Unofficial Portkey Archive

"Harry!" Hermione cried as his knees buckled, colliding hard with the stone floor. "Are you all right?"

He felt her hand close on his arm and flinched away as his erection started to grow again, quickly and painfully. "Don't touch," he muttered, bending so he was curled in around his stomach. "Don't, please."

He heard her let out a soft noise that sounded like a whimper. "What's wrong?"

His stomach and abdomen were aching so much that he could barely catch his breath. "Hurts," he muttered, sagging onto his side, trying to catch his breath.

Even with his eyes shut, he could feel it when she leaned close to him. "I can levitate you back to your bed, if you'd like," she said quietly. "You can't lie here on this hard floor."

He couldn't answer. His body felt like it had diverted all of its stock of blood to his groin, so that he was light-headed even while lying on the floor, and every muscle in his body seemed to burn. To make matters worse, he could feel Hermione nearby. He could hear her soft breathing and smell the sweet scent of her shampoo. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and take her in his arms.

"Maybe I can help him," another voice said and he forced his eyes open to see Ginny leaning over him as well. She reached for him and, before he had the chance to protest, caught hold of his upper arm.

"Gin--," he started, but something remarkable happened, rendering him speechless. As her hands closed on his bare skin, his body responded in the exact opposite way he had expected. Instead of increasing his level of arousal, his erection actually started to wane. His once overheated skin seemed to cool at her touch.

She pulled on his arm. "Come on, Harry. I can't carry you."

He managed to stagger to his feet and she helped him toward the bedroom. After a few steps, though, he had to shake her hands off. His arms had erupted in gooseflesh and he was shivering as though he'd been dunked in ice water.

Hermione was hanging back by the bathroom door, watching him with wide eyes. She blushed as he turned to look at her. "Hermione?" he asked. "Aren't you coming?"

She shook her head, refusing to meet his eyes. "I-no. Ginny, would you mind staying with Harry for a little while? There are some things I need to do."

Ginny frowned, but nodded. "Of course. Come on, Harry."

"Hermione?" Harry said again, but she turned away, disappearing into the sitting room.

He followed Ginny into the bedroom and crawled into the bed, already feeling rather worn again. Ginny tried to help him with the covers, but he didn't want her to touch him again. Something about the idea seemed to repulse him.

He settled himself under the blankets and stretched out, his back to her. "Do you need anything?"

He shook his head. "No, but thank you."

She settled into the chair that Hermione had vacated. "If you do, just let me know."

"All right."

They both fell quiet and he shut his eyes, hoping to fall asleep again. Just as he was starting to doze off, Ginny spoke. "What do you think was bothering Hermione?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know."

"You must have some idea."

"Not really."

"You aren't just sick, are you?"

Harry didn't want to answer that question. He really didn't want to tell Ginny what was going on. In fact, he didn't really want to be talking to her at all.

This reaction surprised him. He liked Ginny. There had been a time, not so long ago, when he'd even been in love with her. Now, quite suddenly, he felt distinctly irritated just having her around. Too tired to contemplate that at the moment, he settled on trying to evade her question.

"I'm fine," he said quietly. "I'm just really tired."

She wouldn't be deterred. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"I heard you a little while ago. You were in here with Hermione and I have a pretty good idea what was going on."

He felt his cheeks color. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You were moaning. Both of you were moaning. And when Hermione came out of here, she looked like she'd been wrestling with an octopus. Were you two in bed together?"

He couldn't look at her, but he tried desperately to force some conviction into his tone. "In bed with her? Are you serious?"

"I'm not stupid, Harry. I know what I heard, and what I saw. You're attracted to her."

He sighed. "It's not what you think."

She laughed sourly. "Actually, in this case, I think I understand more than you do. I just need to hear it, Harry. Are you attracted to her?"

He swallowed hard, unable to face her. "Yes. But Ginny, it's the potion. It's not-"

He heard her chair scrape on the floor as she stood up. "Get some sleep, Harry," she said, her tone pained. He looked over to see her hurry out of the room.

That went well, he thought, dropping his head back onto the pillows. He wanted to be able to make sense of what was happening to him, but he couldn't. None of it made sense. Too much had happened, too quickly, and he fought to keep his mind blank until sleep finally took him two hours later.

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