It had been more than two weeks since the date, and Harry was relieved that he didn’t have to
worry about another date until almost Halloween. In the meantime, he’d been practicing
enlarging and shrinking his hands and feet. It was strange to watch, and required a lot of
concentration. He was still quite slow at it.
He had run into Cho Chang a couple of times since the date, but each time she looked the other
way, and Harry was starting to wonder if he’d blown it. How could they fix up Viktor and Cho
if she wouldn’t go out with him?
It was Wednesday, and they had just finished their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. It had
been Harry’s turn to read his essay on Hamlet; he had been quite nervous about it, but Moody
seemed to think he’d done well. Hermione had smiled encouragingly at him, all the while, but
then, she’d already read it three times, not to mention five earlier drafts. Ron had yet to do his
Othello essay; it was written, but he had refused to show it to Harry and Hermione. “You’ll
hear it when everyone else does,” is all he would say.
When they were back in the common room after class, Harry said to Hermione, “I have to talk
to you.” He walked over to the fireplace and Ron started to follow, but Hermione put her hand
out to stop him.
“He said he wants to talk to me, Ron.”
Harry looked back and forth between them. “Ohdon’t worry, Hermione. Ron can hear. It’s
notwell, anyway, come over here, both of you.” Once they were in the armchairs near the fire,
Harry looked down at his hands, unable to look at Hermione. “I’m afraid I’ve botched it all up.
With Cho. So we’re going to have to come up with a different plan to deal with Viktor because
I’m a stupid prat.” He looked up at her, into her extremely surprised and confused face.
“Harrywhat are you on about?”
So he explained that Cho was giving him the cold shoulder, and Hermione asked, “When did it
start? How often have you met with her since we went out? Did she seem distant when you
kissed her at the end of the date?”
Harry looked stunned by the barrage of questions. “II” he stammered. “I haven’t gotten
together with her at all since the date. Andwe didn’t kiss after the date. I shook her hand.”
“WHAT?” Hermione cried, making everyone else in the common room look at her. Hermione
cleared her throat her and tried to calm down. Ginny came over and sat in the fourth chair.
“What’s going on?”
“Ginnygood, we need another woman’s point of view. If you went on a date with Harry, and
instead of kissing you when it was over he shook your hand, and then he didn’t talk to you for
more than two weeks afterward, what would you think?”
Ginny looked at Harry, then away. He couldn’t help thinking that he would never behave that way toward her
“Well,” she said softly, “I suppose I’d think that he thought I had some sort of disease.”
“Thank you!” Hermione was triumphant.
“What I’d think if you went out with Ginny and did that is that maybe you’d decided you
wanted to go on living after all,” said Ron in a snarl. Harry scowled.
“We’re getting off track,” Hermione sounded irritated. “Be the overbearing big brother some
other time, Ron. Right now we have to repair the damage Harry’s done.” She looked thoughtful
for a moment, perplexed. “I can’t understand why I never noticed you two didn’t kiss...”
“Well,” Harry said, clearing his throat, “you and Viktor were somewhatpreoccupied.”
“Are you sure you want to break up with Viktor Krum?” Ginny said with a smile curling around
her lips; Harry thought Hermione might be trying to kill her just by glaring at her.
“Yes,” Hermione said emphatically. “I needed to make sure he wouldn’t suspect anything yet.
Butnext time, Ron if you could be waiting in the entrance hall, and look really frantic when we
come back, and say the headmaster wants to see us immediately, then we could both make a
clean getawayand then the two of them would be left alone...”
Ron nodded and saluted. “Aye, aye. Will do.” Harry held in a comment about how eager Ron
was to perform this service.
“And you,” she said to Harry, still very much in charge. “Come with me.” She went over to an
empty table and took out her parchment, a quill and an ink bottle. Ron and Ginny followed.
“Now,” she said once he was seated and holding the quill poised over the parchment. “Write
what I say.” And so he wrote:
Dear Cho,
I’m sorry I’ve been such a prat. I really enjoyed our date and I’m looking forward to the
next one a great deal. I’ve never dated before and I was extremely nervous. I kept
meaning to talk to you since we went out, but the words I want to say always seem to
leave me as soon as I see you. Most of all, I’m afraid that my behavior at the end of the
date might have given you the impression that I’m no longer interested in you. Quite the
opposite.
I know you’ll be pretty busy during the next few days getting ready for the Quidditch
match with Hufflepuff, but perhaps after you win the game (as I know you will) we can
meet in the stands and pretend we’re at the end of our date again, and do it properly this
time. Again, I hope you’ll forgive my stupidity; when I’m around you, my brain doesn’t
seem to work quite properly.
Affectionately,
Harry
“Do we have to put that bit in about ‘stupidity’ and me being a prat?”
“Hey, those are your words; just a minute ago you said, ‘I’m a stupid prat.’ And the answer is
yes, it’s endearingly self-effacing.” Hermione sounded very official. Harry grimaced.
“And what does this bit here mean about doing it properly this time?”
She looked at him with one eyebrow raised. “What do you think?” She watched his face as he
furrowed his brow. Then suddenly his bright green eyes went wide and she laughed. “There it
is...”
“NO.”
“Harry! You have to.”
“Hermione! You are having me write a note to her saying, ‘Meet me after the match to do some snogging.’”
She shrugged. “So?”
“SO?”
“Harrythis is the plan. Remember?”
He looked down at the parchment and sighed. He thought of her being abducted in Bulgaria,
wondering about the lost time, wondering whether she could trust Viktor at all. “I suppose I
should take this up to Hedwig,” he said heavily.
Hermione nodded, having won. “Good. I’m glad you see it my way. Now, I have some
Arithmancy work to do,” and she took out her books and sat down at the same table. Harry
rolled up the parchment and turned to go. Ron went up to the boys’ dorm, looking over his
shoulder at Hermione once before ascending the stairs.
As he was climbing out of the portrait hole with the letter, he heard footsteps behind him. It was
Ginny. She didn’t say anything, and neither did Harry. They walked silently up to the Owlery
together. Ginny still said nothing as he grimly tied the note to Hedwig’s leg and watched her fly
out the window. However, as soon as she was irretrievably gone, Harry was at the window,
yelling, “Hedwig! Wait! Come back!” But it was too late.
“Oh, Ginny, what have I done?” he cried, anguished. “I don’t know anything about dating, let
alone a girl who’s older than me. I can’t do this, I can’t”
“Harry! don’t worry”
“Don’t worry! How can I not worry? She’s already thinking I’m a rude, insensitive git, and
writing her a letter is supposed to fix that? Not to mention, I’m going to have to pretend I want
to kiss her, when it’s pretty much the last thing in the world I want to do, other than kissing
Snape or Malfoy”
“HARRY!” Ginny yelled, grabbing his wrists. He looked dazed, tried to focus on her. “Harry,”
she said, smiling now, looking almost like she was trying not to laugh. “I’ve never heard you
babble before.”
“Yeah, well, it’s my new language. Babblish.” Then, in spite of himself, Harry cracked a smile,
and then laughed outright. Ginny laughed now too, letting go of him and putting her hands up to
her mouth. Harry leaned against the wall and just let loose, laughing so hard that his eyes started
watering. Ginny held her stomach, laughing breathlessly, then tried to talk, panting.
“Oh, oh, I’ve got a stitch in my side” she said, leaning against the wall next to him. Gradually,
they both quieted and just stood against the wall beside each other, staring into space. Harry
had a sudden vision of grabbing her and spinning her around, as he’d done before, then doing
something he hadn’t before, bringing his lips to hers...
“You know,” Ginny said suddenly (at least it seemed sudden to Harry), “you look really nice
when you’re laughing like that.”
He turned and looked at her. “You look nice all the time,” he said softly, moving his eyes over
her thin face, the sprinkling of freckles over her nose, her deep brown eyes, her beautiful flaming
hair framing her face...
Ginny’s eyes went very wide, and she looked almost frightened. After a prolonged silence, she
said quietly, “Well, Harry, I don’t think you have to worry about Cho.” She walked toward the
door. “I think she knows that almost any girl at Hogwarts would want to be in her shoes...”
Harry didn’t move. “Almost?” he smiled. Ginny blushed.
“You know me. I like to be original. Don’t go along with the crowd.” He got her meaning, but it
made him feel as though there were a hand crushing his heart.
“Well. That would explain you calling Draco Malfoy your friend.” He went past her, toward the
door. His voice sounded rather harder than he had meant it to.
“Harry” he heard her say in a conciliatory tone behind him. He stopped and spoke with his
back to her still, not wanting to look at her.
“I don’t trust him Ginny. Rememberbecause of his father, you almost died, and I had to kill a
basilisk at the age of twelve.”
“He’s not his father.”
“We’ll see,” was all he trusted himself to say, before he left, walking away from her as quickly
as he could. So, he thought. She’s over me. Figures. Just as I notice how beautiful she is, what a
great person she is...
He tried to shake his head, put her out of his mind, but it seemed that the more he tried, the
more he thought of her, so that even when he closed his eyes, what he was most likely to see
was Ginny Weasley’s face.
* * * * *
Harry received no answer to his letter to Cho Thursday morning when the post owls came flying
into the Great Hall at breakfast. He glanced over at the Ravenclaw table, but neither Cho nor
any of her friends took any notice of him.
Hermione was sitting between Harry and Ron. Speaking in a low voice, between bites of toast,
she informed them, “We need to confront Hagrid today about the geese. We’ve put it off too
long.” They were scheduled to go to Care of Magical Creatures right after breakfast.
“What if he doesn’t want to tell us?” Ron said. “What if he just refuses?”
Hermione shrugged. “We’ve gotten information from him before without his meaning to give it;
remember Nicolas Flamel?”
They finished breakfast and shouldered their bags, leaving the castle and walking down to
Hagrid’s hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest with the rest of the fifth-year Gryffindors and
Slytherins. When they arrived, Hagrid was very excited.
“One o’ the geese has laid the golden egg!” he informed them all once they’d assembled.
“Now, each o’ yeh look and see whose it is!”
One by one, they picked their way through the fenced-in yard, practically carpeted with large
flattened, smelly piles of goose dung (which not everyone managed to avoid) and inspected their
geese and the straw bed each one habitually used. No one seemed to have a goose that had laid
an egg at all, let alone a golden one. Finally, Malfoy, grimacing distastefully the entire time,
reached his surly goose, picked her up awkwardly to look under her, and then almost dropped
her in shock when he found her sitting on a large, blindingly gold egg.
“I’ve got it!” he yelled triumphantly. “I’ve got the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg!” However,
just at that moment, his goose got tired of being held in his untutored grasp and started flapping
her wings in his face, causing him to lose his grip, but not before she let fly an impressively-sized
collection of goose droppings all over his shoes and the front of his beautiful robes with their
silver prefect badge.
The goose droppings were not made of gold.
“Don’t drop ‘er!” bellowed Hagrid, striding over to Malfoy and seizing the goose. “Ye’ll hurt
‘er!”
“I’ll hurt her?” Malfoy replied, incredulous. Harry had to admit, he looked a lot worse off than
the goose. Malfoy never seemed to do well in Care of Magical Creatures; Harry strongly
suspected that he regarded it with the same distaste with which Harry regarded Potions. His robes and shoes were probably completely ruined.
Irritated, Hermione picked her way through the goose dung. She waved her wand casually at
Malfoy’s robes and shoes, and said tiredly, “Purgario. Honestly. Doesn’t anyone around here
know a simple cleaning charm?” Malfoy’s clothing was pristine once more, he saw with shock.
“Um, thanks Granger,” he said awkwardly. He’d actually managed to be fairly civil to
Hermione since the Hogsmeade date, and Harry had wondered about Ginny’s theory about
why Malfoy seemed to usually go out of his way to insult Hermione. Now in her debt, he
looked even more ill at ease than when he’d been covered with goose droppings.
“Right!” Hagrid bellowed, coming over to take the gold egg. “And as the winner, ye get a gift
certificate fer a free lunch at the Three Broomsticksnot including butterbeer,” Hagrid told him,
handing him a piece of parchment with the Three Broomsticks logo prominently displayed at the
top.
“What?” Malfoy sputtered. “That egg’s got to be worth more than a bloody lunch!”
“It was just the luck of the draw, Malfoy. Be grateful fer what ye got. Now, you lot, clean up
this yard, feed yer geese, and yeh can go early. Next we’ll be starting in on two creatures which
each have ter do with yer houses; we’ll do one in honor of Slytherin first, and then Gryffindor.”
“Well,” Ron said in an aside to Harry as they used Hermione’s cleaning charm to remove the
goose dung from the yard, “it’s obvious what that’ll be, isn’t it? First a snake, then a lion.”
“I suppose,” Harry said, “but how is the lion going to be magical? I mean, I’ve read a good bit
of the book Sirius gave me about snakes and magic, and I can see the point of thatalthough all
of the spells I’ve seen so far seem like borderline dark magicbut, a lion?” Harry was
especially curious about this since he’d decided to choose a lion for his Animagus
transformation.
While the others were cleaning up the yard using Hermione’s cleaning charm and caring for the
geese (who were busily trying to cover the ground with goose droppings again) Harry, Ron and
Hermione came over to Hagrid.
“So,” Hermione began in a low voice, “where’d you get the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg,
Hagrid?”
He looked shifty-eyed. “On me summer travels.”
“Get anything else? A harp? Some magic beans, perhaps...?” Hermione went on fishing. Hagrid
smiled.
“Ye’ve figured it all out, have ye Hermione?” She blushed and looked down. “Well, you three
stay when the others are done, before yer next lesson. There’s someone I’ve been meaning fer
yeh ter meet.” He disappeared around the back of his hut, and they returned to the yard to help
with the cleaning.
When the Slytherins and the other Gryffindors moved off to have some free time before
Herbology, Harry, Ron and Hermione stayed behind with Hagrid. He took them around behind
his hut, then told them to leave their bags there before going into the Forbidden Forest. This
wasn’t the first time Harry and Ron had been in the forest; they’d had a harrowing encounter
with Aragog, a giant spider who was actually friends with Hagrid (although he was still planning
to eat them until they were rescued by Ron’s father’s magic car, which had gone into the forest
and become wild). Harry had also been in the forest once with Hermione and Neville
Longbottom and Draco Malfoy when they’d all had detention during their first year. Harry never
exactly looked forward to going into the forest; he felt it was forbidden for many excellent
reasons.
Hagrid walked ahead of them with his boarhound, Fang, while Harry, Ron and Hermione
followed, wands out (Hagrid didn’t notice this). They walked far enough into the forest that
when Harry looked behind him, he had trouble seeing through the trees to the rest of the school
grounds. Looking ahead, he wondered where Hagrid could be taking them. Since they were
being taken into the forest by a teacher, they couldn’t technically get into trouble for breaking
the rule against going into the forest, but they could get into trouble by running into some of the
more unpleasant residents of the forest.
Finally Hagrid stopped. “Here we are. Yeh can finally meet ‘er.”
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked around at the trees that were still everywhere. Her? Her
who? Then Hermione, shaking, put her left hand on Harry’s right arm and her right hand, still
holding her wand, on Ron’s left arm. “Look up,” she whispered.
Harry and Ron tipped their heads back, as Hermione was doing, and realized that what they
had thought were two very sturdy, large trees were actually a person’s legs swathed in a rough
brown material that was serving as a kind of hosiery; the legs disappeared into a greenish kneelength
dress (the hem was about seven feet off the ground) and the head of the person in front of
them had to be a good twenty feet off the ground. Oddly, when he looked up into her face,
Harry saw what Hagrid had looked like as a child (he’d seen a picture), without his whiskers,
but with longer hair and a slight feminine softening of the features, now rather wrinkled and lined.
“Meet me Mum, Fridwulfa!” he declared gleefully, waving his large hands. Standing about ten
feet tall, Harry had always thought that Hagrid was plenty big, but now, meeting his full-giant
mother, Harry thought of ‘big’ in a whole new light. “Mummeet”
“Oh!” his mother cried, hurting their ears. Hagrid shushed her, so she whispered after that
(whispering for her was louder than shouting for most people). “You must be the little girl my
Rubeus said figured it all out! Dead smart, ‘e says you are...” And with that, she reached out
and picked Hermione up around her middle, making her scream shrilly, with a pitch and
longevity that Harry had never heard from her before. He was afraid that rather than being just
‘dead smart’ Hermione would simply wind up dead.
“You put her down!” Ron screamed, brandishing his wand at her. “I’llI”ll” but Ron seemed
to be at a loss for the right hex to put on someone holding a human being fifteen feet in the air;
he didn’t want her to drop Hermione.
“Oh,” she said again, softly (for her). “Sorry.” She set Hermione down again slightly in front of
Harry and Ron; she sagged and Ron picked her up quickly, scooping one arm underneath her
knees and the other around her back, cradling her; Harry was surprised, he made it look so
easy. Ron usually looked rather lacking in muscles. Hermione pillowed her head on his chest,
looking shell-shocked and as if she were on the verge of gibbering.
“Don’t do that again!” Ron yelled up angrily at Hagrid’s mother, holding Hermione closely.
She frowned, which worried Harry, as he felt her behavior to be a bit unpredictable. He
remembered Ron telling him at the Yule Ball the previous year that giants were just vicious.
They just liked to kill. He thought a little diplomacy couldn’t hurt.
“Uh, what he meant was, it’s polite to ask someone first if they want to be picked up.”
“Oh, look at you! I bet I know who you are...” and here came her hand again. Harry braced
himself, his eyes closed, but then nothing happened. He opened them again and looked up at
her. She was leaning over, her hand poised to pick up Harry. “May I?” she asked extremely
politely. Harry was unsure whether she was mocking him. He nodded and steeled himself for
being tightly squeezed around the middle. But she was actually quite gentle with him; she had him straddle her index finger somewhat like a broomstick, holding onto her thumb to keep his
balance.
“Those eyes, that scaryou must be ‘Arry Potter!”
He tried to feebly smile while simultaneously trying to keep his balance and not spew his
breakfast all over her hand. “I must be...” he trailed off feebly.
“Rubeus ‘as told me so much about you!” Harry had gotten slightly gushy responses before
from people in the magical world who knew who he was, but never anyone quite so intimidating
as Hagrid’s mother.
“She was mighty impressed, mum was, when I told ‘er what good friends we is,” said Hagrid.
“Yes, well,” Harry said articulately. He looked down; the earth seemed a long way down, and
he felt his stomach move uncomfortably inside him as she moved her hand casually. He never
felt sick when riding a broomstick, but then he was the one in control of his Firebolt. “Actually,”
he said, trying to keep his voice even, “if it’s all the same to you, I think I’d like to go back
down now.” He swallowed a mouthful of stomach acid.
“All right, dear. ‘Ere ye go.” And she lowered him gently to the ground again. Hermione had
convinced Ron that she could stand up again, but she was white as a ghost; all signs of her
summer tan were gone. When Harry arrived back down on the ground again, she gave an
inarticulate cry and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. He patted her back
quickly.
“I’m all right,” he said softly. “It’s okay.” He saw Ron’s face and swiftly took her arms from
around him and looked her in the eye. “Get a grip,” he whispered.
She looked at him, actually starting to smile a little. “You should talk. Your face is green.”
He swallowed again. “I was starting to relive my bacon and eggs from breakfast.”
Ron came over then, and Hagrid spoke again. “Mum has convinced about ‘alf o’ the British
expatriate giants to come over ter our side. The goose was a goodwill gesture from their leaderin-
exile.”
Hermione looked pleased at having guessed correctly on this. But Harry was concerned about
something else. “Only half? What about the rest?”
“Oh, well,” Hagrid’s mother hesitated. “The rest of the ex-pats are still a bit upset about their
exile. But I don’t think they want ter support You-Know-Who. They just want to stay in the
mountains o’ Georgia an’ Ukraine an’ not be bothered with what’s happenin’ in the rest o’ the
world. Well, most of ‘em, anyway...” And did they want to support Voldemort? Harry
wondered.
“Mum’s goin’ ter stay ‘ere fer a while. Dumbledore figured the forest at Hogwarts’d be a pretty
safe place for ‘er. Plus some friends of ‘ers’ll be showin’ up soon.”
“Um,” Ron started, “how many friends?”
“Oh,” she said thoughtfully, “six or seven.”
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other with alarmed expressions. Six or seven giants
would be living on the grounds of Hogwarts? That sounded like possibly more trouble than
Hagrid trying to raise a dragon in his one-room wooden hut.
“Well,” Harry said, checking his watch, “it was nice to meet you, but we’d better be getting to
our next lesson. I’m sure we’ll be seeing you again.”
“All right. You run along now and be a good girl and boys. Listen to yer teachers!”
“Yes ma’am,” they mumbled, raising their hands in a farewell (they finally decided to put away
their wands). Hagrid led them out of the forest once more; they were all still a little shaky in the legs from the encounter with his mother. Harry had had no idea what it would be like to
confront someone that large. And she was friendly. Confronting an unfriendly giant was
something he didn’t even want to think about.
* * * * *
At breakfast on Saturday morning, Harry finally got an owl from Cho with a note:
Harry
I will meet you in the stands after the match.
Cho
Ron sat between Harry and Hermione, reading over Harry’s arm. “Not exactly a mushy gushy
love note, is it?” Ron said.
“Why would it be? He’s been beastly to her. That was supposed to be the latter part of the
plan, Harry,” Hermione informed him, just a little snidely.
“Yeah, yeah. I screwed up. Are we done with the Harry-bashing now?”
“Just make sure you two have a good snog,” Ron told him. “And then tell me all about it.”
Harry and Hermione each punched him on his right and left arms at the same time. “Hey! Ow!
Just kidding!”
“A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell,” Hermione began, but Ron interrupted her.
“Well, since this is Harry we’re talking about, I thoughthey!” he yelled as they both punched
his arms again.
Harry laughed. “C’mon. We need to get our Quidditch practice in this morning, since the match
is after lunch.” He rose, picking up his Quidditch robes and broom, as did the other members of
the Gryffindor team. Hermione walked with them to the entrance hall and then went up the steps
towards the library. Harry started out the door with the others, then thrust his robes and broom
at Ron, saying, “I just remembered something. Take my stuff. I’ll be right there.” Ron took
Harry’s things and left with the others.
Harry sprinted up the stairs, catching up with Hermione easily. “Hermione! I have to talk to
you...”
She turned with a surprised look. “Oh! Welllet’s go in here,” she said, leading him into the
Charms classroom. Harry paced back and forth, unsure of how to start. After a few minutes of
this, Hermione was getting impatient. “Is there something you actually wanted to talk about,
Harry, or was I just supposed to watch you pace all morning?”
He finally stopped and faced her. “I can’t go through with it. Cho. This afternoon. I can’t. I
have no idea what I’m doing. It’ll just be worse than before. She’ll think I’m a complete idiot.”
Hermione smiled at him; great, he thought. She thinks this is funny.
“Oh, Harry. You’re just nervous. Here: I’ll show you everything you need to know.”
Hermione walked up to him and stood a mere inch away. Harry could feel the warmth of her
body. She was wearing a very form-fitting blue sweater and some jeans. She took his left hand
and moved it to the small of her back, making him think this was some kind of dance lesson,
then she put his right hand behind her neck. She slid her hands up around his neck and said,
“Right. Now you want to tilt your head a little to the rightor if she’s already tilting to the left,
do it to the left. You don’t want colliding noses. Now, don’t press too hard at first, you’re not
trying to put a wax seal on a letter; it’s a kiss. Now, if it seems like she’s okay with all that, you
can carefully and slowly open your mouth,” but now Harry’s mind was reeling, and the rest of
what she was saying was just rushing wind and noise. Was she really talking about tongues?
he wondered for a moment. His mind was spinning. He was only vaguely aware of the fact that he was still holding her.
Then it was quiet again and she was staring at him. “Harry? Harry! Have you been listening to
me?” He nodded dumbly, hoping she wouldn’t start quizzing him on what she’d said. “Okay,
then. I’m Cho. Kiss me.”
He goggled at her. “Excuse me?”
“Pretend I’m Cho. Kiss me.”
Harry thought he had stopped breathing. He looked down at her. He remembered how much
he had wanted to kiss her in the garden on Privet Drive, before Sirius had arrived. Had that
really been two months ago? he wondered. He hadn’t remembered feeling anxious about kissing
her then; he had just felt compelled to do it (at least, until it seemed that they might have an
audience). Why had that felt so natural, why did this feel so different? Because, he realized,
she’s just being a teacher right now, it’s so that I can kiss another girl.
Harry leaned closer and closer to her mouth. Just get it over with, he thought. So he finally did
it; he pressed his lips against hers, feeling an equal pressure coming from her as he used his hand
behind her neck to hold her face up to his. Then it seemed that she was trying to draw a breath,
and she opened her mouth. Harry did the same, and then the world dropped away from
beneath his feet, and he was drinking her in, her hands had entwined themselves in his hair, he
felt her tongue flick at his teeth and her body mold itself to his. Suddenly, he wanted nothing
more in the world but to go on kissing her like this forever...
She moved her hands to his ears, tracing them dreamily while they continued to kiss; the tickling
sensation electrified all of Harry’s senses and he clutched her even more tightly. Then she
brought one of her hands down and found the hem of his shirt; she wormed her hand underneath
it and slid it up between his shirt and his skin, making him gasp against her mouth. Then he lost
her mouth, and he felt bereft, but she had clamped it on his neck, producing new amazing
sensations there with her lips and tongue, and he bent over to kiss her neck, making her
produce a gurgling in her throat that sent a thrill of power through him, as he moved his left hand
to the hem of her sweater and up her back, caressing the smooth skin there, feebly realizing
after a minute that there was no bra strap. Oh, Hermione, he groaned inwardly, what are you
doing to me...
He captured her mouth again with his, trying to get up the courage to move the hand that was
under the back of her sweater to the front, when suddenly, a whoosh of cold air entered the
room and a familiar voice started crying, “Students snogging in the Charms classroom! Snogging
in Charms!”
It was Peeves the Poltergeist. His arrival was like twenty cold showers to Harry. He separated
himself totally from Hermione, trying to catch his breath. She was glaring at Peeves as though
she would kill him again, if she could.
She pulled out her wand from a long, thin pocket in her jeans, below the knee. She strode over
to Peeves and pointed it, saying sternly, “Anima tua; anima mea!” Peeves froze in the air
where he’d been hovering over Professor Flitwick’s desk. She said to Peeves, “You didn’t see
anything. You were on your way to the Great Hall; you were asking us whether we’d seen
Nearly Headless Nick, and we said no. Understand?”
He nodded. “I understand,” he said in a monotone Harry had never heard him produce before.
Usually he was incapable of not sounding like he was singing mockingly.
Hermione pointed her wand at him again and cried, “Anima tua!” Peeves seemed to wake up
and shook himself.
“Are you sure” he started to say.
“We haven’t seen Nearly Headless Nick,” Harry said. Peeves went whipping out of the room.
Harry looked at Hermione. “Where did you learn that? That was amazing!” He hoped she
realized that he meant the incantation to control Peeves; although he thought what they’d been
doing before that had been amazing, too.
“I found it in a book at Viktor’s. Truthfully, it’s some mild dark magic. Anything to control
ghosts is. It’s something like an Imperious Curse that works on spirits, but I can’t get in trouble
for using it because he’s already dead. It’s like putting him under hypnosis, basically. His will
becomes mine for a short time.”
Harry gazed at her, more impressed than ever. She was becoming a very powerful witch, he
realized. The desire to kiss her again was almost overwhelming, but she had moved to the door
of the classroom. “Well, you’llyou’ll be fine later, I’m sure,” she said, losing a little of her
composure for a moment. “You’d better get down to the Quidditch pitch for practice, since
you’re the captain.”
No, thought Harry. I want to hold you again...
When he went out into the corridor, she was gone. He went back down the stairs again to the
entrance hall and into the brisk autumn sunshine, but for the rest of the morning, in his mind, he
was back in the Charms classroom holding her in his arms.
* * * * *
After Quidditch practice, it would have been time for lunch in the Great Hall, but Hermione had
a surprise for the team. She showed up with levitating picnic baskets full of food at the end of
practice, and they were all able to eat outdoors together. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan
had helped as well, and they were all merrily anticipating watching the match to be played after
lunch.
“Well, you know the house elves,” she said to Fred and George as they chewed their
sandwiches. “Can’t wait to give food away.”
“Given up on spew?” Ron asked her.
“I’ve decided to take a different long-term approach. Any enslaved group must want to be
liberated. In fact, I’ve already talked to Professor Dumbledore about a plan of mine, and he’s
on board with it; he would like the elves to want to be free as much as I do.” Ron looked
dubious about any plan to propagandize the house elves, but didn’t say anything, just took a big
bite of his sandwich.
Harry couldn’t take his eyes off Hermione during the picnic; he thought it was possible that Ron
and Ginny had noticed too, but he was beyond caring. The important thing was that Hermione
didn’t notice; she seemed to be studiously ignoring him, chatting up everyone there except him,
as though he were less than a ghost.
Harry technically watched the match, but he really was seeing it through a fog. He was sitting
between Ron and Fred. George and Angelina were on the other side of Fred; Hermione was
sitting in front of him with Ginny and Parvati and Lavender. Colin Creevey was taking pictures
of all the Gryffindors again. Harry had a feeling that he would turn out looking pretty surly in
these pictures.
He was finally able to focus at the end of the game. Quite suddenly, it seemed (although the
match had been going on for an hour and a half), Cho had captured the Snitch and was flying a
circuit around the field with it held above her head. Harry noticed for the first time that the new
Hufflepuff Seeker was Justin Finch-Fletchley. Cedric Diggory had been captain and Seeker for “Are you sure” he started to say.
“We haven’t seen Nearly Headless Nick,” Harry said. Peeves went whipping out of the room.
Harry looked at Hermione. “Where did you learn that? That was amazing!” He hoped she
realized that he meant the incantation to control Peeves; although he thought what they’d been
doing before that had been amazing, too.
“I found it in a book at Viktor’s. Truthfully, it’s some mild dark magic. Anything to control
ghosts is. It’s something like an Imperious Curse that works on spirits, but I can’t get in trouble
for using it because he’s already dead. It’s like putting him under hypnosis, basically. His will
becomes mine for a short time.”
Harry gazed at her, more impressed than ever. She was becoming a very powerful witch, he
realized. The desire to kiss her again was almost overwhelming, but she had moved to the door
of the classroom. “Well, you’llyou’ll be fine later, I’m sure,” she said, losing a little of her
composure for a moment. “You’d better get down to the Quidditch pitch for practice, since
you’re the captain.”
No, thought Harry. I want to hold you again...
When he went out into the corridor, she was gone. He went back down the stairs again to the
entrance hall and into the brisk autumn sunshine, but for the rest of the morning, in his mind, he
was back in the Charms classroom holding her in his arms.
* * * * *
After Quidditch practice, it would have been time for lunch in the Great Hall, but Hermione had
a surprise for the team. She showed up with levitating picnic baskets full of food at the end of
practice, and they were all able to eat outdoors together. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan
had helped as well, and they were all merrily anticipating watching the match to be played after
lunch.
“Well, you know the house elves,” she said to Fred and George as they chewed their
sandwiches. “Can’t wait to give food away.”
“Given up on spew?” Ron asked her.
“I’ve decided to take a different long-term approach. Any enslaved group must want to be
liberated. In fact, I’ve already talked to Professor Dumbledore about a plan of mine, and he’s
on board with it; he would like the elves to want to be free as much as I do.” Ron looked
dubious about any plan to propagandize the house elves, but didn’t say anything, just took a big
bite of his sandwich.
Harry couldn’t take his eyes off Hermione during the picnic; he thought it was possible that Ron
and Ginny had noticed too, but he was beyond caring. The important thing was that Hermione
didn’t notice; she seemed to be studiously ignoring him, chatting up everyone there except him,
as though he were less than a ghost.
Harry technically watched the match, but he really was seeing it through a fog. He was sitting
between Ron and Fred. George and Angelina were on the other side of Fred; Hermione was
sitting in front of him with Ginny and Parvati and Lavender. Colin Creevey was taking pictures
of all the Gryffindors again. Harry had a feeling that he would turn out looking pretty surly in
these pictures.
He was finally able to focus at the end of the game. Quite suddenly, it seemed (although the
match had been going on for an hour and a half), Cho had captured the Snitch and was flying a
circuit around the field with it held above her head. Harry noticed for the first time that the new
Hufflepuff Seeker was Justin Finch-Fletchley. Cedric Diggory had been captain and Seeker for“Are you sure” he started to say.
“We haven’t seen Nearly Headless Nick,” Harry said. Peeves went whipping out of the room.
Harry looked at Hermione. “Where did you learn that? That was amazing!” He hoped she
realized that he meant the incantation to control Peeves; although he thought what they’d been
doing before that had been amazing, too.
“I found it in a book at Viktor’s. Truthfully, it’s some mild dark magic. Anything to control
ghosts is. It’s something like an Imperious Curse that works on spirits, but I can’t get in trouble
for using it because he’s already dead. It’s like putting him under hypnosis, basically. His will
becomes mine for a short time.”
Harry gazed at her, more impressed than ever. She was becoming a very powerful witch, he
realized. The desire to kiss her again was almost overwhelming, but she had moved to the door
of the classroom. “Well, you’llyou’ll be fine later, I’m sure,” she said, losing a little of her
composure for a moment. “You’d better get down to the Quidditch pitch for practice, since
you’re the captain.”
No, thought Harry. I want to hold you again...
When he went out into the corridor, she was gone. He went back down the stairs again to the
entrance hall and into the brisk autumn sunshine, but for the rest of the morning, in his mind, he
was back in the Charms classroom holding her in his arms.
* * * * *
After Quidditch practice, it would have been time for lunch in the Great Hall, but Hermione had
a surprise for the team. She showed up with levitating picnic baskets full of food at the end of
practice, and they were all able to eat outdoors together. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan
had helped as well, and they were all merrily anticipating watching the match to be played after
lunch.
“Well, you know the house elves,” she said to Fred and George as they chewed their
sandwiches. “Can’t wait to give food away.”
“Given up on spew?” Ron asked her.
“I’ve decided to take a different long-term approach. Any enslaved group must want to be
liberated. In fact, I’ve already talked to Professor Dumbledore about a plan of mine, and he’s
on board with it; he would like the elves to want to be free as much as I do.” Ron looked
dubious about any plan to propagandize the house elves, but didn’t say anything, just took a big
bite of his sandwich.
Harry couldn’t take his eyes off Hermione during the picnic; he thought it was possible that Ron
and Ginny had noticed too, but he was beyond caring. The important thing was that Hermione
didn’t notice; she seemed to be studiously ignoring him, chatting up everyone there except him,
as though he were less than a ghost.
Harry technically watched the match, but he really was seeing it through a fog. He was sitting
between Ron and Fred. George and Angelina were on the other side of Fred; Hermione was
sitting in front of him with Ginny and Parvati and Lavender. Colin Creevey was taking pictures
of all the Gryffindors again. Harry had a feeling that he would turn out looking pretty surly in
these pictures.
He was finally able to focus at the end of the game. Quite suddenly, it seemed (although the
match had been going on for an hour and a half), Cho had captured the Snitch and was flying a
circuit around the field with it held above her head. Harry noticed for the first time that the new
Hufflepuff Seeker was Justin Finch-Fletchley. Cedric Diggory had been captain and Seeker for“Are you sure” he started to say.
“We haven’t seen Nearly Headless Nick,” Harry said. Peeves went whipping out of the room.
Harry looked at Hermione. “Where did you learn that? That was amazing!” He hoped she
realized that he meant the incantation to control Peeves; although he thought what they’d been
doing before that had been amazing, too.
“I found it in a book at Viktor’s. Truthfully, it’s some mild dark magic. Anything to control
ghosts is. It’s something like an Imperious Curse that works on spirits, but I can’t get in trouble
for using it because he’s already dead. It’s like putting him under hypnosis, basically. His will
becomes mine for a short time.”
Harry gazed at her, more impressed than ever. She was becoming a very powerful witch, he
realized. The desire to kiss her again was almost overwhelming, but she had moved to the door
of the classroom. “Well, you’llyou’ll be fine later, I’m sure,” she said, losing a little of her
composure for a moment. “You’d better get down to the Quidditch pitch for practice, since
you’re the captain.”
No, thought Harry. I want to hold you again...
When he went out into the corridor, she was gone. He went back down the stairs again to the
entrance hall and into the brisk autumn sunshine, but for the rest of the morning, in his mind, he
was back in the Charms classroom holding her in his arms.
* * * * *
After Quidditch practice, it would have been time for lunch in the Great Hall, but Hermione had
a surprise for the team. She showed up with levitating picnic baskets full of food at the end of
practice, and they were all able to eat outdoors together. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan
had helped as well, and they were all merrily anticipating watching the match to be played after
lunch.
“Well, you know the house elves,” she said to Fred and George as they chewed their
sandwiches. “Can’t wait to give food away.”
“Given up on spew?” Ron asked her.
“I’ve decided to take a different long-term approach. Any enslaved group must want to be
liberated. In fact, I’ve already talked to Professor Dumbledore about a plan of mine, and he’s
on board with it; he would like the elves to want to be free as much as I do.” Ron looked
dubious about any plan to propagandize the house elves, but didn’t say anything, just took a big
bite of his sandwich.
Harry couldn’t take his eyes off Hermione during the picnic; he thought it was possible that Ron
and Ginny had noticed too, but he was beyond caring. The important thing was that Hermione
didn’t notice; she seemed to be studiously ignoring him, chatting up everyone there except him,
as though he were less than a ghost.
Harry technically watched the match, but he really was seeing it through a fog. He was sitting
between Ron and Fred. George and Angelina were on the other side of Fred; Hermione was
sitting in front of him with Ginny and Parvati and Lavender. Colin Creevey was taking pictures
of all the Gryffindors again. Harry had a feeling that he would turn out looking pretty surly in
these pictures.
He was finally able to focus at the end of the game. Quite suddenly, it seemed (although the
match had been going on for an hour and a half), Cho had captured the Snitch and was flying a
circuit around the field with it held above her head. Harry noticed for the first time that the new
Hufflepuff Seeker was Justin Finch-Fletchley. Cedric Diggory had been captain and Seeker for“Are you sure” he started to say.
“We haven’t seen Nearly Headless Nick,” Harry said. Peeves went whipping out of the room.
Harry looked at Hermione. “Where did you learn that? That was amazing!” He hoped she
realized that he meant the incantation to control Peeves; although he thought what they’d been
doing before that had been amazing, too.
“I found it in a book at Viktor’s. Truthfully, it’s some mild dark magic. Anything to control
ghosts is. It’s something like an Imperious Curse that works on spirits, but I can’t get in trouble
for using it because he’s already dead. It’s like putting him under hypnosis, basically. His will
becomes mine for a short time.”
Harry gazed at her, more impressed than ever. She was becoming a very powerful witch, he
realized. The desire to kiss her again was almost overwhelming, but she had moved to the door
of the classroom. “Well, you’llyou’ll be fine later, I’m sure,” she said, losing a little of her
composure for a moment. “You’d better get down to the Quidditch pitch for practice, since
you’re the captain.”
No, thought Harry. I want to hold you again...
When he went out into the corridor, she was gone. He went back down the stairs again to the
entrance hall and into the brisk autumn sunshine, but for the rest of the morning, in his mind, he
was back in the Charms classroom holding her in his arms.
* * * * *
After Quidditch practice, it would have been time for lunch in the Great Hall, but Hermione had
a surprise for the team. She showed up with levitating picnic baskets full of food at the end of
practice, and they were all able to eat outdoors together. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan
had helped as well, and they were all merrily anticipating watching the match to be played after
lunch.
“Well, you know the house elves,” she said to Fred and George as they chewed their
sandwiches. “Can’t wait to give food away.”
“Given up on spew?” Ron asked her.
“I’ve decided to take a different long-term approach. Any enslaved group must want to be
liberated. In fact, I’ve already talked to Professor Dumbledore about a plan of mine, and he’s
on board with it; he would like the elves to want to be free as much as I do.” Ron looked
dubious about any plan to propagandize the house elves, but didn’t say anything, just took a big
bite of his sandwich.
Harry couldn’t take his eyes off Hermione during the picnic; he thought it was possible that Ron
and Ginny had noticed too, but he was beyond caring. The important thing was that Hermione
didn’t notice; she seemed to be studiously ignoring him, chatting up everyone there except him,
as though he were less than a ghost.
Harry technically watched the match, but he really was seeing it through a fog. He was sitting
between Ron and Fred. George and Angelina were on the other side of Fred; Hermione was
sitting in front of him with Ginny and Parvati and Lavender. Colin Creevey was taking pictures
of all the Gryffindors again. Harry had a feeling that he would turn out looking pretty surly in
these pictures.
He was finally able to focus at the end of the game. Quite suddenly, it seemed (although the
match had been going on for an hour and a half), Cho had captured the Snitch and was flying a
circuit around the field with it held above her head. Harry noticed for the first time that the new
Hufflepuff Seeker was Justin Finch-Fletchley. Cedric Diggory had been captain and Seeker for“Are you sure” he started to say.
“We haven’t seen Nearly Headless Nick,” Harry said. Peeves went whipping out of the room.
Harry looked at Hermione. “Where did you learn that? That was amazing!” He hoped she
realized that he meant the incantation to control Peeves; although he thought what they’d been
doing before that had been amazing, too.
“I found it in a book at Viktor’s. Truthfully, it’s some mild dark magic. Anything to control
ghosts is. It’s something like an Imperious Curse that works on spirits, but I can’t get in trouble
for using it because he’s already dead. It’s like putting him under hypnosis, basically. His will
becomes mine for a short time.”
Harry gazed at her, more impressed than ever. She was becoming a very powerful witch, he
realized. The desire to kiss her again was almost overwhelming, but she had moved to the door
of the classroom. “Well, you’llyou’ll be fine later, I’m sure,” she said, losing a little of her
composure for a moment. “You’d better get down to the Quidditch pitch for practice, since
you’re the captain.”
No, thought Harry. I want to hold you again...
When he went out into the corridor, she was gone. He went back down the stairs again to the
entrance hall and into the brisk autumn sunshine, but for the rest of the morning, in his mind, he
was back in the Charms classroom holding her in his arms.
* * * * *
After Quidditch practice, it would have been time for lunch in the Great Hall, but Hermione had
a surprise for the team. She showed up with levitating picnic baskets full of food at the end of
practice, and they were all able to eat outdoors together. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan
had helped as well, and they were all merrily anticipating watching the match to be played after
lunch.
“Well, you know the house elves,” she said to Fred and George as they chewed their
sandwiches. “Can’t wait to give food away.”
“Given up on spew?” Ron asked her.
“I’ve decided to take a different long-term approach. Any enslaved group must want to be
liberated. In fact, I’ve already talked to Professor Dumbledore about a plan of mine, and he’s
on board with it; he would like the elves to want to be free as much as I do.” Ron looked
dubious about any plan to propagandize the house elves, but didn’t say anything, just took a big
bite of his sandwich.
Harry couldn’t take his eyes off Hermione during the picnic; he thought it was possible that Ron
and Ginny had noticed too, but he was beyond caring. The important thing was that Hermione
didn’t notice; she seemed to be studiously ignoring him, chatting up everyone there except him,
as though he were less than a ghost.
Harry technically watched the match, but he really was seeing it through a fog. He was sitting
between Ron and Fred. George and Angelina were on the other side of Fred; Hermione was
sitting in front of him with Ginny and Parvati and Lavender. Colin Creevey was taking pictures
of all the Gryffindors again. Harry had a feeling that he would turn out looking pretty surly in
these pictures.
He was finally able to focus at the end of the game. Quite suddenly, it seemed (although the
match had been going on for an hour and a half), Cho had captured the Snitch and was flying a
circuit around the field with it held above her head. Harry noticed for the first time that the new
Hufflepuff Seeker was Justin Finch-Fletchley. Cedric Diggory had been captain and Seeker for“Are you sure” he started to say.
“We haven’t seen Nearly Headless Nick,” Harry said. Peeves went whipping out of the room.
Harry looked at Hermione. “Where did you learn that? That was amazing!” He hoped she
realized that he meant the incantation to control Peeves; although he thought what they’d been
doing before that had been amazing, too.
“I found it in a book at Viktor’s. Truthfully, it’s some mild dark magic. Anything to control
ghosts is. It’s something like an Imperious Curse that works on spirits, but I can’t get in trouble
for using it because he’s already dead. It’s like putting him under hypnosis, basically. His will
becomes mine for a short time.”
Harry gazed at her, more impressed than ever. She was becoming a very powerful witch, he
realized. The desire to kiss her again was almost overwhelming, but she had moved to the door
of the classroom. “Well, you’llyou’ll be fine later, I’m sure,” she said, losing a little of her
composure for a moment. “You’d better get down to the Quidditch pitch for practice, since
you’re the captain.”
No, thought Harry. I want to hold you again...
When he went out into the corridor, she was gone. He went back down the stairs again to the
entrance hall and into the brisk autumn sunshine, but for the rest of the morning, in his mind, he
was back in the Charms classroom holding her in his arms.
* * * * *
After Quidditch practice, it would have been time for lunch in the Great Hall, but Hermione had
a surprise for the team. She showed up with levitating picnic baskets full of food at the end of
practice, and they were all able to eat outdoors together. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan
had helped as well, and they were all merrily anticipating watching the match to be played after
lunch.
“Well, you know the house elves,” she said to Fred and George as they chewed their
sandwiches. “Can’t wait to give food away.”
“Given up on spew?” Ron asked her.
“I’ve decided to take a different long-term approach. Any enslaved group must want to be
liberated. In fact, I’ve already talked to Professor Dumbledore about a plan of mine, and he’s
on board with it; he would like the elves to want to be free as much as I do.” Ron looked
dubious about any plan to propagandize the house elves, but didn’t say anything, just took a big
bite of his sandwich.
Harry couldn’t take his eyes off Hermione during the picnic; he thought it was possible that Ron
and Ginny had noticed too, but he was beyond caring. The important thing was that Hermione
didn’t notice; she seemed to be studiously ignoring him, chatting up everyone there except him,
as though he were less than a ghost.
Harry technically watched the match, but he really was seeing it through a fog. He was sitting
between Ron and Fred. George and Angelina were on the other side of Fred; Hermione was
sitting in front of him with Ginny and Parvati and Lavender. Colin Creevey was taking pictures
of all the Gryffindors again. Harry had a feeling that he would turn out looking pretty surly in
these pictures.
He was finally able to focus at the end of the game. Quite suddenly, it seemed (although the
match had been going on for an hour and a half), Cho had captured the Snitch and was flying a
circuit around the field with it held above her head. Harry noticed for the first time that the new
Hufflepuff Seeker was Justin Finch-Fletchley. Cedric Diggory had been captain and Seeker for“Are you sure” he started to say.
“We haven’t seen Nearly Headless Nick,” Harry said. Peeves went whipping out of the room.
Harry looked at Hermione. “Where did you learn that? That was amazing!” He hoped she
realized that he meant the incantation to control Peeves; although he thought what they’d been
doing before that had been amazing, too.
“I found it in a book at Viktor’s. Truthfully, it’s some mild dark magic. Anything to control
ghosts is. It’s something like an Imperious Curse that works on spirits, but I can’t get in trouble
for using it because he’s already dead. It’s like putting him under hypnosis, basically. His will
becomes mine for a short time.”
Harry gazed at her, more impressed than ever. She was becoming a very powerful witch, he
realized. The desire to kiss her again was almost overwhelming, but she had moved to the door
of the classroom. “Well, you’llyou’ll be fine later, I’m sure,” she said, losing a little of her
composure for a moment. “You’d better get down to the Quidditch pitch for practice, since
you’re the captain.”
No, thought Harry. I want to hold you again...
When he went out into the corridor, she was gone. He went back down the stairs again to the
entrance hall and into the brisk autumn sunshine, but for the rest of the morning, in his mind, he
was back in the Charms classroom holding her in his arms.
* * * * *
After Quidditch practice, it would have been time for lunch in the Great Hall, but Hermione had
a surprise for the team. She showed up with levitating picnic baskets full of food at the end of
practice, and they were all able to eat outdoors together. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan
had helped as well, and they were all merrily anticipating watching the match to be played after
lunch.
“Well, you know the house elves,” she said to Fred and George as they chewed their
sandwiches. “Can’t wait to give food away.”
“Given up on spew?” Ron asked her.
“I’ve decided to take a different long-term approach. Any enslaved group must want to be
liberated. In fact, I’ve already talked to Professor Dumbledore about a plan of mine, and he’s
on board with it; he would like the elves to want to be free as much as I do.” Ron looked
dubious about any plan to propagandize the house elves, but didn’t say anything, just took a big
bite of his sandwich.
Harry couldn’t take his eyes off Hermione during the picnic; he thought it was possible that Ron
and Ginny had noticed too, but he was beyond caring. The important thing was that Hermione
didn’t notice; she seemed to be studiously ignoring him, chatting up everyone there except him,
as though he were less than a ghost.
Harry technically watched the match, but he really was seeing it through a fog. He was sitting
between Ron and Fred. George and Angelina were on the other side of Fred; Hermione was
sitting in front of him with Ginny and Parvati and Lavender. Colin Creevey was taking pictures
of all the Gryffindors again. Harry had a feeling that he would turn out looking pretty surly in
these pictures.
He was finally able to focus at the end of the game. Quite suddenly, it seemed (although the
match had been going on for an hour and a half), Cho had captured the Snitch and was flying a
circuit around the field with it held above her head. Harry noticed for the first time that the new
Hufflepuff Seeker was Justin Finch-Fletchley. Cedric Diggory had been captain and Seeker for“Are you sure” he started to say.
“We haven’t seen Nearly Headless Nick,” Harry said. Peeves went whipping out of the room.
Harry looked at Hermione. “Where did you learn that? That was amazing!” He hoped she
realized that he meant the incantation to control Peeves; although he thought what they’d been
doing before that had been amazing, too.
“I found it in a book at Viktor’s. Truthfully, it’s some mild dark magic. Anything to control
ghosts is. It’s something like an Imperious Curse that works on spirits, but I can’t get in trouble
for using it because he’s already dead. It’s like putting him under hypnosis, basically. His will
becomes mine for a short time.”
Harry gazed at her, more impressed than ever. She was becoming a very powerful witch, he
realized. The desire to kiss her again was almost overwhelming, but she had moved to the door
of the classroom. “Well, you’llyou’ll be fine later, I’m sure,” she said, losing a little of her
composure for a moment. “You’d better get down to the Quidditch pitch for practice, since
you’re the captain.”
No, thought Harry. I want to hold you again...
When he went out into the corridor, she was gone. He went back down the stairs again to the
entrance hall and into the brisk autumn sunshine, but for the rest of the morning, in his mind, he
was back in the Charms classroom holding her in his arms.
* * * * *
After Quidditch practice, it would have been time for lunch in the Great Hall, but Hermione had
a surprise for the team. She showed up with levitating picnic baskets full of food at the end of
practice, and they were all able to eat outdoors together. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan
had helped as well, and they were all merrily anticipating watching the match to be played after
lunch.
“Well, you know the house elves,” she said to Fred and George as they chewed their
sandwiches. “Can’t wait to give food away.”
“Given up on spew?” Ron asked her.
“I’ve decided to take a different long-term approach. Any enslaved group must want to be
liberated. In fact, I’ve already talked to Professor Dumbledore about a plan of mine, and he’s
on board with it; he would like the elves to want to be free as much as I do.” Ron looked
dubious about any plan to propagandize the house elves, but didn’t say anything, just took a big
bite of his sandwich.
Harry couldn’t take his eyes off Hermione during the picnic; he thought it was possible that Ron
and Ginny had noticed too, but he was beyond caring. The important thing was that Hermione
didn’t notice; she seemed to be studiously ignoring him, chatting up everyone there except him,
as though he were less than a ghost.
Harry technically watched the match, but he really was seeing it through a fog. He was sitting
between Ron and Fred. George and Angelina were on the other side of Fred; Hermione was
sitting in front of him with Ginny and Parvati and Lavender. Colin Creevey was taking pictures
of all the Gryffindors again. Harry had a feeling that he would turn out looking pretty surly in
these pictures.
He was finally able to focus at the end of the game. Quite suddenly, it seemed (although the
match had been going on for an hour and a half), Cho had captured the Snitch and was flying a
circuit around the field with it held above her head. Harry noticed for the first time that the new
Hufflepuff Seeker was Justin Finch-Fletchley. Cedric Diggory had been captain and Seeker for“Are you sure” he started to say.
“We haven’t seen Nearly Headless Nick,” Harry said. Peeves went whipping out of the room.
Harry looked at Hermione. “Where did you learn that? That was amazing!” He hoped she
realized that he meant the incantation to control Peeves; although he thought what they’d been
doing before that had been amazing, too.
“I found it in a book at Viktor’s. Truthfully, it’s some mild dark magic. Anything to control
ghosts is. It’s something like an Imperious Curse that works on spirits, but I can’t get in trouble
for using it because he’s already dead. It’s like putting him under hypnosis, basically. His will
becomes mine for a short time.”
Harry gazed at her, more impressed than ever. She was becoming a very powerful witch, he
realized. The desire to kiss her again was almost overwhelming, but she had moved to the door
of the classroom. “Well, you’llyou’ll be fine later, I’m sure,” she said, losing a little of her
composure for a moment. “You’d better get down to the Quidditch pitch for practice, since
you’re the captain.”
No, thought Harry. I want to hold you again...
When he went out into the corridor, she was gone. He went back down the stairs again to the
entrance hall and into the brisk autumn sunshine, but for the rest of the morning, in his mind, he
was back in the Charms classroom holding her in his arms.
* * * * *
After Quidditch practice, it would have been time for lunch in the Great Hall, but Hermione had
a surprise for the team. She showed up with levitating picnic baskets full of food at the end of
practice, and they were all able to eat outdoors together. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan
had helped as well, and they were all merrily anticipating watching the match to be played after
lunch.
“Well, you know the house elves,” she said to Fred and George as they chewed their
sandwiches. “Can’t wait to give food away.”
“Given up on spew?” Ron asked her.
“I’ve decided to take a different long-term approach. Any enslaved group must want to be
liberated. In fact, I’ve already talked to Professor Dumbledore about a plan of mine, and he’s
on board with it; he would like the elves to want to be free as much as I do.” Ron looked
dubious about any plan to propagandize the ho
