Chapter 4: First Times
Halloween. Gryffindor House had pulled out all the stops for Seamus and Dean's costume party and it seemed as if everyone was mashed into the common room. Butterbeer was flowing, people were dancing, and someone had spiked the punch. A Wizard Wireless was blasting tunes over the noise of the costumed crowd. Harry had to laugh at the odd mix of costumes and his fellow students' originality. A seventh year boy transfigured his robes into armor and was clanking around and challenging people to duels like Sir Caddogan. Colin and Dennis Creevey had dressed as House Elves using "Spock" ears and nose putty from a muggle joke shop. Dean Thomas was dressed as Professor Snape and every time he saw Harry he stalked over and imitated Snape taking points off for Harry doing things like breathing. Ginny Weasley was voted as having the scariest costume. She had come as Professor Umbridge, complete with mousey brown wig and pink cardigan. When she completed the masquerade with a "Hem hem" the room exploded in gales of laughter. Ron was dressed as a Chudley Cannon, Hermione came as Gandalf (and spent half the night explaining she was not Dumbledor, "Honestly, don't you people read?"), and Harry, who had procrastinated and didn't come up with a costume until last minute, was dressed as a dementor. He had put a temporary levitation charm on his trainers so that he could glide when he moved. Unfortunately, it was also like walking on wet ice and Harry had to be careful when he moved or was bumped so that he would not fall.
The party was epic. Dean and Seamus' surprise turned out to be a small bottle of firewhiskey. They couldn't figure out how to lead just the sixth year students off for a quick shot so they eventually just added it to the punch. As the evening wore on, the older students had to keep levitating the unconscious younger students up into their dorms. The youngsters had dropped either from exhaustion or from too much punch. Dean, as Snape, had just drunkenly told off Harry for being too short and had docked him 50,000 points. Harry laughed as he turned and caught Parvati staring at him from across the room. She was dressed as a wood nymph. Her skin was tinted green to match the strategically shredded gossamer wrappings she was wearing. She'd left her hair free to fall in gentle curls over her shoulder. Harry continued to look at her as he walked over. He had cancelled the levitation charms earlier when Neville had sent him spinning across the room by clapping Harry on the back before Harry had braced himself. She watched him come. "Hey Harry. Who are you supposed to be?"
"I'm a dementor" Harry replied fuzzily. He took another sip of punch. He scowled at the taste realizing there was now more firewhiskey in the punch than punch.
"I guess I'd better watch out then", she teased, "or you might take me away to Azkaban."
"Only if you're naughty" Harry teased back.
"Well, you're too late. I've already been naughty" she giggled.
"If you were very naughty I might have to punish you here, you know" he said as he leaned closer. He could smell her perfume, floral with a hint of musk. He pulled his cowl back to stare into her dark eyes.
"Ooooh really? What are you going to do, hmmm?" she whispered as she leaned closer.
"Steal your soul" then his lips were on hers. The kiss was soft and tentative.
Parvati looked once again into Harry's eyes. "I've been naughtier than that" she challenged.
Their lips met again and parted. Hot tongues probed. Harry brought his hands to her slim waist. He pulled her against him and began to slide his hands around to her back when someone shouted, "Harry!"
Harry turned around. It was Ron. It was obvious he'd had too much punch. "Harry! Where's yer broom?"
"Upstairs, why?"
"'Cause we're gonna play Quidditch! Go get it!"
"Ron, it's the middle of the night."
"So? We'll fix it. Getcher broom. C'mon."
Harry laughed, "No. Ron we can't fly in the dark. How will we see the bludgers and quaffle to say nothing about finding the snitch?"
Ron flailed a hand in the air dismissively. "We'll fix it, I promise. Now getcher broom."
Harry looked around for a way to distract Ron. "Well, who else is playing?"
Ron started blearily at him for a moment. "What? Who else is playin'?" He turned unsteadily and pointed. "Neville'll play. Neville! Getcher broom!" Ron staggered off in pursuit of Neville. "We're playin' Quidditch!"
Harry turned back around but Parvati had left. He caught a glimpse of green disappearing up the stairs to the girls' dorm. Harry felt a tap on the shoulder. Oh what now? He turned around and blinked rapidly to bring Seamus into focus. "What's up?"
"Harry, help us with Ron"
Harry looked past Seamus scanning to see what Ron was up to now. "He's not still trying to get people to play Quiddich is he?"
Seamus laughed "No, he's passed out over there and Dean and I need help carrying his lanky ass back up to the dorm." Harry and Seamus each grabbed one of Ron's arms and Dean unsteadily carried Ron'e feet. They carried him up to their dorm room, dumped him unceremoniously onto his bed, and closed the curtains on him to muffle his snores. Harry then collapsed into his own bed. The room was spinning gently and Harry was reminded of his boat ride across the lake when he first arrived at Hogwarts. Harry fell asleep quickly and dreamed of soft skin that smelled of flowers.
The next day was one of the worst that Gryffindor House had seen in a long time. Few students made it in time for breakfast and of those even fewer were able to eat. It seemed as though the whole house was hung over. This fact did not escape the notice of the faculty, especially Professor Snape who had all of his classes brewing especially foul smelling concoctions composed of the most repugnant of ingredients. More than one Gryffindor raced out of Potions with a hand firmly clamped over their mouth. Snape smirked with delighted malice whenever this happened and gleefully gave out zeros to all the students that could not make it through class. He also assigned twice the usual homework. By lunchtime Harry's head was pounding. Many of his fellow Gryffindors had gone to see Madame Pomfrey by now but Harry was able to force down a sandwich he didn't taste and that seemed to help. When the day was finally over, Gryffindor's table in the Great Hall was mostly empty for dinner. Most of the students were still unable to deal with solid food and they had decided to go to bed early.
The first weekend in November was scheduled as the first trip to Hogsmede. That Saturday, Harry opened the curtains of his bed to see Ron sitting on his own bed facing Harry. Ron was shaking and pale. "You alright Ron?"
Ron looked up at Harry with the face of a man who had just been sentenced to life in Azkaban. "Remember what today is?" Ron asked. Seeing Harry's puzzled expression he continued "Hogsmede … ", Ron seemed unable to continue.
"And" Harry prompted when he finally remembered, "Oh that's right. Today's the `Big Date', right?" Ron looked up at Harry with dread in his eyes. He tried to speak but seemed unable to make a sound. "Look, Ron. Just relax. If you're that nervous, just pretend I didn't have permission to go to Hogsmede, just like third year, and you and Hermione are there checking the place out for me. I mean, it's not like you've never been alone with her before."
"That was different" Ron whined. "Oh Harry, I'm going to make a bloody fool of myself. I don't know what I was thinking." Ron looked up at Harry hopefully, "I don't suppose you could go down and tell Hermione I'm too sick to go, could you?"
Harry dressed as he answered. "I could, but I won't. `Cmon Ron. Don't do this to yourself. If she didn't want to be with you, she would never have said `yes' when you asked her to go. Now stop being a whiney prat and get dressed. I'll meet you at breakfast."
Harry went down to breakfast but Ron never showed. He was thinking of telling Hermione that Ron was sick but she didn't show up either. After a last piece of toast, Harry joined the line of students making their way to the Great Hall before setting out for the village. Ginny walked over from a group of fifth years. She smiled at Harry devilishly and asked "Well, where are they then?"
"I dunno", answered Harry. "If they don't come soon, they may not be able to go at all. You know how Filtch is".
"Do you think they chickened out?"
"No. Ron was a little nervous, but …" Harry stopped as he saw Ron and Hermione enter the Hall together. They both looked like Harry felt at the Yule Ball during his fourth year. Harry remembered the feeling that everyone was looking at him and talking about him, it was not a pleasant feeling. "There they are." Harry and Ginny walked over to greet them. "Well it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day" Harry said in greeting.
"Yeah" Ron said. Hermione just nodded. They both avoided looking anyone in the eye.
Ginny and Harry exchanged a look, then Ginny said "This ought to be good. Well, I'm off. See you all later". She then hurried back over to the other fifth years.
Harry turned back to Ron and Hermione, "Well I suppose I'll see you for dinner, then. Have a nice time." Relax Harry mouthed to Ron as Hermione turned away. He then joined the line of students exiting school.
Once in Hogsmeade, Harry went places he was sure not to bump into Ron and Hermione. He wasn't exactly avoiding them; he just wanted them to not worry about him and just have fun. They deserved it after all the studying they had been doing. So far, Ron had been true to his word and had been studying every night. Harry had joined them, of course, and he had to admit he was doing much better in his classes. Harry went to the Owl Post and sent off letters to Remus, Tonks, and the twins, Fred and George Weasley. He felt pangs of guilt and sorrow looking at the delivery owls because he knew the one person he wanted to write to most of all was well beyond the reach of any owl. From there, Harry wandered aimlessly around the edge of the village and eventually worked his way around to the Shrieking Shack.
Harry walked slowly towards the house. His eyes misted as he remembered the first time he was ever inside it. It was the first time he met Sirius. Harry took off his glasses and swiped irritably at his eyes. Damn it! That's twice today. He took a deep breath and looked around. Someone in black Hogwarts robes was coming towards him. He put his glasses back on and saw that it was Parvati. She was smiling as she approached. "Hey" Harry said.
"Hi Harry" she said as she looked into his eyes and smiled. "What are you doing way up here?"
"Just walking and thinking. Enjoying being outside. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was walking. You?"
"You walked right past me and Lavender and you looked kind of blue so I thought I'd try to cheer you up." She came closer to Harry.
A breeze caught a stray curl and blew it across her face. Harry reached up and pulled it away. She stepped closer and grabbed his hand. She paused for a moment, staring into his eyes. Then she pulled him to her and kissed him passionately. Harry's surprise was short lived as their kisses became more feverish. Harry wrapped his arms around Parvati and pulled her against him. His hands began to explore the curves beneath her robes as his tongue explored her hot mouth.
Parvati put her hands on Harry's chest and pushed him away breaking their kiss. "Wait. Do you think we could get inside?" she asked as she looked at the shack.
Harry looked at the shack and smiled, "Simple." Still smiling impishly, Parvati took Harry's hand once again and pulled him around to the back of the building.
Later that afternoon, Harry was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling with a goofy smile on his face. It was still too early for dinner and most of the other students visiting Hogsmeade had not returned yet. Harry was about to head down to the Great Hall to wait for his friends when Ron came bouncing into the room. "Well, well, well. Look at you. Had a good time then?"
"Awesome! Brilliant!" Ron laughed. "Harry, you should have seen us. We hardly said a word to each other all the way to the village we were so nervous. It was pathetic. Hermione said something about going to Honeydukes so we headed that way. While we were browsing through the sweets I kept thinking, `I wish Harry was here to help break this awkward silence'. I looked over at Hermione and when she forced a smile on her face, I knew. She was thinking the same thing I was! I ran out of the store so as not to make a complete prat of myself and Hermione followed me. Once I got to the street I couldn't stop laughing. I finally recovered enough to tell Hermione what was so funny and she started laughing too." Harry sat up and chuckled. "So there we are, in the middle of the street laughing like a pair of lunatics. Every time someone passed us and gave us a queer look, we looked at each other and just laughed harder. People must have thought we'd gone round the twist. Once we sobered up we went over to the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer and a long talk. After that we were totally relaxed and had a much better time."
"So I wasn't the only one having fun today. Good. I was worried about the two of you. Are you officially a couple now?"
Ron's eyes sparkled with merriment, "Nope."
Harry looked at his friend, "Well, you're going to see her again, another date I mean. Why are you shaking your head? What's so funny?"
Ron had his head in his hands as he sat on his own bed. His body was convulsing with silent laughter. "No, mate. We're not a couple and will not be going on any more dates," he said smiling.
Harry was puzzled, "And this is a good thing?"
"Yeah, it's a good thing. Listen, when we went to the Broomsticks we went to a quiet table and talked. I mean really talked. I think it had to be the longest conversation we'd ever had about something besides you. We talked about everything. Life here at Hogwarts, life after Hogwarts, what our jobs would be, who we would try to keep in touch with, you know. It was very deep. It was … illuminating". Ron smiled, "That's what Hermione called it, `illuminating'. We talked about how we felt about each other. You know, I don't think I ever really thought about how I felt for Hermione until just then. I mean I knew I had feelings for her, I just never thought about it long enough to identify those feelings" Ron lowered himself onto his side and propped up on one elbow. He paused for a moment, obviously remembering the conversation.
Harry leaned forward impatiently, "And?" he prompted.
Ron looked at him and continued, "Well, when I really thought about how I felt about Hermione, I realized that I loved her but that I'm not in love with her. Know what I mean?"
"I know exactly what you mean," Harry said thinking of Ginny. "What about Hermione, how does she feel about you?"
"Well, she always felt we were friends, you know. She was willing to see if it could develop into something else but after our talk we realized that right now romance is out of the question."
Harry smiled then and asked, "So you're friends then?"
"Right. Best friends even." Ron sat up. "So, you said you'd had a good time. What did you do?"
Harry looked out the dorm window and told Ron about his travels through Hogsmeade. When he came to the part about the Shrieking Shack and Parvati, he looked back to see Ron staring at him intently.
"So," prompted Ron as Harry paused. "What happened inside the shack?"
Harry blushed and Ron leaned forward eagerly. Harry took a deep breath and told Ron that once inside, he and Parvati couldn't keep their hands off each other. Robes and other bits of restrictive clothing were quickly removed as they continued kissing. Ron began chuckling softly as Harry continued. When he told Ron that Parvati had dropped to her knees and opened his trousers, Ron was staring openmouthed at him. Harry knew he was blushing. In fact, he was sure that if he had looked in a mirror right then his face would have been redder than Ron's hair. Harry paused trying to think how to express what happened next.
Ron seemed to snap out of a trance. "She didn't …" he began.
Harry nodded, "She did."
Ron fell back on his bed with a whoop of laughter. He quickly righted himself and looked at Harry who was still blushing furiously. "How was she?" Ron asked with a devilish grin.
Harry looked at him with an embarrassed smile and said, "Brilliant."
"You dog! It's always the quiet ones. You and Parvati, I never would have guessed." Ron cast a sly look at Harry. "Does anyone else know?"
"I didn't tell anyone but you." Suddenly Harry's eyes widened. "Ron, don't say anything to anyone, alright?"
"Huh? Why not? This is big news, Harry. Big, big news! Tremendous!"
"C'mon Ron! I get enough people talking about me behind my back as it is. The last thing I want is you adding fuel to the fire. What happened was just between Parvati and me and that's how I want to keep it for now, OK?"
Ron gave him a calculating look before nodding. Then he said, "Is it time for dinner, yet? I'm starving!"