PhoenixSong.net :: A Harry/Ginny Fanfic and Fanart Archive

Author: MyGinevra

Story: The Hog's Head

Part: 35: Bailey’s Brood

Rating: Teens

Status: Completed

Warning: Sexual Situations, Violence

Reviews: 4

Words: 7,024

Updated: September 7, 2008, 11:44am

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35: Bailey’s Brood

"Harry," Ron said in a low voice. Harry and Ginny looked around, then they both abruptly sat down, their faces red. The noise level in the room gradually rose, and people went back to their own celebrations.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled to Ginny, "I didn't mean to make it a spectacle. For a minute there, it felt like we were alone."

"Yes, it did. Well," she said breathlessly to everyone at their table, "happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, Ginny," Keesha said from Neville's lap. "It is a good way to start it off, isn't it?"

They all stayed for another hour, and then the party broke up. When the four got back to the shop, they saw a light on inside. George was perched on the counter talking to Angelina, who was sitting on an upturned carton; a bottle of champagne and two glasses were on the counter next to George. They both smiled when the four walked in.

"You should have joined us at the Leakey Cauldron," Ron said. "It was a great party, with entertainment supplied by Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter."

George looked at them quizzically, but when he saw Ginny's red face he nodded. "Those two are always entertaining."

"We just wanted a quiet little celebration by ourselves," Angelina said. "I'm glad you had a good time."

They talked for a few minutes, then they went upstairs. "It's nice that George was with someone," Ginny said as they sat around the kitchen table. "I was worried about him." No one said anything for a few minutes, then Ron got up.

"I guess it's time for bed. What do you two want to do? There's an extra bed, but the room's kind of small, and George stores things in it."

Harry looked at Ginny and she nodded. "I'll send an owl to Mum first thing in the morning."

Harry moved the cartons that were stacked on the bed and then Hermione made it up. There was barely enough room for two people to move in the cramped room, and it was cold, but they had plenty of blankets. They held each other closely underneath them. "I wanted to be with you tonight," Ginny whispered. They warmed each other up, and the first night of the new year was sweet.

In the morning, Ginny sent Pigwidgeon off with an apologetic note to her mother. "I'll probably get a lecture, or at least a look," she said over a breakfast of eggs and toast. She glanced at Harry, who had been quiet since they got up. "What is it, love?" she asked.

Harry took her hand. "There's something I want to do that I should have done before, and when my classes start I won't have time. Let's go visit Andromeda. I should be looking in on Teddy once in a while."

"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Ginny beamed. "He's almost a year old, isn't he?"

"I think so." Harry was quiet again. "I feel bad, not going to see him. I've been so wrapped up in everything, but something about seeing George last night made me think of him."

"I know what you mean," Ron said. "Sometimes he gets a look like he's completely alone in the world."

"That's what Fleur said," Harry pushed his eggs around with his fork, then looked at Ginny. "Well, should we get it over with and face the music?"

"Don't worry about it," Ron grinned. "Mum's very understanding about things like that. I'm sure she won't hex you too badly."

Ginny grimaced. "I wonder what I'll be like if I have a daughter." She looked at Harry and smiled. "I wonder what you'll be like."

"I'll be locking her in her room until she's married. I know what boys want."

"Oh, ho!" Ginny arched her eyebrows. "And I thought Ron was a hypocrite. You seduce the mother but your daughter has to be chaste."

"Seduce? I don't remember it happening that way."

"Don't you two have to be leaving?" Ron interrupted Ginny's retort. "The longer you stay here, the madder Mum's gonna be."

Half an hour later they were back at the Burrow, and Molly pulled Ginny into the parlor and closed the door; Harry stayed in the kitchen but there were no raised voices. Still, he was thankful to be alone; Arthur had gone out to his shed in the yard to look for a Muggle contraption which he had heard might be the source of an infection of some kind, and he wanted to take a look at it. When Ginny came back she shrugged her shoulders. "It wasn't bad, she just said I should have told her last night where I was."

Harry wanted to send an owl to Andromeda Tonks, asking if she would like a visit from them, but McPherson and Bailey were both at the Owlery in Hogwarts. Ginny was reluctant to use Errol because the Weasleys' ancient owl didn't like cold weather. They thought about using Harry's Patronus, but decided that might be too alarming; Andromeda might think that something bad had happened. At that moment Kreacher, wearing his cap, shuffled into the kitchen; he had been straightening up around the house, and Harry looked at him.

"Say, Kreacher," he said, "do house–elves deliver messages?"

Kreacher bowed, but was frowning when he straightened up. "Only under duress, Master Harry. However, Kreacher will be happy to fetch Harry Potter's owl from Hogwarts, if that is his wish."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other in surprise. "You can do that?" said Harry.

"Of course. Harry Potter should know that Kreacher can find and bring."

"That would be great. Can you get McPherson for us?"

Kreacher bowed again, then was gone with a loud crack. They sat looking at each other for five minutes, and then, with a louder crack, a very indignant owl and a house–elf sucking his fingers appeared on the floor before them. McPherson let out a series of squawks, then flew up onto the back of a chair. He looked huffily at Harry, then turned his back and waggled his tail feathers at him and Ginny.

"Are you alright?" Harry got up and looked at Kreacher's fingers; they weren't bleeding, but there were marks on them that had obviously come from McPherson's beak. "I'm sorry, I wouldn't have asked you if I thought he would bite."

"Kreacher was not attacked by Harry Potter's bird," the elf looked at Ginny balefully. "It was Ginny Weasley's. There were six eggs, and —"

"Eggs?!" Ginny shrieked. "Six?" She grinned at Harry. "Bailey's on the nest!" She burst out laughing.

Harry grinned back. "We'll be grandparents."

Ginny's shriek brought Molly in from the parlor, and Ginny told her what they had just learned. "When they get big enough, you can retire Errol," Ginny said, wiping tears of laughter from her face.

Harry got a piece of parchment, quill, and ink from a drawer, and wrote out a note to Andromeda Tonks. "You go back to school on Wednesday, right?" he asked Ginny, "so is it okay if I tell her we'd like to come any time before then?"

Ginny agreed, and McPherson flew off with the parchment in his beak, apparently mollified by being given a job to do. Soon after, Arthur came back inside.

"I have three pomcuters out there," he said as he washed his hands at the sink, "and I want everyone to stay away from them. According to the Muggle newspapers, they may have something called a millennium bug. It could be contagious. Has anyone at the hospital mentioned it?" he asked Molly.

She shook her head. "No, but I can ask Hestia when I see her next week."

"They're computers, Dad," Ginny said, "not pomcuters."

"Isn't that what I said? It doesn't matter. I don't want to take any chances."

"Hermione knows all about them, her parents have one. I can ask her."

Arthur nodded. "Please do. I don't want to keep them around if they pose any danger."

Molly and Arthur went for a walk, and Harry and Ginny went into the parlor. McPherson returned after an hour with Andromeda's invitation. She asked them to come tomorrow afternoon; Teddy finished his nap around three o'clock, and then they could all have dinner. She also included a photograph of Teddy from Christmas day. The infant was on his feet, holding onto a chair, smiling cherubically at the camera. He had a red ball in his hand that he flung into the air; it bounced out of the photo and, as Teddy laughed, his hair turned from blond to green.

"He looks like Remus and acts like Tonks," Ginny smiled, then sighed. "Oh, bother, now I'm getting teary about them." She wiped her eyes, and Harry patted her leg.

"I should bring a gift, don't you think?" he said. "What can I get for him before tomorrow?"

"If you don't mind giving him something old, there's three or four boxes of toys up in the ghoul's attic."

They went upstairs and, trying not to disturb the ghoul, which they could see asleep in a far corner, they retrieved a large carton labeled, "Toys – Fred and George." They opened it on the landing and sorted through it. "Here, how about this?" Ginny held up a large, brown teddy bear; it looked to be larger even than Teddy, and "Fred" was sewn into the fuzzy fabric on its chest. There was an identical one in the box with "George" sewn on.

Ginny gazed at it for a moment. "Let's ask Mum first. I think she'll like the idea, and I can change the stitching."

They left the bear in the parlor next to the photo, and went out for a walk down to the river. When they returned, Molly and the elves were making lunch, and the bear was sitting in a chair at the table.

"I see you got Fred's bear out," she said as she dried her hands with a towel. "Did you want to give it to little Teddy?"

"Yes, if you don't mind, Mum," Ginny peered at her mother uncertainly.

"I think it's a wonderful idea. Those toys are just sitting up there getting dusty. Why don't I sew Teddy's name on it?"

"Thanks, Mum, I'd like to do it." Ginny took the bear and hugged it; she smiled at Harry and they went back into the parlor. Ginny retrieved a sewing kit that her mother kept in a corner, and quickly replaced "Fred" with "Teddy" on the bear's chest.

"I like this," said Harry, holding the bear up. "I like giving something of Fred's to Teddy. It seems right."

"It does," Ginny said softly.

They Disapparated to Andromeda Tonks's house after lunch the next day. Harry had only a fuzzy memory of what it looked like; he had been there at a time of frantic flight from Privet Drive; he had just lost Hedwig, and Hagrid had nearly died. Whatever scars the house had borne from that incident were gone, and to Harry it seemed as comfortable and homey as the Burrow, if a little more vertical.

Andromeda greeted them at the front door, and put her finger to her lips as she let them in. "He's still napping," she whispered. Harry handed her the teddy bear, wrapped in light blue paper with smiling witches and wizards cavorting on it. Andromeda beamed. "You shouldn't have! But you can give it to him yourself when he wakes up."

She led them into her parlor. It was smaller than the Burrow's, but there was a large fireplace with a fire burning. Harry went to the mantel and looked at the photos on it: Ted, Nymphadora as a child, and a wedding picture of Tonks and Remus. Harry picked up the wedding picture and saw a radiant Tonks and a Remus whose eyes seemed too haunted for a bridegroom. He glanced at Ginny who was peering at the photo over his shoulder. He had told her all about Lupin's visit to twelve Grimmauld Place when he, Ron, and Hermione were hiding there, and now Ginny was feeling the same pity and sadness as Harry for that tormented man.

He replaced the photo and they sat on the sofa; Andromeda brought tea and scones. Harry took a sip and put his cup down. "I'm sorry I haven't come around sooner," he said. "I —"

"Oh, Harry," Andromeda stopped him, "don't apologize. You've had so much going on, you and Ginny both; I heard about your engagement. Teddy has been fine! Ted's family visits all the time, and we get out quite a bit now. We were in Diagon Alley just last weekend to see the Christmas decorations. That's where I had the picture taken that I sent to you."

At that moment there was a babbling noise from the next room. "He's up," Andromeda smiled. "Come in, I'll show you his room."

They went down a short hallway and into a small room with a large window, a cot, and a dresser; the walls were bright yellow with pictures of magical creatures drawn on them. Teddy was in the cot holding onto the rail, jumping up and down and letting out a string of nonsense sounds. He stopped when he saw them, and stared at Harry. As they watched, the baby's hair turned from blond to bronze, then to red, then orange. He pointed his finger at Harry and said very loudly, "Da!"

Ginny giggled and Harry looked at her wide–eyed. "What did he say?"

"He called you Daddy," Ginny said.

Andromeda laughed. "He calls every man that. Here," she picked him up, "let's check your nappy."

Teddy continued to stare at Harry as his grandmother changed him on top of the dresser. When she was done, she turned to Harry. "Do you want to hold him?"

"Uh, sure, I guess so." He stood uncertainly, then took Teddy from Andromeda and held him awkwardly with his arms extended.

"Hold him on your hip, like so, with your arm around his back, like this." Andromeda adjusted both the baby and Harry, then Harry smiled; Teddy continued to stare a him. Harry noticed that his eyes were grey, but then they suddenly turned blue.

"Does he change a lot?" Harry ran his finger over the baby's arm, and Teddy took it in his fist, then put it in his mouth; Harry giggled, and glanced at Ginny.

"Sometimes," said Andromeda. "It depends on how distracted he is. 'Dora used to be the same; she only changed when she was engrossed in something, otherwise she stayed pretty much steady."

"It feels funny," Harry continued to smile at Ginny, as Teddy continued to stare with Harry's finger in his mouth.

Ginny moved next to Harry and tickled the baby. He smiled a toothless grin and grabbed Ginny's finger. He shrieked loudly and his hair turned pink; Harry looked at him in alarm. "Is he alright?"

Andromeda laughed. "Yes, he does that when he's happy. Let's go into the parlor, you can give him your present."

Back in the parlor, Harry set Teddy on the rug, then put the present down in front of him. "You have to unwrap it for him," Ginny said. "He doesn't know how yet."

"Oh." Harry pulled the paper off, and set the bear down again. Teddy looked at it for a moment, then reached out and touched it. He looked at Harry, who looked at Ginny. "Now what?" he said. Ginny knelt on the floor and picked up the bear; she hugged it, then held it out to Teddy. He grabbed it, and toppled on top of it with a shriek; then he rolled over so that the bear was on top of him.

"It's beautiful!" Andromeda exclaimed as Teddy began to explore the bear. "Thank you so much."

"It was my brother Fred's. I hope you don't mind," said Ginny.

'Oh, that's beautiful, too! No, I don't mind at all. And Teddy doesn't seem to, either."

Harry sat on the sofa with Andromeda, while Ginny stayed on the floor playing with Teddy and the bear. Andromeda went into the kitchen, and a short while later they ate dinner; Teddy sat in a highchair with a bottle of milk and a bowl of pudding, babbling away as he distributed the pudding evenly over his face with his fingers, occasionally putting some in his mouth. When they were done, Andromeda cleaned him up, and they sat in the parlor talking for another hour.

Then they went to the field in back to visit the two graves. Andromeda brought two fresh sprays of flowers and leaned them against the headstones. Harry stood for a moment, gazing down at them, then took Ginny's hand. He felt tears burning his eyes, and he looked away. They walked back to the house; Harry promised to visit again soon, and they returned to the Burrow.

The next two days passed quickly, and on Wednesday the Ministry car arrived to take them to King's Cross Station. The driver was a young witch who chatted as she drove, telling them about her holiday in Portugal with her boyfriend. No one accompanied them, as Arthur and Molly had both gone in to work earlier. The platform was bustling with families saying goodbye and students saying hello. Emma and Claire came running up and hauled them into the carriage where they had already taken over a compartment. Soon Keesha, Neville, and Luna arrived, and the train departed.

"How was your holiday?" Ginny, Keesha, and Luna all said at the same time, and everyone in the compartment laughed.

"I went to the Canary Islands with my dad," Luna said. "There was a Snidget sighting there a week before Christmas, the first one outside of Modesty Rabnott in almost forty years!" She looked excitedly around the compartment at six blank stares.

"Gosh, Luna," Keesha said, "that's... that's brilliant. What's Modesty Rabnott?"

Luna looked from Keesha to Neville to Harry to Ginny, then at Emma and Claire sitting next to her. "Surely you must know," she said to the twins. They both shook their heads, and Luna slumped back in her seat; she turned her head and stared out into the corridor.

"Modesty Rabnott was a witch who tried to save Golden Snidgets," Harry said to Emma and Claire. "That's a magical bird that was used in Quidditch until the Golden Snitch was invented. They're almost extinct now, but there's a reserve for them in Somerset named after her."

"Well, that is brilliant," said Keesha. "I never knew that. Luna, did you see one?"

Luna turned back. "Sadly, no. And we didn't see any canaries, either. Dad thought it was a plot devised by the Muggle government to draw tourists."

Keesha glanced at Harry and Ginny. "But why would a Muggle government want to attract witches and wizards?" she asked Luna before Ginny could stop her.

Luna shrugged. "Maybe they thought one of us would bring a Snidget or a canary."

Keesha smiled at Luna's unblinking eyes. "Yes, that's probably it. I'm sure that's it."

No one else had as adventurous a tale to tell, but they exchanged Christmas stories, nevertheless. The train sped on, and shortly after dark they pulled into Hogsmeade Station.

Harry and Ginny stayed on the train for a goodbye snog, since Harry wanted to get back to the inn. Ginny eventually joined the others on the platform, then ran after Harry for another snog before he had gone ten yards. She watched as he walked up the High Street; he looked back, and when he saw her looking at him he came back for yet another snog. By this time Luna, Neville, Keesha, the twins, and several other students were engrossed in their performance, so Ginny finally pushed Harry away and walked with the others to the last horseless carriage waiting in the lane; Hagrid was there, too.

"Le's go, le's go!" he called, and beamed at them. "Yeh don' wanna miss this feast. Yer new teacher's waiting t' meet yeh." He waved them into the carriage, then slapped the Thestral's rump and they started off.

"What did Hagrid hit?" asked Emma. "I heard his hand hit something."

"It's a Thestral," said Ginny, "and you can't see it because you haven't seen anyone die. They're beautiful creatures, you should go find a picture in the library. You'll study them in your fifth year." The twins sat back, staring at the empty traces.

"What's with Hagrid?" Keesha said. "He seemed pretty jovial tonight.

"Maybe he got something for Christmas," Emma giggled.

They were the last people to enter the Great Hall, and Ginny followed the twins to the Gryffindor table. Then she noticed that everyone was looking at the staff table. The twins had also stopped dead in their tracks and were staring in that direction with open mouths. Ginny looked. Sitting in the end seat, smiling out at the Hall and towering over it, was Madame Maxime, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic.

"Who is she?" Claire asked. "Is she related to Hagrid?"

"Not yet," Ginny chuckled. She saw Hagrid sitting on the other side of the Headmistress, a very large smile on his face; he alternated looking down at his plate and casting glances in the direction of Madame Maxime.

Ginny looked more closely at her. She was elegantly dressed, as she usually had been during the Triwizard Tournament. Her robes were a deep blue, almost the color that Professor Dumbledore's had been, but instead of stars and planets it was decorated with pale green fleurs–de–lys. She wore several large rings on her fingers and a necklace of what looked like emeralds.

Ginny sat down between Dennis and Demelza. "That's quite a surprise, don't you think?" Dennis said.

"Maybe not," Demelza answered. "They probably couldn't find anyone in Britain to take the job because of Riddle's curse."

"She's supposed to be very powerful," said Dennis. "Maybe she can break it."

"I don't believe in a curse," Ginny declared. "Everyone thinks it's cursed, so they expect something bad to happen, and so it does. Then no one wants the job, so we get idiots like Lockhart. Then Riddle tried to use it to infiltrate Hogwarts. Dumbledore should have been more careful, that's all."

"I think it's cursed." Ginny looked up at Romilda Vane who was sitting a few seats down and across the table. Romilda tossed her long, dark hair, but didn't look at Ginny. Ginny was about to retort, when the people around her turned to the front of the room. Professor McGonagall was standing, waiting for silence.

"Before the meal begins," she said, "I want to introduce someone who many of you already know, Madame Olympe Maxime, who will be finishing up the school year as our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She has taken a short leave of absence from the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France, and has graciously accepted our offer of a position here at Hogwarts. Madame Maxime," McGonagall turned to her, "welcome once again to Hogwarts!"

Maxime stood — which had a disruptive effect on the staff table place settings — and smiled. A few seats down the table Hagrid began clapping loudly, and soon everyone joined him. Maxime nodded to Hagrid, then sat down; the dishes and silver on the table rattled once again.

The meal began and Romilda kept up a stream of comments and chatter about the Defense Against the Dark Arts curse, but Ginny decided to ignore her. She had managed to avoid Romilda all year, and what did it matter, anyway? Demelza asked her about Quidditch practice, and soon she was conversing with her and Dennis about that. When the meal ended she went back to her room and found McPherson waiting with a note from Harry.

Ginny,

I miss you so much, already. It was pure heaven for two weeks. If that's what
being married to you is like, then I'm almost afraid of how happy I'll be.

The news is all over the village about Madame Maxime. Hagrid must be pretty
happy. How are the students reacting? In a way it's kind of sad that they had to
go outside the country to find someone for the job. Still, I think she'll be great.

I suspect that we'll only have one owl at a time for messages now. Either Bailey or
McPherson will be on the nest. I had an idea, though. Since I would rather not use
our Patronuses unless something has gone wrong, let's think up a code we can use
based on the Map. If you like that idea we can set it up this weekend. (That is, if
there is any spare time when I am not making love to you.)

Everything is okay at the inn. Sam Goldberg said that nothing happened during
the holiday, but for some reason I have a feeling there will be more trouble. But
we'll see. Whatever happens, I will never never stop loving you.

Harry

Ginny observed McPherson who was sitting on Bailey's perch digging into his chest feathers with his beak. The owl looked up, and if Ginny didn't know that owls couldn't smile, she would have sworn that McPherson was grinning at her. She would have to visit the Owlery tomorrow to see the nest herself.

She began a return message, describing what happened in the Great Hall that evening. Then she filled up the rest of the parchment with ideas specifically intended to make Harry crazy. She sent it back with McPherson, then got into bed to await the reply.

Her roommates came in, and Ginny found out that over the holiday Sarah had met a young wizard from Durmstrang who was visiting England for Christmas, and she had spent a lot of time with him. After fifteen minutes of hearing details that she had no desire to know, Ginny was rescued by the return of McPherson, this time bearing a package from Honeydukes as well as a letter. The letter contained a long passage — which Ginny had expected — designed to drive her crazy. Ginny pulled her hangings shut, as much to keep out Sarah's prattle as to give herself some privacy. She let the warm feeling wash over her that told her Harry was watching her on his Map.

After breakfast the next morning, as Ginny was leaving the Great Hall, she was momentarily surprised to see Fleur walking through the oak doors into the entrance hall. Then she realized that Fleur must have heard that her former Headmistress was at Hogwarts. They greeted each other with a hug and several Gallic kisses.

"Is she still in ze Great 'All? I'm so excited! I 'aven't seen 'er since we were in France last year." Fleur hurried inside, and Ginny went up to the Owlery; her first class was not until ten o'clock, and she was anxious to see Bailey's nest.

She spotted her owl on a ledge high above the floor near the beamed ceiling. Bailey and McPherson were both there, and when Bailey flew down to her, McPherson shifted on the ledge and settled on the nest, which Ginny could just make out, sitting back a few inches from the edge. She lifted her arm and Bailey alighted, giving her ear a nibble. Ginny stroked her back.

"It's too high for me to go up and see," Ginny said with a smile, "but I'm so happy." Bailey rubbed her head against Ginny's cheek, then spread her wings. Ginny tossed her into the air, but instead of flying back up to the nest, Bailey flew out the window. Ginny watched her soar up, then out over the lawn. The owl circled for five minutes, then headed back to the Owlery; Ginny moved aside and Bailey streaked past her and back up to the nest. McPherson moved aside and Bailey resumed her place, then peered down at Ginny and hooted once.

Ginny turned to go, but she heard heavy footsteps, and Hagrid ducked his head as he came through the door. He didn't notice Ginny, but looked up at the nest. He was carrying a bunch of yellow carnations that he must have got from one of the greenhouses.

"Hagrid!" Ginny called, and the gamekeeper turned.

"Ginny! Did yeh come t' see yer owl's nest? Ain't it grand? There hasn't been nestin' owls in here fer at least ten years."

Ginny walked over, and smiled up at him. "We just found out a few days ago. There's six eggs." She told him how Kreacher had come to fetch McPherson and discovered the nest. Hagrid smiled at the story, but then looked back up at the two birds on the ledge; he seemed worried.

"I'm a little concerned about 'em," he said. "Them babies'll hatch in about a month, but food's still scarce out there. The mice and voles won't be out an' about fer at least another month after that." He frowned. "I'm kinda surprised she laid this early in the winter. Usually they don' lay until February or March."

"Can't we do anything?" Ginny asked; if she had to, she would get Harry to levitate her up to the nest and feed the owlets herself. "Do you have any, uh, pet mice that we could feed them?"

Hagrid glanced at her, then shrugged. "Don' worry, Ginny, we'll come up wi' somethin'. I ain't about to let six magical, Hogwarts barn owl young 'uns go hungry, even if their mum and dad didn't have enough sense to wait a month before, you know..." He grinned at her and winked.

Ginny couldn't help laughing, and even felt a little blush on her face. They left the Owlery and Ginny went back to her room to get her books for Herbology. She had a little trouble paying attention in class, though; her mind was partly on the problem of feeding Bailey's brood, and partly wondering about her first Defense Against the Dark Arts class that afternoon. Everyone else was also wondering, and Professor Sprout had to remind them a few times that the subject was Herbology, and not Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Ginny didn't see Fleur again, and figured she must have gone back home after visiting with her old Headmistress. At lunch, Ginny learned that the first–year Defense Against the Dark Arts class had met that morning, and all of the Gryffindor first–years were being questioned by everyone else.

"She's so much better than Professor Pester," Emma said.

"Yeah, she never talked about herself once," declared Claire. "I wish she had been here all year. She had us trying Protego. I could never do it before, but this time it almost worked. I only got knocked back five feet."

Seventh–year Defense Against the Dark Arts met immediately after lunch. The class had been moved to a larger room on the fifth floor that had a high ceiling, and the door had been enlarged; the portrait that had hung over it was on the floor, leaning against the wall, and its inhabitants, two witches holding tennis rackets, did not look happy. Ginny got there early, along with everyone else, and sat with Keesha, Luna, and Ruth. A moment later they felt the floor shake and everyone looked around as Madame Maxime walked in.

She was wearing bright yellow robes, and her hair was tied up with a yellow ribbon. Pearl earrings dangled from her ears, and a yellow carnation was in her lapel. Ginny told Keesha in a whisper about the flowers she had seen Hagrid carrying.

The professor stood next to her desk and smiled at them. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am, as you know, your new teacher, and I am very happy to be here. I have been looking forward to ze — the seventh–year class. I know how difficult the first semester was for you. I hope we can make some good progress in the remaining time." She looked around the room. "Are zere — there any questions?"

She had them pair up, and watched each pair perform non–verbal spells; after critiquing them, she put each individual against herself, and soon wands were flying around the room, people went floating up to the ceiling, and bodies were going rigid as her Disarming, Levitating, and Binding spells hit. Ginny was unable to parry any of them or penetrate Maxime's Shield Charm, and when the lesson was over, she was not the only one nursing a bruised ego.

"That was embarrassing, but she is good," Keesha said as they left the classroom. "That hour was worth ten of Pester's. We are really gonna learn something this term."

"I think you're right," said Luna. "I don't think she's the type to just stand up there and give a lecture like that other one did."

"It's quite a load of homework, though," Ginny pointed out; they had been assigned twenty–four inches on the theory of Shield Charms, due Monday. They were back at school less than a day, and the work was already starting to pile up. Their Transfiguration and Potions projects were due in four weeks, but it looked like their homework loads were not going to lighten up any time soon.

They went down to the Transfiguration classroom for their next class, and after that Ginny went to Madame Hooch's office; she wanted to hold a quick Quidditch practice just to get everyone back in shape, and since the weather looked like it would be clear for a day or two, she thought she would schedule it for tomorrow. She reserved the pitch, posted a notice in the common room, then went to the library to start on her homework.

At dinner time, Ginny discovered that news of Bailey's eggs had gotten around; she supposed that Hagrid had told his classes about it, and maybe he was even incorporating the event into his lesson plans. The twins were the first to try to put dibs on an owl, but Ginny had to tell them she would make no plans until they had hatched and fledged. "Don't count your owlets before they hatch, as the saying goes," she grinned. Luna wandered by and warned her to keep an eye out for Antipodean Opaleyes, since their young liked to raid birds' nests and steal the eggs to play catch with.

"What are those?" Claire asked as Luna drifted away.

"Dragons," said Ginny; she bit into a treacle tart, then wiped the syrup from her chin and licked her finger. "But it's a breed that lives in New Zealand, so I don't think they pose much of a threat to the Owlery."

"Luna's looney," Emma said.

"Yeah, but she's smarter and braver than I'll ever be."

"I like her," Claire made a face at her sister. "She was the one who gave us the idea about the lions for the Quidditch match. We heard her talking about the lion head she used to wear."

"That was cool," Ginny agreed. "And you should have heard her announce a match. No one who heard it will ever forget it. My brother Ron still talks about it." She got up. "See you later."

She spent the evening studying, first in the library, then in the common room, and went up to her dorm room just before midnight. McPherson was there with a Honeydukes package — delicious chocolate toffees — and a long love letter from Harry; she got into bed and read it. He told her that he missed her so much, he had used the Bouquedelle that evening for the first time in a month. He also said that he had received his materials from the training program, and had spent most of the day reading them.

Ginny smiled when she read that part. She could sense Harry's excitement; she wasn't sure if her feeling came from the letter or if she was actually experiencing Harry's feelings, but it made her happy. She had known all along that Harry should have enrolled in the program, but she had never said anything because he was so sensitive to being reminded of it. But now he was enthusiastically part of it. Ginny sat back against her pillows and hugged the letter. She looked at her ring — resisting the temptation to kiss it — and then took her locket out and opened it; Harry's eyes seemed to gleam more brightly than ever. She felt tears come to her own eyes; more and more of herself was becoming entwined with Harry's self, their feelings, even consciousness, merged into one. She had never dreamed that it could be so all–encompassing, so complete.

After a moment she realized that she was sobbing into her hands, tears smudging the letter in her lap. The sobs turned to laughter as she brushed the parchment, then she wiped her face and poured her heart into as passionate a love letter as she could write. McPherson took it away, and a few minutes later she knew that Harry was watching her on the Map and that his own tears were adding smudges to her letter.

The next two days passed slowly for Ginny in her desire to be with Harry. The Quidditch practice on Thursday afternoon went very well except, once again, for Dennis's inept goal keeping. Afterward he insisted to Ginny that he just needed to get his timing back, but she told him that he would have to work out with Ron on Saturdays as often as Ron could get up to Hogwarts. The rest of the team was not happy about it; the Chasers — Frances, Meeta, and Demelza — had lost barely a beat in their timing and coordination; and Jimmy Peakes told Ginny that she should reopen the tryouts for Keeper.

"It's kind of late in the day for that," she scowled, annoyed that Jimmy couldn't let her run the team as she saw fit. "If no one wanted the job in the fall when the weather was good, who's gonna want it now when it's twenty degrees out and the snow keeps blowing up your knickers."

"Fine," he grumbled, and stalked away. Ginny shook her head; her mum had told her that there would always be a Jimmy Peakes around to make life difficult.

Finally Ancient Runes ended on Friday afternoon, and Ginny ran upstairs to get her satchel, which she had packed the night before. She tore downstairs and waited outside the oak doors, peering down the drive for Harry. As soon as she spotted him she leaped down the steps and ran. He whirled her around when they met until she shrieked with laughter; she wouldn't let go of him, pressing herself against him and rubbing his chest under his shirt. "I missed you so," she whispered. "Let's go!"

Harry grinned and picked up her satchel; he put his arm around her waist, and they talked as they continued down the drive and out the gates. They crossed the tracks and had passed the station when they both stopped; the word that Harry was speaking was left hanging in the air. They looked off to their left; in the distance, through the bare branches of the woods that stretched off behind Hogsmeade, they could just make out the Shrieking Shack. They stared at it for a few minutes, but the flitting shadows they had seen through the trees were no longer there; the dilapidated house stood alone.

"Did you see anything?" Harry asked in a low voice; he looked around in the falling dusk.

"I don't know," Ginny said as quietly. "Something made me look over there, though."

"Me too."

Without a word they both took out their wands; they left the lane and began walking toward the Shack. The trees were not very thick, but the underbrush was, and they had to detour around several low thickets. They stood in front of the Shack and peered at it. The porch was caved in at several places; the front door was hanging off its hinges, and all the windows they could see were broken. It was very still; only a small breeze rustled the empty branches of nearby trees and a few straggling weeds in the yard.

They moved closer, and as they stood before the two broken steps that led up to the porch, Ginny pointed to the floor in front of the door. They could clearly see footprints in the dust going into the Shack and coming out. They seemed to be fresh, and even as they watched, the breeze picked up and blew some of the prints away.

"Someone was just here, and they left when they saw us," said Harry. He looked around; the winter's light was rapidly fading, and in the forest it was becoming gloomy.

"Let's get out of here," he said. "We can come back tomorrow and take a better look around." He took Ginny's hand and they retraced their steps back to the lane. They walked the rest of the way in silence. In the dining room, Harry told Sagittaria Slocum what they had seen, then they went up to the flat. Harry lit a fire and brought the Veela candlesticks from the bedroom and also lit them. They sat in the love seat, wondering why someone would be watching them from the Shrieking Shack. At first, shadows seemed to grow and reach over the room, but gradually the soft light of the candles drove the shadows back. Ginny leaned over and put her arms around Harry's neck.

"Do you know what I've been thinking about for the past three days?" she whispered in his ear, then started nibbling on it.

Harry closed his eyes and smiled. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

Ginny continued working on his ear with her tongue. "Yes, and you can say it again, but first I want you to show me."

They went into the bedroom, and Harry spent the rest of the night doing what she had asked.

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