry said nervously. "Maybe... maybe we should wait awhile... think about the best way..."

"Shush! I won't say anything..." Ginny said playfully.

Ron and Hermione were busily working on some homework at a table. They glanced up as Ginny and Harry approached.

"Hi, you two," Hermione said. "What have you been up to? We haven't seen you all morning."

Ginny stole a glance at Harry, who appeared extremely nervous at this question. "Oh, we've been doing - this and that," she said. Ron looked at the two of them, sensing something odd about Ginny's nonspecific answer. "In fact, Harry has something he wants to tell you, but he wanted me to tell you the easy way," Ginny said.

Ron and Hermione glanced at each other. "Er, all right," Ron said, puzzled.

"Ready?" Ginny said. Harry appeared utterly perplexed.

"Yes...?" Hermione said.

Suddenly Ginny turned to Harry, threw her arms around him and planted a hard kiss right on his lips.

"Mmmph!" Harry said, staggering, his eyes wide as Ginny began laughing loudly at his reaction. Harry turned red as a beet, looking around the common room nervously to see who also might have seen. A few students had wide grins as they began whispering to each other.

Ron and Hermione's eyes grew wide, then started laughing along with Ginny. "Ha!" Ron said loudly, smacking his fist into his palm. "It's about bloody time!"

"About time? What?" Harry asked Ron, appearing stunned that Ron seemed to accept things so easily.

"Of course, mate. Do you think I want my sister going out with any bloke off the street?" Ron said. Ginny felt like hexing her brother at this, but decided to let it go.

"Well, as for me," Hermione said with a grin, "I think I'd have to agree with Ron wholeheartedly. It is about time, Harry."

Harry looked very embarrassed at this, but finally started laughing as well. "Seeing as Ginny said about the same thing, I guess I'll have to go along with everyone. It was about time."

Ron face melted from a grin to a scowl as he glared at Harry threateningly. "So, Harry. Exactly where did you take my sister today? I don't need to chaperone you two, do I?"

Harry looked at him with shock. "We - we - erm..." he said, looking desperately at Ginny, who was staring at Ron with a matching glare times two. Hermione was giving Ron her own glare.

"Ron, don't you dare do this," Ginny said in a low, threatening voice. "If you start pulling that protective brother rubbish, you will pay dearly."

Ron snickered then started laughing. "You should have seen your face, Harry. A chaperone. Bloody fantastic. You might as well get used to it, though. Wait 'til Fred and George hear about this. You don't want to know how they've probably been praying for this day."

Ginny closed her eyes tightly. "Oh, God. Ron's right. I didn't even think about what those two gits are going to do." She opened her eyes and glared at Ron. "Well, they don't need to know yet, do they, Ron?"

Ron's grin fell a little. "Er, well, they'll find out eventually..." he said trailing off as Ginny's glare intensified. "Uh, but I guess we don't need to go out of our way to tell them. But you know that Mum isn't going to keep it a secret, and you have to tell her, unless you want Howlers every morning."

Ginny groaned and looked at Harry. "Are you worth all this?"

Harry blinked and looked a bit uncertain for a split second. Ginny rolled her eyes and smiled at him affectionately. "Oh, honestly, Harry. I'm joking. You're worth even whatever Fred and George might serve up."

Harry laughed. "Come on, Ginny, let's go sit down for a few minutes. We'll talk to you two a little later," he said to Ron and Hermione.

As they moved over to a sofa, Ginny noticed that Harry had just unconsciously asked her to come with him, to the exclusion of Ron and Hermione. It felt extremely odd; she had always felt like an outsider, and probably always would be to that relationship, but Harry had chosen to sit with her, and only her, instead of them.

As they sat on the sofa in the common room, Harry sighed, sounding exhausted. Ginny had to admit to feeling pretty tired herself. It had been an incredibly emotional morning. She had a ton of OWL revision to do, too, but she hardly felt motivated. What she really needed was a nice quiet place, maybe outside, after being what seemed like miles underground.

She glanced over at her... boyfriend. Wow, that concept is hard to think about, she thought, amused at herself. "Harry... how about if I pack us a nice lunch and we can find a good, quiet spot outside?"

Harry nodded, looking at her thankfully. "That sounds really good," he said.

She whispered in his ear. "A good, quiet, private spot."

Ginny smiled as Harry responded to that with a small, shy smile of his own.

* * *

The next morning, Harry headed down with Ron from his dormitory to the common room for breakfast, and he was pleasantly surprised to find Ginny waiting for him. She usually ate breakfast with her friends. A warm feeling filled him as he realized that it felt very nice to have someone special waiting for him.

"Good morning, Harry," Ginny said brightly.

"Hi, Ginny," Harry said, feeling shy, although not certain why after the day they'd had yesterday. Harry gazed into her eyes for several seconds, fighting an urge to grab her and start kissing her, which certainly wouldn't be appropriate behavior for the common room. He caught himself, and then glanced over at Ron and Hermione, who were both looking at them with smirks on their faces.

"Hermione, do Harry and Ginny look a bit... different to you this morning?" asked Ron, fighting to put an innocent expression on his face.

"Why, I don't know, Ron. Harry does appear particularly... relaxed, I must say," said Hermione, giggles escaping, her face not even close to straight.

"And sis, did you have a particularly satisfying bout of... studying yesterday?" asked Ron, turning to Ginny. "You look like you have certain matters... shall we say, well in hand."

Ginny glared at him, then laughed. "All right, I guess we deserved that."

Harry felt very embarrassed, but laughed, recalling that they'd given Ron and Hermione the same treatment, so he could hardly begrudge a little teasing from them. "Yeah. Do you two have any more or shall we get some breakfast?"

Ron appeared to think about it. "Hmm. You know, Harry, I couldn't help but notice you staring at my sister as we came down the stairs. Hardly blinking. Did you need Madam Pomfrey to take a look at that? I'm certain she misses you in the infirmary."

Harry gave him a sour expression, but couldn't help laughing.

"All right, now I'm done, although I reserve the right to continue if I think of anything more," he said, grinning.

They all laughed as they exited the common room and made their way down to the Great Hall. As they walked in, Harry noticed that many students were giving himself and Ginny very curious glances. Apparently the news of the kiss in the common room had traveled fast; he wasn't certain why anyone would care about who he was going out with, but then sighed as he realized that it was another symptom of his fame.

They all sat down at the Gryffindor table. Harry sneaked at glance at Ginny, who happened to sneak a glance at him. He involuntarily smiled at her as he began loading up his breakfast. He had to chuckle at himself; he was acting exactly the same way Ron had acted with Hermione, but now on the other side, he understood why. Now that they were together, he just wanted to be with her and would have been happy just sitting and watching her.

He was taking a bite of his breakfast when he noticed Seamus giving him a worried look, glancing at Harry occasionally and then back to his breakfast.

"What is it, Seamus?" Ron asked, sounding annoyed. Apparently he had noticed it, too.

Seamus glanced reluctantly at Harry. "I didn't want to be the one to tell you, mate, but... prepare yourself... remember, I'm just the messenger, after all... right, then." He handed Harry a copy of the Daily Prophet.

Harry gazed in horror at a large picture of himself, and another picture of Ginny, side by side on the page with a large headline. Ginny, Ron and Hermione looked over as well as they all read the article.

Boy-Who-Lived and Ministry Official's Daughter in Love by Sandra Goadpest

Secret sources at Hogwarts informed this reporter that Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, has begun going out with Ginny Weasley, daughter of Arthur Weasley, a prominent member of the Ministry.

Potter, famous for his defeat of You-Know-Who as an infant, has up until now been curiously unattached, considering his status as one of the most eligible teenagers in the wizarding world. Regular readers of the Prophet will recall that he was briefly tied to one Hermione Granger, but that relationship was apparently doomed from the start.

Ginny Weasley, a beautiful girl with fiery red hair, has managed to capture his heart, and that sound you hear are the hearts of many a girl breaking all over the United Kingdom.

Harry couldn't read any more as he ran his fingers through his hair wildly. "How did they find out so fast? Someone must have told them." He groaned loudly. "Ginny, I'm really, really sorry about this."

To Harry's surprise, Ginny was actually giggling about it. "Well, at least I don't have to break the news to Mum now, although I'd better send her an owl right after breakfast. I liked the part about 'a beautiful girl with fiery red hair,' though."

"Well, they got that part right, at least," Harry said impulsively, smiling at her.

Ginny looked at him flirtatiously. "Did they, now? Why, thank you, Harry," she said, grinning at him and sneaking a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Better than what they wrote about me," Hermione said, appearing very annoyed. "Doomed from the start? If they're going to make up lies, at least they could make me a femme fatale or something interesting."

Ron smirked. "Yeah. Something like, 'briefly tied to Hermione Granger, who readers of the Prophet will recall led Harry down the path of sin, before shattering his heart and taking up with a handsome Quidditch star.' "

"Who's that? Viktor Krum?" Hermione asked innocently.

Ron glared at her. "No, I don't mean Vicky Bloody Krum."

Hermione snickered. "Of course not. Clearly I would only take up with a Hogwarts Quidditch star, after all. At least until I decide to shatter your heart into a million pieces."

"Oooh, you're so wicked," Ron said, leaning over to her.

"All right, all right, you two can continue this later, please," Ginny said, making a gagging gesture, and then grinning.

They all laughed, Harry handing the paper back to Seamus, who appeared relieved that Harry didn't seem too put out about it.

After breakfast, the four were walking out of the Great Hall, when someone called to Harry. He noticed it was Silsbee, one of the two Slytherins in his DA meetings.

"Wait here, I'll be right back," Harry said. He moved over to Silsbee, feeling a bit guarded, although he had to admit that once he had got to know the two in his meetings, they didn't seem like such bad blokes.

"Potter, I only have a second. The Quidditch match next Saturday. Watch your back. Malfoy is planning something. I don't know what. Oh, and Malfoy snitched to the Daily Prophet about your girlfriend. Bye," he said, striding off quickly.

Harry stood stunned for a second, before wandering back over to Ginny, Ron and Hermione. "Well, that was odd," Harry said, and gave them a quick rundown on what Silsbee had said.

They all frowned at the news. "That git," Ron said disgustedly. "Well, we can't do anything about it now. I guess we'll have to keep an eye out."

Harry nodded, feeling very apprehensive about what Malfoy might be planning.

* * *

"It's here. It's finally here," Ron said in a hushed voice as he paced in front of his team. "The last game of the year, and we have a chance to play for the Cup. We hold our fates in our own hands. It's all up to us, what we do out there."

Harry sat next to Ginny, feeling nervous about today's game. They had a chance at the cup, but they had to get the score just right.

"Quidditch is about winning," Ron said, continuing his pre-game speech. "There is only one place that matters, and that's coming in first place. All of our fellow Gryffindors are depending on us, counting on us to play with heart, to keep the Cup where it belongs. In our sacred Gryffindor Tower.

"HEART!" he yelled, beating on his chest several times. "It all comes from in here, from our heart... we need to embrace the harsh reality of broom to broom combat. It's going to be a war out there... brute force against brute force."

He paused, his eyes wide as he glared at each player, as if daring them to doubt their own courage.

"Slytherin!" he spat, as if it was a foul word that should never be used in polite company. "All that stands between us and victory is Slytherin. You've all seen the standings. Hufflepuff is currently out in front, and Slytherin is not far behind. That means that we need to beat Slytherin by two hundred points and have a total of three hundred and twenty points to catch Hufflepuff and win the Cup. So Harry, do not catch the snitch until we are up by at least fifty points and we have scored one hundred and seventy points. The score must be at least one hundred and seventy to one hundred and twenty before you catch it!

"Jack, Andrew, it's critical we keep Malfoy away from the Snitch. Send that Bludger at him constantly! Keep him away from it.

"They will no doubt pull out every dirty trick they know. We need to stay on our toes today and play with intensity," Ron said, his eyes burning at the word. "Intensity. Let this field represent all of our hopes and dreams... we must rise to the challenge, boldly embracing the opportunity given to us today and not only make ourselves proud, not only make our fellow Gryffindors proud, not even make all the Gryffindors that have come before us proud. We must make our future children and grandchildren proud! Pride that will spread down through the ages and reflect with honor on our family names as generation upon generation of our progeny shall look back on this day... look back on this day and know that we gave every fiber of our body to the field of battle, and emerged..." Ron paused, and finished in a whisper. "victorious."

The Gryffindor team leapt to their feet, giving Ron a standing ovation. Ron opened his arms, inviting everyone into a group embrace. "We will win, I know we will," he whispered to everyone emotionally. "I am so proud of this team." He stood back, forming a circle with his teammates and thrust his hands into the middle, and everyone followed, gripping hands in the center of the circle.

"Who are we?" Ron whispered.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the team roared.

"Are we going to win today?" he said in a louder voice.

"YES!" The team roared even louder.

"DO YOU VOW TO GIVE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE TODAY?" Ron yelled.

"YES!"

"THEN GO OUT AND DESTROY SLYTHERIN!" Ron screamed in conclusion.

The team began running toward the door, Harry caught up in the frenzy. He felt a hand on his arm, holding him up as everyone rushed past him. He turned around and Ginny gave him a hard kiss, appearing very determined. "For luck," she said, looking him in the eye. Harry nodded as they followed their teammates out the door.

* * *

Harry flew about the pitch, keeping one eye on Malfoy as Silsbee's warning ran through his head. He briefly considered whether they had told him Malfoy's plans to just distract him from winning, but he had to take it seriously.

They needed to wait until they had enough points and the spread was enough, but Slytherin had no such issues. They were only down by one hundred and twenty points to Hufflepuff, and therefore, if Malfoy caught the Snitch, they would win the cup.

Harry was currently employing a strategy of following Malfoy, on the theory that he was primarily trying to prevent him for getting the Snitch, not find it himself. Malfoy appeared very intense as he searched the field.

The crowd abruptly cheered, and Gryffindor had scored the first goal. Harry felt a surge of pride as he noticed Ginny slapping hands. She must have scored. He turned back to his seeking task, keeping an eye on Malfoy.

So far, nothing seemed unusual as Malfoy stayed in a searching pattern, occasionally dodging Bludgers that Kirke and Sloper were sending at him constantly.

The Slytherins were playing extremely roughly; Harry saw one of the Slytherin Chasers knock Ginny hard, and Harry grimly made a mental note to make him pay for that. He shook himself. I need to keep my head in the game. Ginny will be fine, he thought. Harry hadn't realized how emotionally difficult it would be to watch her in the game.

The score was fifty to forty in favor of Slytherin when Harry and Malfoy both spotted a flash across the field. Malfoy took off, Harry following closely. He squinted at the flash, trying to figure out if it was the Snitch, but the sun was in his eyes. He couldn't take any chances, so he came up along Malfoy, who was staring straight ahead.

Need to time this right, Harry thought. He needed to stay on line, prevent Malfoy from catching it, but not catch it himself. As they moved came closer to the flash, Harry saw Malfoy glance over with a smirk. Harry didn't like the expression on his face and tensed up. Suddenly Malfoy turned into him, causing his broom to touch him. A powerful shock ran through Harry's body, causing him to grow dizzy as he veered away, trying to maintain control.

He spiraled around, gripping tightly and came to a stop while he recovered. What the bloody hell was that? Harry thought vaguely. He panicked, as he realized that Malfoy must have found the snitch by that time. Harry scanned the pitch wildly and finally spotted him looking angrily at a piece of parchment that had been blowing in the wind.

Harry blew out a long sigh of relief. He began flying toward Malfoy again, wondering about the shock that he had received. That must be it, he thought incredulously. Harry felt lucky that he'd received the warning. If he hadn't been prepared, he probably would have fallen off his broom. Anger grew within him. Malfoy was cheating. He signaled to Ron to call a time-out, who complied. Madam Hooch blew her whistle to signal play action to cease, and all the Gryffindors flew down to the pitch.

"What's up, Harry?" asked Ron, looking intense.

"Malfoy," Harry said grimly. "He had some sort of spell on his broom that caused a shock to run through me when we touched. I almost fell off my broom."

Ginny was extremely angry. "You could have been badly hurt! Malfoy will pay for this," she said coldly, looking very frightening as if contemplating exactly how she intended to follow through on her threat.

"Let's tell Hooch," Ron said, outraged. He gestured toward her, asking her to come over. She flew down next to the Gryffindors.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley?" said Madam Hooch.

"Harry said Malfoy's broom is hexed to shock anyone who touches it," Ron said.

Madam Hooch's eyes narrowed. "Is that so? I'll get to the bottom of this." She glanced up and found Malfoy. "Mr. Malfoy!" she shouted. "Come down here, please."

Malfoy flew down with an extremely innocent expression on his face. "Yes, Madam?" he said, with a winning smile.

"Let me see your broom, please," she said. Malfoy handed it over, appearing curious. Madam Hooch visually inspected it, seeing nothing. She then waved her wand, casting a few spells. She frowned, apparently also seeing nothing. Glancing suspiciously at Malfoy, she waved her wand over his body as well.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter. I'm afraid I can't find anything problematic," she said apologetically.

Malfoy looked at Harry sympathetically. "Well, Madam, we all know that Harry is under a great deal of strain these days. Not surprising that he might have a few... hallucinations. But I don't want there to be any doubts. Allow me to surrender my wand to you, just to show my good faith." He pulled out his wand and handed it to Hooch.

"I was not hallucinating," Harry said with gritted teeth, trying to keep himself from leaping over and strangling Malfoy with his bare hands. What he did know positively was that if Malfoy was willing to turn over his wand, then the shock must be coming from something else.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, but I can't find anything. I'm afraid that this will have to do," Madam Hooch said. She walked off as Malfoy took to the sky again.

"That git," Ron said, irritated. "Well, you'll just have to keep a sharp eye out, Harry."

"Yeah," Harry said. "Well, everyone ready?"

Everyone nodded their assent. Ginny came over and squeezed his hand, and they all took off and resumed the game.

Malfoy's cheating seemed to inspire the Gryffindor Chasers, who redoubled their efforts. The game was becoming very ugly, with many thrown elbows and broom collisions, but slowly the Gryffindors pulled ahead.

The score was one hundred and forty to eighty with Gryffindor leading when Harry spotted the snitch. He glanced over at Malfoy, who hadn't seen it yet. Harry went into a dive in the other direction, surprising Malfoy, who began following him. Abruptly Malfoy stopped his broom, apparently realizing that Harry wouldn't be trying to catch it with the score the way it was. He flipped his broom around, scanning for the Snitch, and suddenly saw it. Harry swore under his breath; he shouldn't have tried such an obvious gambit.

Harry pushed his broom to maximum speed, catching up with Malfoy. He carefully tried to avoid coming in contact, as Malfoy repeatedly attempted unsuccessfully to swerve into him. They were gaining on the Snitch. If Harry didn't do something quickly, Malfoy would catch it. He had no choice; he had to do it.

He waited until the last second, steeled himself and swerved into Malfoy, shielding the Snitch with his body. The pain was incredible as he made direct contact; it was as if thousand of ants were crawling through every nerve ending of his body. He felt himself passing out as he gripped tightly to the broom. He felt himself vaguely floating through the air, concentrating only on feeling his hands maintain contact with the broom. Slowly he felt himself come back to consciousness. He saw the ground coming up fast and quickly pulled out. He flew back level, trying to reorient himself. He saw Malfoy glancing around desperately; he must have lost the Snitch.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Clearly that strategy wasn't going to be good long-term one. It had almost done him in. A vague idea was starting to come to him... he didn't know if it would work, but...

He fell back behind Malfoy as they went into a search pattern again. The Chasers on both teams continued to score goals. Ron was making some spectacular catches, but the Slytherins seemed to be inspired to win this one. The score gradually crept up to one hundred and sixty to one hundred and twenty. If Gryffindor could score one more goal, Harry would be able to actively catch the Snitch.

Harry was keeping one eye on the Chasers as he followed Malfoy when he saw a Bludger heading toward Katie Bell, who didn't see it coming. He involuntarily started to shout, even though she couldn't possibly hear him. The Bludger slammed into her side, forcing her to fly to the ground while clutching her side in pain. As she landed, she collapsed on the ground and Madam Pomfrey ran over to her. It appeared as if she would be out of the game, leaving them a Chaser short. If they were going to win, then they had to do it soon. Being a player down would almost guarantee defeat.

Abruptly Malfoy flew toward the Gryffindor section. Harry spotted it at almost the same time; there was no doubt it was the Snitch. If we'd had one more goal, he thought anxiously. He had to block Malfoy again, but wasn't certain he could take another one of the shocks. He had to try his plan and hope for the best. It wasn't technically a violation of the rules...

They both raced toward the Snitch, Harry trying to keep close but not too close. As they approached the Snitch, Harry reached into his Quidditch uniform and grabbed his wand... he couldn't wave it, which would weaken the spell, but he had to hope it would be strong enough... it had to be timed perfectly...

As they came up to the Snitch, Harry shouted, "Protego!" and swerved into Malfoy.

A loud CRACK sounded as a bolt of lightning leapt from Malfoy's broom, rebounded off Harry and ricocheted back to Malfoy. An extremely bright discharge of energy surrounded Malfoy, appearing to feed back on itself as it didn't stop. He fell out of the sky, separating from his broom; the lightning extending between his body and the broom, and then finally stopped. Harry watched Malfoy falling, then slow suddenly before hitting the ground. Madam Hooch had her wand out, apparently slowing his free fall. She blew her whistle, appearing very angry as she gestured for all players to come down to the ground.

As Madam Pomfrey ran out to the field to attend to Malfoy, Madam Hooch inspected Malfoy's broom while the players stood on the pitch. Looking closely at it, she slid an odd silver ring off it. She waved her wand over it and nodded grimly, apparently satisfied that the ring was the cause of the incident. She turned and addressed all the players.

"I've never seen such a display of bad sportsmanship as I saw from Mr. Malfoy," she said, livid. She glared at Malfoy, who was sitting up, looking very confused. "Hoist by your own petard, eh, Mr. Malfoy?"

Ron was smirking very smugly at Malfoy as he stood with Harry, Ginny on his other side with her hand on his shoulder.

"Seeing as Mr. Malfoy has seen fit to engage in such an abominable act, I hereby declare that Slytherin forfeits the match, awarding an automatic Snitch catch to Gryffindor and one hundred and fifty points -"

"NO!" shouted Ron, glancing at the scoreboard with a face of panic. "You can't do that! That would make it a three way tie... we... we... we don't want the forfeit... we love Malfoy..."

"LET ME FINISH, MR. WEASLEY," Madam Hooch said threateningly. Ron immediately fell silent.

"As I was saying," Madam Hooch continued, glaring at Ron. "Gryffindor is awarded an automatic Snitch catch for bad sportsmanship AND a penalty shot for the actual infraction."

Ron's eyes grew wide. "We have a chance. If we make this penalty shot, we win the Cup..." Ron looked at Ginny with a pleading expression. "Ginny, Katie is injured, so it's up to you. Please, in the name of all that's sacred, make this shot."

Ginny appeared a bit nervous, but set her jaw as she gripped her broom tightly and nodded. She began to get on her broom. Harry moved over to her and whispered in her ear. "Show Malfoy how it's done," he said, smiling at her, causing her to smile back, remembering the Carnival. Impulsively, Harry quickly kissed her. "For luck," he said.

"We can't lose with luck like that," Ginny said, grinning at him.

She flew off into the sky, soon followed by the rest of the players, who moved to neutral parts of the field. Ginny received the Quaffle and moved to the center of the field, from where penalty shots were started. The Slytherin keeper moved into position, appearing very determined. The Gryffindors and Slytherins all glanced nervously between the two of them.

Harry heard the announcer explain the forfeit and penalty shot. There was a huge roar from the Gryffindors and loud boos from the Slytherins. The rest of the stadium seemed to have a mixture of cheers and groans, many of the latter presumably from people who were hoping for a longer match.

Madam Hooch blew the whistle. Ginny flew straight up in the air in a long arc and then plunged straight at the goals, going incredibly fast. Harry heard Ron suck in a quick breath.

"Bloody hell, what is she doing... that's way too fast..." Ron started in an alarmed voice.

Harry had to agree as Ginny flew at the goal at a reckless speed... the Slytherin Keeper was forced to guess at a goal to defend, but Ginny swerved toward a different goal, her broom responding marvelously... she shot the Quaffle and scored a direct hit.

The Gryffindors in the stands leapt to their feet, roaring loudly as Ginny flew straight at Harry. She threw herself into his arms as they sat on their brooms and embraced tightly. The other players soon joined them and they all had a group embrace in the air to the cheers in the stands.

"I did it... I did it..." Ginny said tearfully into Harry's ear. "Thank you, Harry... thank you for believing in me this year and giving me the broom and... augh!" she said, pulling away from him and covering her mouth with her hand. "I mean! Thank Fred and George... oh, sod it! I know you bought it for me," she said, laughing. Harry felt embarrassed, but then began laughing also as they embraced again.

As the team landed on the ground, the Gryffindors stormed the field, slapping their backs, congratulating the team. Some students lifted Ginny up on their shoulders, carrying her around the field. Ginny beamed at Harry as she punched the air and screamed in celebration.

Hermione came running up and threw herself at Ron, embracing him tightly. "Oh Ron... that was so incredible... you won! I'm so proud of you this year..." She broke away and hugged Harry as well. "...and Harry! You were incredible, too... Malfoy got what he deserved..." She released Harry and shouted at Ginny. "Ginny! You were fantastic! You were all fantastic!"

They continued walking around the field, celebrating the victory. Finally they all went back to the locker room and quickly showered, reliving the plays over and over. Katie Bell joined them in the locker room, screaming at them all happily as they took turns hugging her excitedly.

"Now this is a send off! Thank you, captain!" Katie said, embracing Ron. "This is how I wanted my seventh year to end. You did it. You were a great captain."

Ron appeared close to tears. "I did it all for you, of course," he said, grinning.

They made their way back to Gryffindor Tower, where the party had already started earnestly in the common room. A roar went up from the Gryffindors as the team entered the room, where students had begun hanging congratulatory banners on the walls. A huge quantity of food had somehow appeared in the room, and in a corner Harry saw Dobby smiling happily at him. Harry gave him a wave and a big smile.

Later on, Harry sat with Ginny on a sofa, her head resting on his shoulder, feeling full from food and success. Ginny sighed and whispered in his ear. "You know, we're not done celebrating. We have a little bit of... private... celebrating to do..." she said seductively.

Harry felt a chill go down his spine as that exciting thought sunk in. She slowly rose from the sofa, holding his hand as they sneaked toward the portrait hole. Harry glanced around the room for Ron and Hermione and noticed they had already disappeared somewhere.

As they made their way to the Astronomy Tower and a private spot, Harry decided that having a girlfriend had a lot of advantages on a day like this.