Chapter 2
"Er…good morning?"
Harry was going to have a bad day.
That's the thing about battling lunatic Dark Lords with God complexes. They tend to teach you a thing or two about bad days.
Hermione was glaring at him, and he noticed that he had swung an arm over her waist and had tangled his legs with hers, pinning her to the bed.
Looking up he noticed that Ron had turned a shade of not so flattering red. It concerned Harry that he was lying down while Ron, a very tall lad, was towering over him. As Ron's furious eyes flashed, Harry held back a small whimper. He would take Voldemort over the Weasly temper any day.
"Harry."
Harry turned his head to look at Hermione, failing to realize that he had yet to release her from his grip, and as soon as he looked into her eyes he forgot all about Ron and the whispered conversation between Dean and Seamus and…
"Harry! What! How! HERMIONE!?"
Hermione sighed, Ron always did overreact a bit, but instead of turning on him she looked expectantly at Harry also waiting for an explanation as to why she had woken up tangled up with him in his bed.
Harry was now turning a bright shade of pink, but he managed to stutter out an explanation.
"Well, you see…last night-`
"LAST NIGHT!?"
"-I found Hermione downstairs…uh… and I couldn't just leave her there….right?... so, so I brought her up here."
"THAT'S RICH! You don't really expect me to believe that do you!?"
"So Ronald." Harry could tell Hermione was offended but Ron, in his infinite wisdom, was still fuming and didn't care as he rambled on about betrayals and clichés.
"So. You would have left me to sleep alone in the common room? On the couch? What if McGonagall had caught me? Detention, for me. Or worse, what if there was another break in? You should be grateful I'm in Harry's bed, I could very well have been in the Forbidden Forrest! My, aren't you just the most chivalrous boy to walk these halls!"
"That's…besides the point…you…Harry….!" Ron still didn't notice he was fighting a long lost battle.
Harry started to relax again, but just as he closed his eyes a sharp slap on the side of the head alerted him to Hermione's presence. Or more specifically, her current position on his bed. She's so…soft…
"Um, Harry? I would really appreciate getting up now…" As her lovely, (Lovely?!) voice wrapped around his ears, he blushed and quickly let go of her so she could get up.
Ron was still blabbering in the background, but now seemed to be reduced to incoherent noises and ever so often "My Hermione…bed…git…"
"Sorry, I guess I should have woken you up…"
"Don't worry about it Harry." A small glimmer of hope made an appearance in Harry's mind, I won't get the riot act! Maybe she didn't mind, maybe…His sweet train of thought was interrupted by one of the frightening sentences Harry ever had the misfortune to hear, especially coming from the brightest most powerful witch of her age.
"We'll talk about it later." Hermione's tone was harsh enough to send chills up a Death Eater's spine but her face remained gentle and peaceful. Oh. Maybe I should ask Moody for some Polyjuice, or use the last of my Peruvian Powder? A first year wouldn't mind impersonating me I'm sure…
Suddenly, Harry sprang up out of his bed.
"GINNY!"
Ron stopped his ranting long enough to process the situation. He had found his `best mate' and the object of his affections in bed together, (while he was sleeping no more than ten feet away!), and now said mate was yelling his sister's name. He didn't know whom yet, but someone was going to be on the receiving end of a very nasty, well-practiced Bat-Bogey Hex.
Harry couldn't believe how thick he was. He had a plan to implement and he was sitting on his bed wondering about how best to avoid Hermione's wrath. Thinking that he had better get down to breakfast and give dear Gin what was coming to her, he grabbed Ron and pulled him along even as he protested profusely.
"Honestly Harry, you really think I want to go anywhere with you now? What are you doing? Oh yes, I'm just Ron the sidekick. I obviously am only meant to follow you around, wait are we going to breakfast?" Ron's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree; food was always a welcome commodity.
"Yes! Now shut it and listen to me. I need you to pretend to not hate me right now, Ron. It's important. You're the only one that can help." Harry prayed that Ron might still have some sense left in him; he could always let him beat him to a bloody pulp later.
"I want complete access to the Map and the Cloak. No questions asked." Ron smirked, as if he had achieved some great feat, comparable to not fainting in Aragog's presence.
"Fine! Now let's go, aren't you starving?" Knowing that the mention of food would distract Ron a bit he kept storming his way towards the Great Hall, frightening several small first years in the process.
Even if they had only been in school for two months, they had quickly learned that no one who got in the way of Harry Potter while he was on a mission (some had noticed most of these had to deal with Hermione in danger, but they kept that to themselves of course, no need to point out the obvious) and lived to tell the tale. Or didn't spend at least two weeks in the Hospital Wing.
As they burst into the Great Hall, Albus Dumbledore was watching Ginny Weasley quite curiously. He noticed the girl had a small plate of oatmeal next to her pumpkin juice, but hadn't touched since she had served herself.
Instead of investigating further the wise man merely chuckled and thought of various scenarios that could result from backfiring potions. His colleagues looked at him with a hint of concern in their eyes, this was the man who was representing all things good against the darkest lord in centuries? Dumbledore knew that people did not understand him, but he found that a nice long bath with his old Simon and Garfunkel records and his trusty rubber duck could cure most lonely spells.
"Hey Gin! Mind if we sit with you today?" Ginny's heart gave a few leaps as Harry sat opposite her with Ron, yet she failed to notice a mischievous glint in Harry's eyes.
As they were very late, there was not much food left on the table and they both ate away at their plates quite hungrily. Seeing Harry was done, Ginny pushed the plate of oatmeal towards him. Harry knew this was his only chance, and he took it.
"Harry, I saved you some oatmeal and it's still quite warm. Have it will you?"
"Sure Gin, thanks." Ginny couldn't help but notice Harry had given her a nickname and her heart fluttered, just as she was ready to proclaim victory, Harry did the unthinkable and pushed his plate towards Ron.
"Thanks mate, I was feeling a bit hungry…reckon I didn't have enough to eat." Harry snorted; the boy had eaten enough food to sustain Buckbeak for a week.
Before Ginny had time to react, Ron had inhaled (for there was no other explanation for how quickly the oatmeal had disappeared) the contents of the plate and was now gazing at Ginny in a sickly, adoring way.
"Ron? Are you alright?" Hermione had arrived just in time to process the scene. Harry was smirking just like Malfoy after he managed to get rid of Pansy for more than fifteen minutes, Ron was staring intently at his sister, and Ginny looked as if she was going to pass out.
"Oh, everything's fine Hermione. Right Ron?"
"Huh? Sure mate…whatever…say, Gingi-"
"I have to go! Classes you know, see you later Harry!" Ginny was nearing tears; she didn't really expect this to happen. She had to find a Ravenclaw, soon. She wasn't about to waste precious time researching in the library, and she couldn't ask her.
Harry was snickering madly, attracting curious stares from other students while Ron looked like someone had dropped a cauldron on his head. Dumbledore was still forming images in his mind, but he now had an idea of what was going on with that oatmeal. He really loved Hogwarts, so many desperate students, so much haywire magic, he just wished he could record it all for future enjoyment. Maybe he could ask the walls if they would mind having a few more spells placed on them…
Neville, who had been watching the whole debacle, was confused. Today was Saturday, why was Ginny going to class?
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