Declarations

Sitting alone at the library table, Harry sighed and rubbed his left hand across his eyes. Unconsciously, his other hand went to his pocket as he thought about Ginny and the photograph.

The pre-dawn events were still sharply ingrained in his memory, but they were nothing when compared with what occurred later.

***********

"Harry! Wait for us!" Ron shouted down the hall.

Harry stopped and turned. He saw Ron and Hermione hurrying to catch up to him. Seeing Ron's characteristic red hair made him think of Ginny.

During the few moments it took for his friends to meet him, Harry wondered about the secret encounter between himself and Ginny. Should he tell the others about it? Did they need to know? Did they have a right to know? After all, they were his friends. Shouldn't he want them to know?

As soon as he thought the questions, his mind supplied the answer: No. No need for anyone else to know. It had been a private event, and he would prefer to keep it that way.

"Hey there Ron, Hermione."

"Where were you this morning? You weren't in the dormitory when I woke up. I asked around, but no one had seen you," Ron said as the three walked down the hall together.

"Oh, er...I had things to do," Harry thought briefly of Ginny and felt himself blush slightly as he stammered o, fervently hoping on one could hear the lie in his voice. "You know, that essay for Herbology."

Actually, after Ginny had left him in the common room, he had found he couldn't stay by the fire for long. So instead, he had silently crept back to his room, gotten dressed, and, taking his school bag and invisibility cloak with him, clambered through the portrait hole. He had roamed the castle aimlessly until just a few minutes ago when he had heard students hurrying to breakfast.

"But Harry," quipped Hermione. "When I asked you about it yesterday, you told me you'd finished the essay ages ago."

"Right. Er, I guess I did say that. Well, I suppose what I meant was that I was mostly done. It just needed a bit of finishing up was all..." He trailed off.

"I can't believe you!" exclaimed Hermione in response. She then started in on a rant about the importance of completing homework in a timely manner and how horrid it is to lie to one's friends.

Ron leaned to Harry and whispered, "Let's hurry up and get her to the Great Hall. She can't yell quite as much when her mouth is full."

Harry quickly nodded in agreement, and he and Ron grabbed Hermione by the arms and dragged her along to breakfast.

Harry's first glimpse of the hall caused him to stop and stare. He had, blessedly, forgotten about it being Valentine's Day, but the holiday was plainly in evidence in the hall's decorations. Red, pink, and white were everywhere from the giant streamers crisscrossing the ceiling to the glittering tiny heart confetti strewn down all the tables.

Harry paused in the doorway as the painfully troubling feeling he had had earlier once more settled itself in his chest and muttered, "stupid holiday."

"What was that?" asked Hermione.

"Nothing. Nothing, let's eat," Harry replied.

Minutes later, the three were companionably seated at the table with their fellow Gryffindors. Surrounded by all the noise and breakfast chatter, Harry almost didn't notice Ginny sitting across the table and a few seats down. A sudden movement from her must have drawn his eye, and Harry watched her for a while.

Ron and Hermione were arguing over homework, but Harry was only half-listening to them. Most of his attention was taken up with watching Ginny. Even though she had earlier made it perfectly clear that she no longer expected him to return her feelings for him, the arrangement was too new for Harry to be totally comfortable with it. Especially since no one but he and Ginny knew about it.

He was also worried about her - she had said the words, but did that make it true? He didn't want Ginny to hurt, and he tried to discern her feelings from how she interacted with those around her.

While Harry watched, she struck up a conversation with Neville. From where Harry sat, he couldn't hear what they were saying, but Ginny was smiling. They talked for a while, and something Neville said made her laugh.

Seeing her so relaxed, so casual, so normal filled Harry with relief. She was fine; she was going to be okay. With those thoughts, Harry's mind was freed to return to the conversation going on around him.

"...don't you think so, Harry?" Harry caught just the tail end of Hermione's most recent argument.

Frantically, Harry looked to Ron for some small hint as to what the question was about and how he was expected to answer it. Unfortunately for him, Ron was no help as he was momentarily distracted by Pig delivering him the morning post.

Not knowing what to say, Harry replied with, "Erm...well I...I..."

"Oh just let it be already, Hermione," Ron exclaimed impatiently as he shoved an envelope or two into his schoolbag. "Besides, we're going to be late for class if we don't leave now."

"You're right, of course," Hermione said as she gathered her things and got up from the table.

Harry took one last bite of toast and had just got up from the table when he remembered something that brought his actions to a halt: his invisibility cloak - his father's invisibility cloak - was still in his bag.

His mind raced even as his body remained motionless. True, everything should be fine. The cloak was tucked into the bottom of his schoolbag beneath his books and some parchment scrolls, but he still felt uneasy about it. Any number of terrible things could happen to it before Harry got a spare moment to put it away, and he had experienced a few too many close calls with it in the past. After a few more moments of deliberation, he decided he couldn't risk it.

"I've just remembered something," Harry announced, and Ron and Hermione both turned to look at him. "My room, I've got to go back there. Now."

"What do you mean? What is it? Can't it wait?" Hermione asked.

"You'll be late if you go all the way back to Gryffindor now," added Ron.

"I know!" cried Harry. "But I have to. Sorry! I'll explain later!"

And with those words, Harry ran from the Great Hall knowing that he wouldn't possibly make it to class on time. However, he was convinced that the peace of mind he would feel from having his invisibility cloak safe in his trunk was well worth a reprimand and possible detention. In fact, after the morning he had had, Harry thought that just about anything would be a fair trade for a little peace of mind.