A/N: aloha. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. There’s only four more chapters left of this year now after this one. Harry and Ginny are getting so close! Not long now, before they admit how they feel to one another. Can’t wait to write that scene. It’s going to be so good. R&R. On with the next chapter.
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Erasing The Future | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe, Post-HBP Characters:All, Harry/Ginny Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Fluff, General, Humor, Romance, Tragedy Warnings: Extreme Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Violence Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 545 Summary: Harry goes back in time to redo his Hogwarts years after losing the war, his family, and his wife, Ginny Potter, to Voldemort. Changes need to be made, but can all changes be good? Years 1-4 Hitcount: Story Total: 397039; Chapter Total: 8777 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: |
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Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Harry Potter As the days passed by, Ginny’s lessons become more and more frequent. Soon they had set out a timetable where, during the week, Harry and Ginny would join the other three in the library at break and lunchtime, and then once they had tea, the two would trek up to the Room of Requirement for Ginny to have her lesson. On the weekends, they would eat breakfast and then spend the whole morning in the Room of Requirement with Harry teaching Ginny magic. In the afternoons, Ginny would the read books that Harry had fetched for her out of the library that Harry thought would help her with her magic. On Sunday evenings, they would sometimes stop reading and enjoy playing Quidditch together before going back to the Gryffindor Tower to sleep. Hermione had become questionable about where they were going while the others studied in the library. Harry and Ginny just told her that they hung about in the common doing homework or playing chess. As January turned into February, the Quidditch match Gryffindor had been anticipating arrived that first weekend. The week leading up to it Wood had booked the pitch every night around seven. Wood would have booked it for earlier, but Ravenclaw had booked that time for their practise, so seven o’clock would have to do. This meant that it cut into the time Harry had to teach Ginny. Therefore, they decided that they would alternate between Ginny staying in the Room of Requirement on her own to continue studying and Ginny coming down to watch the practise every other night. It was now only two days away from the game, and Harry and Ginny were in the Room of Requirement after having a quick dinner in the Great Hall. Ginny was trying to learn the engorgement charm. Harry watched Ginny relax and point her wand at the apple that was on the table. “Engorgio,” Ginny cried, pointing her wand at the apple. Harry watched on, pleased as the apple started to grow rapidly. However, Harry started to worry when the apple didn’t stop. When Ginny took a step back, Harry knew that Ginny had lost control, and bringing out his wand, he said, “Finite Incantatem,” The apple stop growing and Ginny sighed. “I’m never going to get this right,” Ginny moaned. “Of course you are,” Harry assured her, coming to stand behind her and rest his hand on Ginny’s shoulders. “Everyone has problems with spells. You’re getting good, Gin. You meditate every night, right?” “Yes, but how is that helping?” Ginny muttered. “Well, when you started, you found it very difficult to get enough power in your levitation spell to lift a feather. Now you’re putting so much power into your spell it’s making the apple grow bigger than you wanted. You just need to understand and control how much magic you put into your spell,” Harry told her. “I know it’s difficult, and it is actually NEWT level magic…” At that sentence, Ginny turn around and stared wide eyed at Harry. “But I do believe you can do this properly.” “You expect me to do NEWT level stuff?” Ginny hissed out at him. “Just because it isn’t taught until NEWT level doesn’t mean it’s that hard. The main reason it isn’t taught until NEWT level magic is because if you know how to change the power in a spell you can do some real damage with an easy first year spell like the disarming spell,” Harry said. “When you feel the magic flowing through you, try and rein it back in slightly. Don’t just do the spell and let go. Concentrate all the way through until you get to the end result that you want. Try to will your magic to do that and only what you want it to.” “Okay,” Ginny agreed, nodding. Harry shrunk the apple back down to normal size and Ginny tried again. Harry watched as the apple started to grow bigger. When it got to the desired size, Harry watched as the apple still grew. Harry was just about to stop it when Harry noticed that the apple was slowing down in the rate it was growing and not even a couple of seconds later it had stopped growing completely. “Well done, Ginny!” Harry praised, smiling at her. “I didn’t do it right,” Ginny moaned out. “You’re expecting too much of yourself again,” Harry told her. “I bet you could do it on the next go, though.” And so she did. When Harry resized the apple, he watched as Ginny cast the engorgement charm on the apple and watched it grow to double the size and then stop. When Ginny turned to him, smiling, Harry knew that Ginny had gotten the outcome that she wanted. “Great job,” Harry said, nodding. “Now, just like the other spells you’ve done, you’ve done it once but…” “…I need to do it more than once to know for certain that I can do it accurately,” Ginny finished. “Well,” Harry said between laughs. “What do you need me to teach you for? Go on and do it.” Ginny laughed slightly as Harry returned the apple to its original size and let Ginny try to enlarge it again. After four more times of Ginny successfully casting the spell, Harry decided that Ginny had it down and they moved onto the shrinking charm. Ginny didn’t end up getting the spell working properly by the end of day and Harry told her that she should work on it tomorrow while he was at practise. Quidditch practise the next day was a hard affair. With the game just one day away, Wood was working them past the limit. They spent nearly all night training, and as Harry dragged himself back to the Room of Requirement to meet Ginny, Harry had a hard time not falling asleep. As Harry walked through the door, he saw Ginny sitting lazily reading her book on meditation. “What happened to practising the spell, Ginny?” Harry asked and Ginny’s head shot up in surprise. “Sorry,” Ginny said. “I didn’t hear you come in. I’ve done the spell. I can now enlarge the apple and shrink it back to normal size. I asked the room then for a pineapple as it’s bigger and practised on that. It took me a few goes but I can now do that, too.” She closed her eyes and a pineapple appeared on the table. Harry watched as Ginny enlarged the pineapple to almost human size and then shrunk it back down again. “Wow, Gin,” Harry said in surprise. “You’re getting really good.” “Thanks,” Ginny answered, smiling. “What are you teaching me next?” “I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise now would I?” Harry replied, flinging himself in the seat next to her. “If you don’t tell me I will tickle you,” Ginny said, eyebrows raised. “Nope, not saying,” Harry told her, crossing his arms over his chest in defiance. “Last chance,” Ginny warned, smirking at him. “Nope,” Harry said. Ginny smirked and then pounced. Harry put his plan into action as the room surrounding them changed and the couch they were sitting on grew rapidly. Soon it was as long as three double-decker buses. Ginny sat at her end of the sofa looking at Harry in shock and Harry smiled back. However, that smile didn’t last when Ginny’s shock turned into a twisted smile. The room around them changed again as it shrank into a very small broom cupboard. The couch disappeared and Harry fell on the cold hard floor and not seconds later Ginny was lying on top of him. “Two can play at that game Mr Potter,” Ginny smirked out from on top of him. “So I see,” Harry said, their faces inches apart. “Nice imagination, Gin. A broom cupboard.” “It was the first very small room I could think of in such a short amount of time,” Ginny retorted. “Sure it was,” Harry drawled. “Would you mind getting off of me?” “Nope, you make a nice cushion. Besides,” Ginny said as she put her chin on Harry’s chest and looked down into his eyes, “I’m comfortable.” “I’m glad one of us is,” Harry drawled back. Harry gazed into her chocolate brown eyes and got lost in their interior. Harry’s mind was racing as well as his heart. Was it the right time? Ginny had slept in her room for weeks now and she was completely fine. She hadn’t called him on her mind ring or expressed any worry about Hermione and the others finding out it was her who had attacked the students. This was the old Ginny. She was back to normal. The only problem was, did she love him? He still wanted her to fall in love before they started to date. However, as he gazed into her eyes, all rational thought left him. All that he knew was that he was here, alone, with the girl that he loved. And he desperately wanted to kiss her. Harry, running his hand through Ginny’s hair, started to slowly leaned forwards to capture her lips with his. However, just as he started to leaned forward, Ginny leaned back away from Harry. Harry knew Ginny hadn’t noticed him starting to close the gap. He was sure that if she did, she wouldn’t have pulled back. Harry watched as the room returned to their normal classroom and Ginny stood up, yawning. “We’d better get back to the common room, Harry,” Ginny said tiredly. “Before I really do use you as a pillow.” Chuckling, Harry got up and the two of them trudged back to the Gryffindor Tower. -oOoOoOoOo- The next morning, Harry got up very early, as it was the team orders from Wood, unfortunately. Going downstairs into the common room, Harry flopped himself in his and Ginny’s usual sofa by the fire. There he waited for ten minutes before he heard footsteps coming from the boys’ staircase. Looking around, he saw Wood fully awake coming down them. “Ah, good Harry. You’re up,” Wood said after seeing Harry by the fire. “Good work. Once the others come down, we’ll be going down to have breakfast. Have you seen the girls?” “No,” Harry yawned. “We’ll they should be awake soon,” Wood said. “I’ll give them a couple of more minutes.” “Before what?” Harry asked. “It’s not like you can go up there and wake them up.” Wood was about to answer when they heard footsteps from the girls’ stairs. “Ah, good. Here they come.” Instead, it wasn’t the girls. It was Ginny. Harry watched with his eyebrows raised as Ginny made her way over to Harry and sat down next to him. She flashed a smile at him before opening up her book on meditating that she had brought down with her. “Any reason you’re up at this ungodly hour?” Harry asked. “Yes,” Ginny yawned out. “It so happens that two very loud boys down here in the common room woke me up. You wouldn’t happen to know who they are would you?” “We couldn’t have woken you up,” Harry said. “We were being quite. You wouldn’t have heard us in your dorm.” “Wouldn’t I Potter?” Ginny asked over her book. “Never mind now,” Wood said. “I’ll go see what’s keeping the others.” “I know for a fact we didn’t wake you up,” Harry told her. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing,” Ginny said. Harry didn’t believe her for one minute. “Seriously,” Ginny added when she saw Harry’s look. “Nothing is wrong. I just woke up early and I knew you would be up early, too. Nothing’s wrong. I’ll go back to bed if you really want.” “Promise?” Harry asked her. “Yes,” Ginny said, smiling. “Do you not think that after everything I’ve been through these past few months, and the fact that you were there for me that if anything was wrong I would keep it from you?” “No,” Harry said, smiling. “I suppose not. I just care about you, you know.” “And I appreciate that Harry,” Ginny said. “I care for you, too. I understand, but trust me when I say there is nothing wrong.” “Okay,” Harry answered, nodding. “I trust you.” When the rest of the team finally came down to the common room, Wood made them all head down to the Great Hall to have an early breakfast. Ginny, after deciding that she didn’t want to stay in the common room, came with them to have breakfast, too. They were the first ones into the Great Hall and they ate quietly. When they had finished their breakfast,t Wood ordered them down to the Quidditch changing room and Harry left Ginny behind as she helped herself to second helpings. As the team walked out of the Great Hall, Harry looked up to see rain falling down hard in the magical ceiling. Wood expected them to get four hundred points in that weather. Harry liked Quidditch, but purposely not catching the Snitch when it was pouring outside wasn’t something Harry wanted to do. Once they got soaked from running down to the changing rooms, the team huddled in the changing room for the team talk. “Right,” Wood started. “We’ve been practising a lot this past couple of weeks, but now is the time to put the plan into action. Harry, remember, we need to catch the Snitch only when we want to do so. We’re currently two hundred points behind Slytherin with them playing next week. So, in order for us to catch up to them and still have a chance at the cup, we need to score three hundred to four hundred points. Four hundred would be the better mark so it won’t make it so hard on us against Hufflepuff. Which means, Harry, that you need to man mark their Seeker and don’t let them have any chance of catching that Snitch. “You still want us to purposely not catch the Snitch and aim for a long game in this weather?” Angelina asked. “You’re mad!” “You’re only just worked that one out?” Harry said. “We’ve been training for this for weeks,” Wood said, irritated. “We catch the Snitch on our own terms. You got that Harry?” “Yes Wood,” Harry said. “Good,” Wood said. Soon the time came to march out onto the field. Harry walked out on the soft ground of the pitch, getting soaked from the rain. It was going to be a long game, he could tell. After Wood and the Ravenclaw captain shook hands, the teams mounted their brooms and waited for the whistle. Madam Hooch released the two Bludgers and Harry caught a glimpse of the Golden Snitch before it flew high out of sight. Harry saw Madam Hooch throw the Quaffle up in the air and kicked off when she blew her whistle. “Hello and welcome to the third Quidditch game of the season. Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw,” Lee Jordan announced through the magical enhanced microphone. “Gryffindor must win by at least three hundred points. They certainly have a tall order to accomplish, especially against a good team like Ravenclaw. Gryffindor are currently in possession now with Katie Bell streaking towards the Ravenclaw goal. Fine save from the Keeper. Unlucky Katie. “Ravenclaw in possession now,” Jordan continued. “Bradley passes it to Davis. Davis swerves to avoid a Bludger. To Kirk, he shoots. Ten to zero to Ravenclaw. I guess Gryffindor just needs to warm up a bit first.” However, the next two tries for Gryffindor failed to get the outcome they were hopping for. “Bradley in possession again. Passes to Kirk. He fakes out Wood. Passes it to Davis who puts the Quaffle through the empty goal hoop. Where is the Gryffindor team?” Jordan asked rhetorically. “Twenty to zero to Ravenclaw. Bell in possession now Who passes it to spinet, now to Johnson. Now it’s back to Bell. Shoots, and a save from the Ravenclaw Keeper. Bradley in possession to Davis now to Kirk and back to Davis. To Bradley. And a save from Wood. “To Spinnet. To Johnson. Back to Spinnet. Fakes. Passes it to Bell. Shoots and finally a goal by Gryffindor. Twenty to Ten to Ravenclaw. Come on Gryffindor!” Jordan cried into the microphone. “If you can’t commentate unbiased, Jordan,” McGonagall’s voice echoed through the microphone, “then you won’t commentate at all.” “Sorry Professor,” Jordan said. “Spinnet with the Quaffle. To Johnson, to Bell, back to Johnson. To Bell again. To Spinet. Shoots and another goal by Gryffindor and they’re level. Twenty to twenty.” Harry decided to tune Jordan out for a while. This was going to be a tight game. Harry flew around in search of the Snitch. Wood might’ve wanted him to wait until Gryffindor had scored highly, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t spot the Snitch early on. About a half an hour later, Harry still hadn’t noticed the Snitch; the only good thing was that Gryffindor had taken the lead and now led ninety points to forty. “Bell in possession, to Johnson, to Spinet, back to Johnson. She dodges a Bludger and scores. Another goal to Gryffindor. The Gryffindor Chasers are slowly getting back to their best. One hundred to forty,” Jordan announced. “Kirk with the Quaffle now. To Davis. Back to Kirk,” Jordan said. However, as Kirk was just about to shoot, a Bludger slammed into him, causing him to drop the Quaffle. “Excellent beating by George Weasley there, or is that Fred? Doesn’t matter, Gryffindor in possession. Katie Bell to Johnson, dodges a Bludger. Passes to Spinet. Shoots and scores again. One hundred and ten to forty.” Gryffindor then went onto a scoring spree. Alicia scored the next three goals and then Katie and Angelina both scored twice to make the score one hundred and eighty to forty. Harry flew around the pitch, searching for the Snitch. Harry spotted it by the Ravenclaw goal posts. Turning his broom, Harry dove in the opposite direction. The Ravenclaw Seeker, which Harry noticed was actually Cho Chang, joined him as they plummeted to the ground. Harry pulled up just before he hit the ground and Cho had just enough time to flatten out before she hit the ground. Cho looked at Harry confused and Harry shrugged before flying back high into the air. “That was an excellent Wronski Feint from Potter,” Jordan announced to the crowd. “There’s no denying it. This boy has got bags of talent. You will definitely see him in the international scene soon, mark my words.” “Jordan! The game!” Professor McGonagall’s voice rang out. “Right Professor. Gryffindor leading two hundred to fifty,” Jordan said, telling everyone the score. “Bell in possession again. Passes to Spinnet, she ducks a Bludger. Passes to Johnson. Shoots and another goal by Gryffindor. “Kirk in possession now, passes to Davis. Ducks a Bludger. Shoots and a save from Wood. Wood passes to Katie, To Angelina, and she gets hit from behind from a Bludger, Kirk in possession again, to Davis, passes to Bradley. Shoots and a goal to Ravenclaw. Two hundred and ten to sixty.” Every time Ravenclaw scored, Gryffindor scored twice more. So, soon enough Gryffindor had the lead two hundred and seventy to ninety. Harry flew to the other end of the pitch desperately looking for the Snitch. After his third circulation of the pitch, Harry spotted the Snitch high up in the sky. Harry darted upwards and raced the Snitch up into the clouds. Higher and higher Harry went, getting more and more soaked. All of a sudden, Harry shot through the remaining cloud and he was no longer getting wet. He was above the clouds. Harry looked around, awed at the view. He had to bring Ginny up there sometime. Harry looked around for the Snitch, but didn’t spot it. He could no longer hear anything from the Quidditch pitch that was miles below him. Harry cautiously flew around, but still couldn’t see the Snitch. Getting ready to go through the clouds again, he took a deep breath and dove down. Harry let his breath out when he was below the clouds, rain beating down on him. As he flew back lower, Harry spotted the Snitch again and dove after it. Sensing that Harry was on its tail, the Snitch started to fly downwards with Harry zooming after it. The ground started to get nearer and nearer to the ground. Harry heard screams from the crowed as the ground came racing up to him. The Snitch darted out horizontally an inch from the ground and Harry hurriedly straightened his Nimbus out. However, in the hurry to level out his broomstick, Harry over did it, and the tail of his broomstick touched and dug into the ground. The broomstick suddenly bucked and Harry flew off. If luck would have it, if you called being bucked off your own broomstick after just coming from over a six thousand foot dive, Harry flew straight along the path of the Snitch. Harry managed to claw his fingers around the tiny golden ball before he slammed into the ground. Harry tumbled over repeatedly until he reached the edge of the pitch and smashed into the bottom of the stands. Harry managed to see his Gryffindor teammates rushing towards him on their brooms before unconsciousness over took him. -oOoOoOoOo- When Harry came back ‘round, he felt the rain pelting down onto his face. He blinked and a blurry world came into focus. His glasses must have fallen off. Harry tried to remember why he was on the ground. He remembered flying above the clouds searching for the Snitch, remembered diving down after the Snitch to try to catch it and remembered the ground rushing towards him and him trying to straighten out to avoid almost certain death. He remembered the broom touching the ground, bucking him off, and managing to catch the Snitch whilst being thrown of his broom, then nothing. He didn’t remember hitting the ground nor did he remember crashing into the stands to where he now lay. He didn’t know what happened to his broom or his glasses. Harry heard movement around him and suddenly his glasses were being put on and Ginny’s worried anxious face came into focus. “Ginny?” Harry asked wearily. Ginny sighed and Harry saw tears forming in her eyes. “You’re okay?” Ginny questioned, her voice quivering in fear. “I think so,” Harry said, trying to sit up. “No Harry,” Ginny said, gently putting a hand on Harry’s chest forcing him to stay. “We don’t know badly you’re injured. Stay where you are.” “I’m fine,” Harry muttered, but Ginny’s hand was forcing him to stay down so he relented and gave up. “That was some catch Harry,” Woods voice came to him and Harry looked up to see him and the whole Gryffindor team surrounding him. He also saw Hermione, Ron, Neville, Percy and Dumbledore watching him carefully. “How many did we win by?” Harry asked. “How many points did you win by?” Ginny said hysterically. “Harry, you’re lucky you’re not dead after that fall. It doesn’t matter how many points you won by!” “The final score was four hundred and forty to one hundred,” Wood told him. “Which is excellent for the Quidditch cup. We’re in the lead by two hundred and forty points. Another big win against Hufflepuff and that cup is ours.” “Who cares about bloody Quidditch!” Ginny shouted at Wood and he looked gob smacked at Ginny. “It’s just a game. Nothing you should risk your life over.” “But I’m fine Ginny,” Harry told her. “What do you remember?” Dumbledore asked him. “Well, I remember being thrown of my broom,” Harry said, “and catching the Snitch.” “Do you remember hitting the ground?” Hermione asked. “No, but I probably got knocked out when I hit the ground,” Harry said. “No Harry,” Angelina said worriedly. “You were conscious after you hit stands. Even though it was only for a couple of seconds.” “He probably has concussion then,” Dumbledore said. “You were out for a good five minutes, Harry. Professor McGonagall has gone to fetch Madam Pomfrey and they should be here any minute.” “I’m not going to the Hospital Wing,” Harry growled out. “Harry please,” Ginny said. “If you have a concussion then it isn’t a bad idea if Madam Pomfrey checks you over.” “Fine,” Harry muttered, “but I am not staying in the Hospital Wing.” Ten minutes later, Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey marched out onto the pitch and Madam Pomfrey started to cast diagnostic spells on him. After ten minutes, Madam Pomfrey stopped. “I am very surprised,” Madam Pomfrey stated. “I suspected him to have at least a broken bone, and how Minerva described his fall I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had broken his spine or neck.” “He hasn’t though?” Ginny asked, scared. “No,” Madam Pomfrey said. “No broken bones or injuries. He might have concussion, though. What do you remember Mr Potter? “Everything until I hit the ground after I caught the Snitch,” Harry told her truthfully. “I don’t actually remember hitting the ground.” “Then you definitely have concussion,.” Madam Pomfrey told him. “I would normally suggest a nights stay in the Hospital Wing, but with you Potter I would suspect you to sneak out like last time.” Hermione, Ron and Neville looked at him, confused after hearing that last sentence. “If Ms Weasley makes sure that you rest and don’t do anything strenuous then I could probably let you back to the Gryffindor Tower. You’re not to do any homework though, not after your head injury. It’s rest for you. Don’t strain yourself. Ms Weasley, you’ll make sure he follows these rules?” Madam Pomfrey asked Ginny. “Of course,” Ginny said, nodding and he knew that Ginny meant it. Ginny helped Harry to his feet and they walked back to the changing rooms. “What did Madam Pomfrey mean by sneaking out like last time?” Hermione asked. Harry felt Ginny stiffen up and Harry racked his brains to think of something up. “I snuck out in the morning to come find you guys. Remember when I came to you in the library the next day?” “You had a massive head injury!” Hermione hissed out. “How can you be so dumb to sneak out of the hospital? What if something happened to you?” “It didn’t, though,” Harry reminded her. “That doesn’t mean it couldn’t have,” Hermione countered. “I can’t believe Madam Pomfrey is not making you go to the Hospital Wing this time, either. Ginny you’d better make sure he rests.” “Don’t worry,” Ginny said. “He doesn’t want to get on the wrong side of me, do you, Harry?” “No,” Harry said hurriedly. Once they trekked all their way up to the Gryffindor common room, Ginny let Harry go with Ron and Neville up to their dorm and bathroom for Harry to wash and get changed. Ginny also headed to her dorm to wash and get changed after kneeling down in the mud and half-carrying Harry up to the common room. Once they were all back down in the common room, Hermione told Ron and Neville that they should continue searching for the convict and asked Ginny if she was okay with looking after Harry. Ginny said she was and the three others headed out of the common room. Neville was the last one to leave, and just before he left he turned back to speak to the two of them quickly “Now Ginny,” Neville said. “Don’t enjoy playing nurse maid to Harry too much.” This caused to Ginny to blush as she glared at Neville, who was smirking joyfully. He turned to go, but stopped and turned back to them one last time. “And Harry. Don’t enjoy it too much, either.” Neville left hastily after that before either Harry or Ginny could curse Neville. “I can’t believe he said that,” Ginny muttered. “Yeah,” Harry agreed. “I think payback is in order soon.” “You’re not doing anything that will strain you too much, Harry,” Ginny scolded him. “You really like playing nurse maid don’t you?” Harry smirked, causing Ginny to hit him playfully. “Now, is that really looking after me?” Harry asked her and Ginny laughed. “Are you going to feed me grapes?” “Shut it you,” Ginny retorted, blushing more. “You know,” Harry said questionably, “you haven’t blushed in ages.” “I know,” Ginny said as the blush slowly started to ebb away. “And if you make another retort that makes me blush again, you’re dead.” “But you’re so cute when you blush,” Harry teased her. “Cute?” Ginny asked, questioning his choice of words. “You think I’m cute?” “When you blush,” Harry said, sticking his tongue out at her. Ginny hit him again, laughing while she was doing it. “Well, I’m not blushing for you again, Potter, so savour the moment.” “I am,” Harry said, getting up. “Come on, let’s go to the Room of Requirement.” “You need to rest,” Ginny said to him seriously. “And I’ll rest in the Room of Requirement,” Harry said, rolling his eyes. “It’s not like I can’t walk, Ginny. Or don’t you want another lesson.” “Fine,” Ginny said. “But I’m making sure you don’t over do it, Potter.” “Whatever you say, Weasley.” -oOoOoOoOo- Once they reached the Room of Requirement, Harry walked backward and forward before the door appeared that led them into their usual room for Ginny’s lessons. Harry, rather than leading her other to the sofa by the fire, he lead her to the open space to the right. “So, what are you going to teach me, Professor?” Ginny joked out. “I like the sound of that,” Harry said thoughtfully. “Whenever I’m teaching you here, you have to call me Professor Potter.” “The day I call you Professor Potter, Harry, is the day I let one of my brothers or you win an argument,” Ginny said defiantly. “Fine, no more lessons,” Harry said, starting to walk back to the sofa. “Teach me Potter!” Ginny demanded, grabbing his arm to stop him from moving. “Or what Weasley?” Harry said. “I’m going to fail my exams and not be here next year,” Ginny said. “Oh the joy,” Harry replied sarcastically. “I get to be free. Fine, I’ll teach you. On one condition, though.” “What?” Ginny said, eyeing him suspiciously. “You call me Professor Potter,” Harry said, smirking. This earned him another hit from Ginny. “Just start the bloody lesson, Potter,” Ginny told him. “Professor,” Harry remarked. However, after the glare Ginny sent him, Harry decided to start the lesson. “Okay, so I think I’m going to start teaching you how to defend yourself, although you don’t need too much of it because you already have the Bat-Bogey Hex. It’s actually…” “I don’t,” Ginny whispered, causing Harry to stop in mid-sentence. “What?” Harry asked, confused. “I don’t have the Bat-Bogey Hex,” Ginny said more clearly this time. “Of course you do,” Harry said. “Why wouldn’t you have it?” “I’m not powerful enough,” Ginny whispered. “Bull,” Harry said, shocking Ginny. “You’ve been able to do the Bat-Bogey Hex since you were eight.” “I know,” Ginny muttered “You really can’t do the Bat-Bogey Hex?” Harry asked, confused. Ginny shook her head. “You did it on the train ride here,” Harry said “I know,” Ginny said sadly. “Which is why I’m confused as to why I can’t now.” “When was the last time you tried it?” Harry asked her. “Just after Colin,” Ginny muttered. “You were distressed then, Ginny,” Harry told her. “Did you try again after you calmed down a bit?” “No,” Ginny said. “But I’ve been trying since September. I can’t do it, Harry. When I found it difficult to do the spells in class, I tried the Bat-Bogey Hex . I was confused because I couldn’t do the spells in class. So I tried the hex and I found I couldn’t do it.” “Hmm, and you haven’t tried since Colin?” Harry asked. Ginny shook her head. “Try again now. Go on, just try it again now for me.” “It won’t work,” Ginny muttered. “Just humour me,” Harry said. Ginny raised her wand and said, “Bates Mocos.” A tiny, dimly lit yellow light flashed out of Ginny’s wand and disappeared in an instant. Ginny sighed and turned to look at Harry. “Okay,” Harry said, folding his arms across his chest. “Now actually try. Do what I’ve taught you for the past month. Do it properly, take your time. And TRY. Do not expect to fail.” “It won’t work,” Ginny whispered. “That’s because you’re not caring and not concentrating,” Harry told her. “If you’re going to be like this, then I’m just wasting my time.” “No-one asked you teach me,” Ginny said, copying Harry’s stance of folding her arms against her chest. “Actually, you did,” Harry said. “Not two minutes ago. You want me to teach you, that’s fine Ginny. I love teaching you, but actually try, please, Ginny. Otherwise, you’re not going get any better.” “But I am trying,” Ginny moaned out. “When you did that spell,” Harry said to her. “Did you expect to cast it or expect to fail?” Ginny didn’t answer, but just hung her head. “That what I thought. Now try this time. Don’t expect to succeed easily; you need to put some effort into it. But don’t expect to fail.” “I’m sorry,” Ginny mumbled out. “I’m just worried about you. That’s all. You could have gotten seriously hurt this morning.” Sighing, Harry walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on top of Ginny’s. “I’m okay,” Harry told her gently. “Don’t worry about me, Ginny. A Quidditch injury isn’t going to stop little old me.” “You don’t get it,” Ginny whispered. “When I saw you hit the stands, I thought…I thought you might be dead. After that dive and the way you crashed into the stands…” Harry felt that a shudder from Ginny and realised that Ginny was crying. “…I thought I had lost you,” she added in a whisper. “I’m right here, Ginny,” Harry said, kissing the top of her head gently. “I won’t leave you. You mean too much to me.” Ginny turned and buried her face into Harry’s neck as she cried silently. Harry led her over to the sofa and sat down pulling Ginny down onto his lap. There he held her has she held onto to his neck, crying silently. “You know I won’t leave you,” Harry said to her. “You’ve got nothing to be afraid of.” “I can’t help it,” Ginny whispered. “Not when I feel like this about you.” “Like what Ginny?” Harry asked. “It doesn’t matter,” Ginny whispered. “It’s not important.” “It obviously is if it gets you worked up like this,” Harry told her gently. “Please Harry,” Ginny whispered. “Just leave it.” “Only if you really mean it,” Harry said to her. “But remember, you can always talk to me about anything. I’m here for you.” “I know,” Ginny said, sniffing slightly. “Come on, Gin. Wipe those tears,” Harry said running his hand up and down her arm slowly, trying to comfort her. “You’ve got your lesson to get back to.” “I’m not really in the mood at the moment,” Ginny said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. “Okay,” Harry said, understanding. “So what do you want to do?” “Can we just stay here?” Ginny asked, reburying her head into Harry’s neck. “Like this.” “Sure,” Harry agreed, leaning his head against Ginny’s. “No Problem.” And that’s where they stayed for the rest of the afternoon. Holding each other close, enjoying each other’s company, being relaxed and carefree. Just the two of them. Together. -oOoOoOoOo- Harry and Ginny walked down to dinner that night holding each other close. Harry had his arm around Ginny’s shoulders and Ginny lent slightly against him. Ginny had started to brighten up after she had finished crying. They didn’t do anymore to her lessons. They had just talked about what ever came up. Quidditch and pranks were the main topic of discussion. When they reached the Entrance Hall, Harry and Ginny consciously pulled apart from one another, although neither really wanted too. They just didn’t want Hermione to badger on at them with questions they didn’t really want to answer. Neither of them was blind, though. They both knew things were changing between them, even if they hadn’t talk about it yet. Just before they went through the doors, they heard a shout behind them and they turned to see the blond Slytherin they both hated with a passion strutting up to both of them. Crabbe and Goyle flanking either side. “So how’s Potter and his little Weaslette, then,” Malfoy sneered. “Shove of Malfoy,” Ginny said. “We’re not in the mood for your petty games.” “Since when did you develop an attitude, Weaslette?” Malfoy asked. “You’d better watch you mouth before you find yourself with a nasty curse.” “You harm her and you’re dead,” Harry told Malfoy. “Always playing the hero, Potter. Trying to protect you girlfriend,” Malfoy sneered. “I’m not scarred of you. Haven’t been for ages. You’re all talk and no action. You’re rubbish at everything. Rubbish at magic and rubbish at Quidditch.” “No he’s not,” Ginny argued heatedly. “Leave him, Ginny,” Harry said, putting a hand on her arm. “He’s just trying to wind us up because Gryffindor has taken the lead in the Quidditch cup.” “Oh yes,” Malfoy said. “Gryffindor in the lead of the Quidditch cup. I’m trembling in fear. You’ve played one more game than us, Potter. We’ll take it back next weekend.” “I have no doubt you will,” Harry said, turning to go. “But in no way are Slytherin going to win the cup. Not with you as Seeker, anyway.” “I’m a much better Seeker than you, Potter,” Malfoy sneered. “I very much doubt that,” Ginny said. “Who caught the Snitch in the first game of the season?” Draco drawled. “Only because Harry had a rogue Bludger after him trying to take his head off,” Ginny said. “Harry could beat you easily in a fair match. He’s a much better flyer than you.” “What ever you say Weaslette,” Malfoy said in a non-carrying voice and walked into the Great Hall. “I hate him,” Ginny whispered to Harry. “So do I,” Harry said, nodding. “But you gave me an idea.” “I did?” Ginny asked. “What?” “That’s for me to know and for you to find out later,” Harry said, taking Ginny’s hand unconsciously and started to pull her into the direction of the Great Hall. Ginny fell into step and together they walked into the Great Hall. Harry suddenly realised that they were holding hands so he let go, hoping no one had noticed. He heard Ginny sigh and was about to ask what was wrong, but Ginny started to walk towards the Gryffindor table so he filed away that question for later. When they reached their table, they sat down next to Neville and opposite Hermione and Ron. “How are you feeling?” Hermione asked Harry. “Fine,” Harry said. “Tired from the game, but fine. I’m glad I don’t need to do homework this weekend.” “Yeah, lucky you,” Ron muttered. “That was a close call Harry,” Hermione said. “And where have you two been? You weren’t in the common room when we dropped of some books we got out of the library.” “We just walked around the castle. Searching for hidden passage ways and stuff,” Ginny said. “I take it you didn’t find the Marauders Map at Christmas,” Neville commented. “No,” Harry said, shaking his head. Now that Neville had asked, Harry did wonder how Remus was doing with the map. They had been here for a month now. Harry took it that it was harder to change Ginny’s name than he first thought.” The answer to where the map was to came halfway through dinner when two owls came swooping down to the Gryffindor table. One owl dropped a letter in front of Hermione and the other dropped a piece of blank parchment and a letter for Harry. He instantly knew this was the map. Smiling, he ripped open the letter and read. Dear Harry. This is the map sorted out for you. I’m sorry it took so long. It was hard trying to get it to say for just Ginny’s name. However, her name now says Ginny Weasley on the map. I have also added in some instructions on the map on to how to modify it, in case you ever want Ginny’s name to go back to Potter. There are also instructions on how to add rooms and passageways to the map in case you find some that we old marauders didn’t find in our time at Hogwarts. Sirius said that’s very unlikely, but I believe you will find some more rooms. To get to the instructions just tap the parchment with your wand and say ‘I solemnly swear I want to add to the mischief.’ Instructions will then appear on how to add rooms and change people’s names if you want. I hope this is okay for you and maybe one day you will trust me in on the secret of why Ginny’s name was Potter. Your favourite Uncle, (because Sirius is too childish to be one.) Remus Harry smiled widely as he pocketed the letter. “Why did someone send you a bit of old parchment?” Ron asked, turning the Marauders Map over to see if something was written on the other side. “A bit of old parchment!” Fred said, startling the others as he sat down next to them “That isn’t just a bit of old parchment, Ron,” George said, sitting down at the table as well. Ginny eyed the two of them and then looked at the parchment and her eyes widened in understanding. “The Marauders Map!” Ginny said excitedly. “Sirius, Remus, and Jo managed to find it while they were doing some cleaning of Potter Manor,” Harry told her. “This will come in excellent use. Couldn’t come at a more perfect timing.” “Oh great,” Hermione muttered. “We know what that means.” “What?” Harry asked innocently. “You’re going to pull a prank,” Hermione stated. Ginny, Fred and George looked at Harry expectantly. “Maybe,” Harry said slowly, but that was enough for the other three. Fred and George hissed out yes while Ginny secretly squeezed Harry’s hand affectionately under the table. “I was so hopping you’d say that,” Ginny said, smiling her beautiful smile that Harry loved. “We’d better not eat any food tomorrow morning, then,” Neville said. “Don’t worry,” Harry said, as Ron looked horrified at the idea of not eating breakfast, “it’s not going to be the whole school, nor is it going to be any of you.” “Who then?” Fred asked. “Just wait and you’ll see,” Harry said. -oOoOoOoOo- After dinner Harry, Ginny, Fred and George headed up to the second year boys’ dormitory in the Gryffindor Tower. Harry brought out his chest from the second section of his trunk while Ginny took off the key that she hung around her neck with a piece of string. “So what’s the plan?” Fred said. “Who are we pranking?” George questioned in excitement. “Please let it be Malfoy,” Ginny said. “Can we do Snape and Lockhart as well?” Fred asked. “We are pranking two people,” Harry told them. “Malfoy and myself.” “Yourself?” Fred asked confused. “We understand Malfoy,” George said. “But why yourself?” “Simple reasons,” Harry said as he put back all trays of potions he got out back into the chest and then gave Ginny the two bottles of potion he wanted out of the chest. “One in mine and one in Malfoy’s drink,” Harry said to her. Ginny smirked. “This is going to be fun,” she said. “Can we prank other people, too?” “Not tomorrow,” Harry told her, “but soon.” “Can’t you prank me with this, too.” Ginny moaned out. “Please!” “It’s Sunday tomorrow. I might be able to get another two phials for us to use while the others are in the library.” Harry told her and Ginny flashed a grateful smile at him. “Can someone explain to us what that chest is?” Fred asked. “And why Ginny wants to drink a potion out of it?” George added. Harry and Ginny smirked at one another and then explained what the potion did. -oOoOoOoOo- Early the next morning Harry and Ginny sat in the empty common room together alone, eyeing the Marauder’s Map that lay out on the table in front of them. Fred and George were in the kitchen talking to a house elf, trying to persuade them to put the potion in the two drinks. “Do you think they will be able to get it in the drinks?” Ginny asked. “They managed to get some potions in the drinks and food at the beginning of the year.” Harry reminded her. “I wish they told us how they did it.” Harry added as he saw Fred and George leave the kitchens and start to head back to the common room to meet him and Ginny. “Persuade the house elf you mean?” Ginny asked. “I don’t know, but when it comes to Fred and George it could be anything.” Harry and Ginny tracked Fred and George back along the corridors with the map. Harry smiled when he looked at the Gryffindor common room and saw the name Ginny Weasley instead of Ginny Potter. He preferred her proper name, but she wasn’t quite ready to know that secret yet and he had desperately wanted to share the map with her. When Fred and George got back to the common room, other people in the tower were starting to move about. It wasn’t long before Hermione, Ron and Neville had joined them. While they headed down to breakfast, Ron and Neville pounded them with questions about what prank they had pulled. “You’ll see,” was the only reply they ever got. When the seven of them reached the Great Hall, Fred and George lead them to their usual seats and Harry sat down where they indicated him too. Ginny sat down next to him whilst Fred and George sat down opposite. Harry started eating while casting a discreet eye over the Slytherin table. Not five minutes later Malfoy strutted in and sat down, to the pleasure of Harry, Ginny, Fred and George, in his usual seat. Harry watched carefully Malfoy carefully as he ate. He hadn’t taken a drink yet, which annoyed Harry to no end. “Come on you git,” Ginny whispered next to him. “Bloody drink it.” “One would think you are enjoying this way too much Ginny,” Harry whispered. “One would be correct,” Ginny whispered. “I want him humiliated. He’s an idiot and a bully and should get his comeuppance.” “You know I could lose?” Harry said to her. “Yeah right, Harry.” Ginny said in a disbelieving tone. “Yes! He’s drunk it.” Harry whipped around to see Malfoy put his goblet down when it was empty, wipe his mouth with his sleeve and then go back to his food. Harry hastily grabbed his drink and gulped down the whole lot. “Thirsty?” Hermione asked. “No,” Harry said, smiling. “Just needed to drink that quickly.” Harry went to eat another piece of bacon, but he didn’t feel hungry anymore. Twenty seconds later, Harry started to feel bloated. Puffing out some air, he rubbed his stomach. “You okay?” Hermione asked. “Fine,” Harry said as he started to feel dizzy and light headed. “This is meant to happen.” “I’m jealous,” Ginny said, smirking. “I told you, you can have some later,” Harry said to her as Harry closed his eyes. This felt really, really, strange. “WHAT’S GOING ON?” Harry heard Malfoy shout out and Harry opened his eyes to see him starting to float up in the air. Harry smirked as he felt him too start to rise. Ginny smiled encouragingly at him before he left the table and her behind as he floated up into the air. “POTTER!” Malfoy shouted. “WHAT’S GOING ON?” “WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I KNOW!” Harry shouted back, acting just as confused as Malfoy was. Once Harry and Malfoy had stopped rising, there was a bang and a floating red ribbon appeared. The ribbon started to move and form words like last time. ‘It has come to our attention that there is currently a question mark over who is the best Seeker between Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy.’ ‘Therefore, The Ghost of The Marauders would like to challenge Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy to a flying race. The person to catch the Snitch wins.’ ‘Wild-Fire will release the Golden Snitch on our say. You will then wait before we give you the all clear to go chase the Snitch.’ ‘To be able to move about and fly, you use the same motions you would if you were swimming.’ ‘Wildfire, would you please release the Snitch.’ Harry watched as Ginny pulled out the Snitch from her pocket and muttered the spell to start it off before letting it go. Harry quickly cast a wandless invisible spell on the Snitch so no one could see that Ginny had released it. After ten seconds, Harry cancelled the spell and continued with the ribbon. ‘The Snitch has been released. You will both start searching for it after we have finished the count down.’ “What if we don’t want to do this?” Malfoy asked. ‘Then everyone will know you’re too chicken to go up against Harry fairly without a rogue Bludger chasing after him and we announce Harry the winner.’ ‘You start in ten.’ ‘Nine’ ‘Eight’ ‘Sev en’ ‘Six’ ‘Five’ ‘Four’ ‘Three’ ‘Two’ ‘One’ ‘ GO!’ Harry watched as Malfoy gingerly tried to move about in the air. Harry copied the same motions as him to start, but after ten seconds, he thought to himself to hell with it, and started to fly normally. If anyone asked, he would just say that he was an excellent swimmer. Malfoy watched Harry fly about searching for the Snitch and shrugged before he too started to fly about. They both searched for the Snitch for five minutes. ‘It couldn’t be that hard to find it.’ Harry thought to himself as he flew about, the Gryffindor table cheering him on and the Slytherins cheering on Malfoy. ‘This room is smaller than the Quidditch Pitch.’ It took Harry another ten minutes to find it before he dove down to where it had hidden by the Hufflepuff table. The Hufflepuff’s had to duck as Harry swooped down on them, outstretching his hand, trying to catch the Snitch. Harry was soon joined by Malfoy, neck and neck they flew after the Snitch. As it got to the end of the Ravenclaw table, the Snitch shot up flying towards the ceiling and Harry and Malfoy carefully started to fly upwards. They had to dodge beams as they got higher and Harry noticed the open gap where the owls came in. The Snitch was heading straight for it. If it went through that then the Snitch would be lost. On the other hand, he could mutter the spell to stop the Snitch from working. However, that would reveal that it was Harry’s Snitch and get him, as well as Ginny, Fred and George into serious trouble. Harry tried to close the gap down before it reached the gap. All of a sudden, to the shock of Harry and Malfoy the, Snitch zoomed downwards and Harry and Malfoy had to flip and dive downward fast. The Snitch was heading straight for the Gryffindor table. Then the Snitch darted upwards a little and zoomed of again around the hall. Harry started to close in on the Snitch with Malfoy on its tail. The Snitch was heading towards the head table and Harry tried to stretch out his arm to grasp his fingers around the Snitch. Both Malfoy and himself were getting closer to the Snitch. Harry and Malfoy’s elbows were knocking against each other’s as they both reached out for the golden ball. They were getting closer and closer to the staff table. Harry tried to stretch out a bit more and Harry felt the Snitch’s wings flap against his fingers. Harry started to kick his legs more ferociously as he came closer to the Snitch and his hand closed around the golden ball just as Malfoy made a grab for it. Harry heard the Gryffindor table roar with excitement, but Harry was concentrating far too much on the staff table getting rapidly closer to him. Both Harry and Malfoy had to soar upward as they both missed the table by inches, causing Snape, McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore to duck. As Harry and Malfoy relaxed after flying for twenty minutes in the air, another bang was heard and the red ribbon was back. ‘We would like to thank Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy for showing true sportsmanship and taking part in this prank.’ ‘I, Prince of Mischief, hereby declare Mr Harry James Potter the winner and the bragging rights of being the best Seeker in the school.’ ‘We would once again like to thank Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy and hope they enjoy the rest of their weekend. Good Day.’ “Oi,” Malfoy shouted at where the ribbon had just disappeared. “How are we meant to get down?” Harry tried not to freeze up whilst up in the air. He looked down at Ginny and the twins who show identically shock and confused faces. There was another bang as the red ribbon appeared once again ‘Ah! It seems that we have detected a slight…flaw… in our prank today.’ ‘The Prince of Mischief would like to apologise to Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy by saying that even though we do have an antidote for the weightless potions we spiked you with this morning. It would also mean revealing who we are and we would prefer not to receive detention.’ ‘Therefore, you will just have to wait until the potion wears off.’ “And how long is that?” Harry asked, continuing the act of him being as much in the dark as Malfoy was. ‘Technically...we don’t know, but it should wear out by the end of the day…we hope.’ ‘We hope you had fun and…well…see yah.’ “Oi,” Malfoy shouted out again. “Get us down!” However, the red ribbon didn’t return this time. Pretending to be grumpy at the fact that he had to stay up in the air until the potion wore off, Harry flew down to the Gryffindor table. It was only when he got there did he realise the Snitch still fluttering in his hand. With a bang, the red ribbon was back. ‘We are sorry to come back once again. But we realised that we forgot about the Snitch. Can Mr Potter please say the words, “Subsisto Volatilis” and then hold the Snitch out in his palm. “Subsisto Volatilis” Harry said and the golden Snitch stopped flapping about. Harry held out his hand, and then wandlessly cast an invisible spell on it. The Snitch vanished from view, but he could still feel the wait of the Snitch on his palm. ‘Thank you Mr Potter and have a good day’ After that sentence, the red ribbon vanished for good. Malfoy started to fly back to the Slytherin table while Harry flew the rest of the way back to the Gryffindors. “That was brilliant!” Ron exclaimed as Harry reached the table. Hermione opened her mouth to say something just as Dumbledore stood up from the heads table. “I would like to congratulate The Ghosts of the Marauders on a rather joyful prank. I would also like to say that I hope that their identities are not revealed as sadly, pranking is against the school rules and you would find yourself in detention,” Dumbledore announced. “For now, let’s get back to our breakfast.” “Come on,” Ginny said to the others. “Let’s get out of here.” The seven of them got up and walked out of the Great Hall while Harry flew above them. When they got to the Entrance Hall, Ginny led them up the stairs. Harry flew by Ginny and making sure no one was looking he un-cast the invisibility spell on the Snitch and slipped it into her pocket. Ginny flashed him another one of her smiles as she lead them to the fourth floor. “You guys going to the library?” Harry asked Hermione. “Yes,” she replied. “But I doubt we’re going to find anything. We can’t find them anywhere.” Harry wondered why Hermione was being so secretive about what they were looking for, but then he suddenly realised that Fred and George were still with them. While Hermione, Ron and Neville headed of to the library, Harry, Ginny, Fred and George walked up the stairs to the seventh floor corridor. When they got there, Fred and George headed of to the common room while Harry led Ginny towards the Room of Requirement. As soon as Harry and Ginny turned the corner so they no longer were in view of the twins, Ginny slipped her right hand into Harry’s left. “Here,” Ginny said, taking the Snitch out of her pocket and handing it to Harry. “This is yours.” “Thanks,” Harry said, taking it and putting it in his jacket pocket. “You okay?” “Fine,” Ginny said. “Not still worried about yesterday?” Harry asked her. “You’re here aren’t you?” Ginny said, smiling up at him. “That’s all that matters.” When they arrived at the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, Ginny walked backward and forward until the door appeared and she led Harry in. It wasn’t their usual classroom, though. It was a warm, sunny summer’s day out on a large cliff top over looking the beach below. “You promised we would get to do some flying.” Ginny answered his un-asked question. “Now give,” she added playfully, holding out her hand. “What makes you think I have the potion?” Harry said, flying upwards out of her reach. “Cause I felt it when I gave you the Snitch back.” Ginny smirked. “Can’t hide anything from you can I?” Harry joked out. “You should know that by now.” Ginny retorted as Harry handed her the potion and she downed it in one. Soon Ginny had floated up in the air and together they flew about the cliff top having the time of there lives. “Harry?” Ginny asked after an hour of flying. “Yes?” Harry replied, hovering next to her. “We should do this more often,” Ginny said. “We should,” Harry agreed. “It’s fun.” Ginny floated closer as she slipped her hand into his and for the rest of the morning they flew together around the cliff top and down along the beach hand in hand, enjoying the cold air against their faces. -oOoOoOoOo- It was three hours later when Harry felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach and guessed that the potion was wearing out. He let go of Ginny’s hand and flew to the ground, rubbing his stomach as Harry felt a loud burp coming. Harry was a couple of inches above the ground when he burped aloud and suddenly dropped to the ground. There he watched Ginny enjoy herself for the next ten minutes before she too burped out and fell next to Harry. “Enjoy yourself?” Harry asked her as she sat up. “We have to do that more often,” Ginny said, wiping some grass off her trousers. “We have the Snitch,” Harry reminded her. “We can ask for some brooms and fly about trying to catch it.” “Nah,” Ginny said as she moved closer to Harry and leant against him as Harry wrapped his arms around her waist. “I need to do some lessons. We didn’t do much yesterday.” “True,” Harry said as he closed his eyes and the scenery changed around them to their usual room. “So, we were doing the Bat-Bogey Hex?” Ginny asked, getting up and taking her wand out of her pocket. “You know you can do it Ginny,” Harry told her, getting up himself. “We just need you to do it so you know for definite that you don’t have any worries when you need to do it in real life.” Ginny nodded and headed over to the empty space where they practised the spells and Harry followed her. Harry gave Ginny a warm, encouraging smile as she got ready to cast her spell. “Remember,” Harry told her. “Calm, relaxed, focused.” “Right,” Ginny said as she closed her eyes. Harry saw her breathing to slow down and her body to relax. Ginny opened her eyes, raised her wand, and shouted clearly and decisively, “Bates Mocos.” A rather large, powerful yellow light flashed its way out of Ginny’s wand and raced its way across the room where it crashed into the wall sending bits of dust and stone about. Harry almost danced for joy as he walked over to Ginny as he saw a smile tug at her lips. “Remind me not to ever get on your bad side, Gin.” Harry said, snaking his arms around her waist. Ginny pocketed her wand and then put her hands over his, which now lay on her stomach. “I don’t think that’s even a possibility,” Ginny said, leaning against him. “That’s good,” Harry told her. “Because I don’t really want to be on the end of that.” “Don’t worry,” Ginny said, “You won’t be. Unless you do something really, really, bad.” “Good. Because I won’t,” Harry said and Ginny laughed. “Well, you did that once…” However, Ginny cut him off. Not with finishing the sentence, but simply raising her wand and casting the Bat-Bogey Hex again. Harry was quiet for second as Ginny turned in his arms to smirk up at Harry. “Well,” Harry said. “I think you got that spell sorted. Time to get on with the next one, I think.” “Yes,” Ginny agreed, still smirking. “I think so, too.” |
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