Adam was having a dream, a very nice dream and, much to his embarrassment, all of Adam's nice dreams recently had featured Ginny.
"Bloody hell!"
Adam snapped awake. Ron and Hermione were standing just inside the door to his and Ginny's compartment on the Hogwarts express. Oh yeah, Adam recalled with a start. They were on their way back to school!
Ron was staring at him, with a look that was half anger and half complete shock. Hermione, however, was smiling.
Adam looked around the compartment. He was sitting in one corner and Ginny was snuggled up to his side, still asleep. Oh, Adam realised, that's probably what Ron's staring at.
"What?" Ginny asked sleepily when Adam nudged her. "Oh," she said as she sat up and saw Ron.
"So," Ron asked in a tight voice, "what's going on here?"
"Uh," Adam hesitated.
"Nothing, Ron," Ginny said in an innocent tone.
"We were just checking that everyone was getting changed and what do we find when we come in here? You two cuddled up together!"
"So?" Ginny replied defiantly.
"That's not the sort of thing that friends do!" Ron retorted.
Adam saw Ginny glance at him. They would probably have to come clean with Ron now. To be honest, Adam was tired of sneaking around. He had enough of that to do. So he nodded at Ginny.
"Adam and I have decided to start dating," Ginny answered bluntly.
Adam couldn't help but notice that Hermione smiled again at this news.
"I knew it!" Ron exclaimed, looking pleased that he had figured it out. Suddenly his expression changed as the implications of Ginny's revelation dawned on him. "Hang on! You're dating? You're too young!"
"I am not!" Ginny replied hotly. "Most of the girls in my year have dated!"
"Wait till I tell Mum!"
"She already knows!"
That took Adam by surprise, but he decided to play along and nodded back at Ron.
Ron moved his mouth up and down speechlessly.
"Ron…" Adam began.
"Don't," Ron replied. "I suppose, if it had to be anyone, I'm glad it's you. At least we know you're decent! But don't let me catch you…" he shuddered, "…doing anything!"
Ron turned and stormed out of the compartment.
Hermione grinned at him. "Congratulations, you two! Don't worry about Ron. I don't think he's that upset." She paused. "Seriously though, we're nearly there. You need to get changed."
Adam and Ginny took turns in stepping out of the compartment so the other could get changed. It surprised Adam that he was looking forward to being back at school. He loved staying with Ginny's family, but Hogwarts was something different. It was special. This summer had been comparatively quiet. Yes, he had been dealing with the whole Harry Potter thing and he had spent loads of time with Sirius, which he'd really enjoyed. However, compared to his previous two summers, he hadn't been arrested by the Ministry, nor had he been forced to make a late night escape on the Knight Bus. Therefore, he could quite happily classify this summer as quiet.
"Your turn," Ginny said as she emerged, now dressed in her Hogwarts robes.
Adam went into the compartment and got changed. As he was putting his shoes back on, he felt the train shudder to a halt. He grabbed his things and dashed out of the compartment, ready to make the journey up to the school.
When Adam and Ginny arrived in the Great Hall and took their seats for the Welcoming Feast, Adam scanned the staff table. He knew that Professor Lupin had left as Defence teacher, so he wondered who would be taking over. To his disappointment, there were no new teachers sitting up at the staff table.
"Do you think that Professor Dumbledore didn't manage to get anyone to teach Defence?" Adam asked Ginny.
"No idea. Do you think he'll teach it himself?" Ginny questioned. "That would be cool."
The students in the Great Hall fell silent as Professor McGonagall entered with the first years following her in a nervous procession. Adam watched the Sorting with mild interest. It was remarkably uninteresting when it wasn't happening to you.
To Adam's disappointment, Professor Dumbledore did not mention anything about the new teacher before he officially started the feast. As he ate, Adam noticed that there was a single empty seat at the top table. So they must be expecting a new teacher, but where are they?
After the meal had finished, Professor Dumbledore stood up and gave his usual start of term announcements. Adam tuned them out, knowing that they would only be the same old boring warnings about the Forbidden Forest.
"…and now I have the honour of announcing that our new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor…"
Professor Dumbledore's announcement immediately attracted Adam's attention.
"…who unfortunately has not yet arrived, will be…" continued Professor Dumbledore.
Suddenly the doors to the Great Hall burst open. The entire school seemed to instantly spin around to see who had just entered the room. A man stood in the doorway, shrouded by a cloak and leaning on a staff. He slowly hobbled towards the staff table. When he reached the table, he lowered the hood of his cloak to reveal grizzled, dark grey hair.
"Ahh, here he is. I have the pleasure of welcoming one of my long-time associates: Professor Moody."
The man, Professor Moody, turned to face the room. His face was unlike any Adam had seen before. Every inch of it was scarred and part of his nose seemed to be missing. There was also something odd about his eyes. Adam squinted in order to try to figure out what it was, and, with a jolt, he realised that one of them wasn't real. It was a completely different colour to the other eye and was rolling around as if it had a mind of its own. Then, all of a sudden, it rolled completely into the back of his head so all Adam could see of the eye was white.
"Creepy," Ginny said softly.
"Yeah," Adam replied. "Any idea who he is?"
"I don't know," Ginny replied. "I think I've heard my dad mention him once or twice, but other than that, I've no idea."
"May I have your attention?" Professor Dumbledore called. "Now you have all met your new teacher, it is time for you to head to bed!"
The entire school stood and began making their way out of the Hall. Adam smiled when he saw an eager Hermione and an exasperated-looking Ron shepherding the nervous first years out of the hall.
September 2nd 1995
"Fizzy Pops," Adam said.
The gargoyle statue that guarded the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's office slid aside and Adam stepped onto the staircase. Professor Dumbledore had sent a note informing him that he needed to see him and, as much as Adam wasn't particularly fond of the man right now, he was still the Headmaster.
As it happened, this year September 1st had fallen on a Friday, giving them two free days before lessons started. So Adam had decided to get his meeting with the Headmaster out of the way as soon as possible.
Adam was just about to raise his hand to knock on the door, when it opened from the inside.
"Come on in, Adam," Professor Dumbledore said as he opened the door. "Do sit down."
Adam sat down nervously in one of the chairs in the office and Professor Dumbledore sat down behind his desk.
"As you can see, I've cleaned up after last time you were in here," Professor Dumbledore said lightly, gesturing to his now largely uncluttered desk.
"Um, sorry about that," Adam replied hesitantly.
"I dare say I gave you just cause to be angry with me, Adam, so don't worry about it."
Adam nodded, unsure what to say to the professor.
"So you have been meeting with Sirius, I understand? How is that going?"
"Fine," Adam replied bluntly, but truthfully. He had enjoyed spending time with Sirius. "He's told me stories about my parents and given me some photos," Adam continued, unable to keep a smile from appearing on his face.
Professor Dumbledore smiled back at him. "Excellent." He paused. "Have you heeded my request and not told anyone of your identity?"
"I told Ginny," Adam stated, bracing himself for a reprimand.
To Adam's surprise Professor Dumbledore smiled again. "Good, having friends around you is essential. I would caution you against telling anyone else though."
"Okay," Adam replied without enthusiasm.
"Did you receive my package on your birthday?" Professor Dumbledore asked, keeping the conversation going.
"Yes, sir," Adam replied. The Cloak was brilliant, but Adam wasn't going to admit that to Dumbledore.
"Your father left it with me shortly before he died. It's a Potter family heirloom, so keep it safe and try not to get into too much mischief," Professor Dumbledore replied, his eyes sparkling. It was almost as if he was giving him permission to do some mischief.
Adam smiled uncertainly in response.
"I am glad you’re coping, Adam. Is there anything that is troubling you?"
Adam hesitated. This was his chance to ask the question.
"Sir, why were my parents attacked?"
Professor Dumbledore paused and stroked his beard.
"They were members of an organisation I formed to oppose Lord Voldemort. This made them very attractive targets," Professor Dumbledore replied. "We received intelligence he was targeting them, so we arranged for them and you to go into hiding."
"Voldemort killed them himself! They must have been important targets!" Adam exclaimed.
"Adam," Professor Dumbledore began, "I cannot tell you anything else about how your parents died. I am sorry."
"Fine," Adam replied sulkily.
"I am sorry, Adam."
"That was all I wanted to ask. Can I go, sir?" Adam asked coldly. "It's not as if you'll tell me anything."
Professor Dumbledore seemed to flinch slightly and then, after a pause, he slowly nodded. Adam immediately stood to leave the office, feeling incredibly frustrated.
"Adam," Professor Dumbledore spoke suddenly as he walked towards the door, "I am sorry."
Adam simply nodded at Dumbledore before leaving the office and making his way back to Gryffindor Tower.
He didn't know if Professor Dumbledore actually knew anything about his parents or not, but if the Headmaster did, then he wasn't going to tell him.
September 4th 1995
Today was the first day of classes, so Adam and Ginny arrived bright and early for breakfast at the Gryffindor table. As usual, Adam was sitting next to Ginny.
Since Ron now knew that he and Ginny were dating, they had decided to simply come clean and stop hiding. The news that Adam and Ginny were dating had spread throughout the school, seemingly in a matter of hours. As with all new relationships, Adam guessed they would be hot gossip for a few days, maybe a week, before the next new couple was the talk of the school. Adam didn't like everyone gossiping about them, but it was a relief that he and Ginny didn't have to sneak around anymore.
"Ginny!" Adam heard Hermione's voice from further down the table. "Your dad's in the paper!"
Hermione passed Ginny the paper and Adam watched her reaction as she read it.
"What a load of rubbish!" Ginny exclaimed and she threw the paper down in disgust.
"What was it?" Adam asked.
"Moody apparently called the Ministry and Dad went to help him. But it was a false alarm and he ended up having to modify the memories of some Muggle… erm…" Ginny hesitated. "Po-lice-men?"
"Policemen, like Aurors, but for Muggles," Adam informed her.
"Thanks, well Dad had to modify some of their memories. The paper is saying he embarrassed the Ministry!"
"Well, what do the papers know?" Adam said, agreeing with Ginny. "Your dad's brilliant!"
"Thanks," Ginny replied sullenly. "I still wish he wasn't in the paper."
Adam realised that the Great Hall was beginning to empty. "We should get to Potions," he said, checking his watch.
Adam and Ginny arrived at the Potions classroom right on time and sat at a desk together near the back of the room.
"Potions first thing on Monday morning!" Ginny grumbled.
"Well, at least it's over at the beginning of the week," Adam consoled her.
"Silence!" Professor Snape ordered as he swept into the room. "That means you, Winters!" he snapped as he passed Adam and Ginny's desk.
Adam looked at Ginny confusedly. He hadn't been making much noise.
"Today, we are going to start brewing more advanced potions in preparation for your OWLs next year and, due to the nature of this potion, for today and today only, you will be working in pairs." Professor Snape waved his wand and writing appeared on the blackboard behind him. "Today's potion is quite…" he paused, "…topical, I think. It's a parentage potion."
Adam swore under his breath; it was almost like Snape was referring to him.
"Mr. Winters, unless you have something you wish to share with the class, be quiet!" Snape barked, glaring at him. "The function of this potion is to serve as a base to which you add two samples of blood. If the two samples are parent and child, then the potion will turn green. The instructions are on the board. Begin!"
Coming to a silent agreement, Adam began preparing their equipment while Ginny went to fetch the ingredients.
"He knows!" Ginny hissed to Adam when she returned.
"I know!" Adam muttered angrily as he began to cut up the first of the ingredients. "I bet Dumbledore told him!"
The potion was difficult, one of the most difficult that Adam and Ginny had done so far.
"Adam, no!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly as Adam was adding an ingredient.
"What?"
Ginny sighed. "You didn't crush the beetle's eyes!"
"It doesn't say to crush them," Adam replied.
"Yes, it does!"
Adam looked at the book. He sighed. "I read the wrong line, you add the rat spleen as it is and crush the beetle's eyes."
Adam looked warily at their potion. It had turned a rather sickly green colour and had started to froth.
"I don't think that's supposed to happen," Ginny groaned.
Adam and Ginny had to work together to quickly siphon off the large amount of froth their potion was generating. Eventually, it stopped frothing, but their cauldron was now nearly empty.
"A completely botched Potion, Winters, Weasley," Professor Snape sneered when he came to inspect their potion. He leaned close to them and whispered, "But I don't suppose, now, that you will have any further need of this potion." He stood up tall. "That will be ten points from Gryffindor. Each."
Adam and Ginny both sat sulking until the end of the lesson. Fortunately, Snape didn't pay any further attention to either of them.
"I hate Snape!" Ginny raged as they left the classroom.
"I'm sorry for messing up our potion," said Adam meekly.
"Don't worry," Ginny reassured him. "But how did he know?"
"I don't know," Adam said glumly. "But he seems to hate me now! He's never treated me any different from the rest of the Gryffindors, but twice today he singled me out."
"Just try to ignore it," said Ginny.
Adam sighed.
"Anyway, let's forget about Snape. What have we got next?" said Ginny, trying to brighten the mood.
"Defence," Adam replied, sounding hopeful.
In Adam's opinion, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professors had been getting better every year. Lockhart had been useless. Jones had been better. Remus had been even better. So maybe Moody would be the best yet.
They arrived at the Defence classroom, sat down at their usual desk and waited eagerly for their first lesson with Professor Moody. The professor was currently sitting at his desk, completing his register, as they entered.
"Well," Professor Moody announced to the class as he stood up, "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin and you're behind, very behind, with your knowledge on how to deal with Dark curses. And that is what I will be teaching you this year."
The class seemed to inhale in excitement. This sounded good.
"Now, the Ministry doesn't want me to show you what an illegal curse looks like until you're in the sixth year. However, Professor Dumbledore has given me permission to show you. I will teach you what these curses look like and how to stop them."
Adam felt slightly unnerved. Professor Moody's fake eye seemed to be spending an undue amount of time focusing on him.
"Now, curses come in many different strengths and types," Professor Moody stated. "Can anyone tell me which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"
Several hands raised tentatively into the air. Adam notice Ginny had rather hesitantly put her hand up. Professor Moody turned and pointed at her.
"Er, my dad mentioned one. I think it's called the Imperius Curse," Ginny said hesitantly.
"Ah yes," Professor Moody replied. "Your father would know about that one. It caused the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse."
Professor Moody strode to his desk, opened a drawer and took out a jar. Inside the jar, there were several large spiders. He reached inside, took one out and placed it on the desk.
"Imperio," Professor Moody muttered at the spider.
The spider immediately started dancing around on the desk and the class burst into laughter.
"Think it's funny?" he growled.
The laughter died.
"The next person that laughs will have this done to them," he threatened. "This spell gives you total control. I could even make the spider kill itself. This spell was used to control many witches and wizards, years back. Very difficult, it was, to sort out who was acting of their own will and who was controlled."
Professor Moody picked up the spider and tossed it back into the jar.
"The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared to the room. Every student jumped.
"Well, does anyone else know another illegal curse?"
This time no hands were raised.
Professor Moody tutted loudly. "I'll tell you, then. The Cruciatus Curse."
He took another spider and placed it on the desk.
"Engorgio."
The spider grew to a size larger than any spider Adam had ever seen. Well, except the ones in the Forbidden Forest.
"Crucio."
The spider suddenly began to twitch horribly. It rocked from side to side. As time passed, the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently. Eventually, Professor Moody removed his wand, shrunk the spider, and placed it back into the jar.
"Pain. The one and only purpose of this curse is to cause pain. This was very popular once, too." He paused, for what felt like ages. "Anyone know another?"
Once again, no hands were raised.
"The last and the worse of these Unforgivable Curses," Moody supplied. "The Killing Curse. Its incantation is Avada Kedavra."
The room waited in awed silence as Professor Moody took another spider out of the jar and placed it on his desk.
"Avada Kedavra!" he roared.
A bright green light shot out of the end of his wand and hit the spider. Instantaneously, it flopped limply onto the desk. Several of the students stifled cries. Adam felt himself involuntarily tense. So that was the spell he saw when Dementors were near. That was the curse that had killed his parents.
"Not nice. Not pleasant," Professor Moody continued. "There's no counter-curse. No one has ever survived it."
Adam felt unnerved as Professor Moody's fake eye once again focused on him.
Adam had spent a fair amount of time trying to piece together what had happened the night his parents had been killed. He knew his mum had been killed by that curse, but Sirius had also told him that there hadn't been much left of his mum's body. Pettigrew must have done something. The thought of that traitor damaging his parents' bodies after they had died filled him with a tremendous anger.
"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it; you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed. But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to do it," Professor Moody continued. "Now, if there's no counter-curse, why am I showing you? Because you've got to know. You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE," he finished with a roar. "These are Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice constant, never-ceasing vigilance."
They spent the rest of the lesson copying down notes on what they had covered and, as Adam was packing his bag at the end of the lesson, he felt more drained than he had for any other lesson as long as he'd been at Hogwarts.
September 30th 1995
"GINNY!!!!" Adam screamed at the top of his lungs. "GO, GINNY!!!!"
It was the first Quidditch match of the season and Adam watched intently as Ginny streaked across the sky, dashing towards the Snitch, which had appeared for a split-second at the far end of the pitch. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, despite having a year off, were performing well. The new captain, Angelina Johnson, had scheduled many hours of practice for the team, which included Adam as the reserve Seeker.
However, this year they had needed to recruit a new Keeper. They'd had several people try out for the position, but the best candidate had been Ron Weasley. Cormac McLaggen, who had been the reserve in previous years, didn't even show up for the trials. Adam suspected foul play by Fred and George. Not surprisingly, Ron wasn't anywhere near as good as Oliver Wood had been, but he was still able to block shots with a decent amount of skill.
Well, at least he had in training. To be honest, Ron hadn't performed well this game, having let in seventeen goals so far. However, the Gryffindor Chasers and Beaters had proved to be on top form and were able to limit the damage. So currently, Gryffindor were only fifty points behind.
However, Ginny had seen the Snitch and was, at present, closing on it. Draco Malfoy was also closing rapidly; he had been shadowing Ginny all match, letting her do all the work, and was now more or less following her towards the Snitch. He had by far the best broom in the school because of his rich father, and, in Adam's opinion, having the superior equipment was the only reason he was ever able to catch the Snitch.
Suddenly, the Snitch moved and Adam spotted it hovering about halfway up the Slytherin goalposts. Ginny and Malfoy were now neck and neck, and Malfoy's larger, green-clad form was now obscuring his view of Ginny. They both continued to close in on the Snitch, neither able to gain any lead on the other.
Adam watched intently as Ginny was once again obscured from sight. Suddenly Adam let out a strangled cry of horror. He saw a body in red Gryffindor robes falling towards the ground.
It hit the ground and didn't move.
Adam's stomach plummeted in horror and he felt worse than he could ever remember feeling. Ginny was sprawled on the ground. She wasn't moving.
His shock and horror was soon replaced by fury when he saw Draco Malfoy, still on his broom, hovering over where Ginny had hit the ground. He was circling her mockingly with the Snitch in his hand. Adam was sure he was laughing.
Ginny was lying on the ground completely motionless, although Adam could see the rest of the team were rapidly charging towards her. Adam too began moving; he pushed his way through the stands, shoving his fellow Gryffindors out of the way. He didn't care about anything else, he needed to get to Ginny. Eventually, Adam reached the pitch side and he charged out onto the field, running as fast as he could towards where Ginny had fallen. His legs felt weak and he felt as if he was about to be sick.
By the time he reached her, Madam Hooch was already at her side and thankfully Ginny now seemed to be moving slightly, groaning in pain. Adam felt a wave of relief sweep over him. She was okay, she was okay.
"She needs to go to the hospital wing," Angelina told him.
Adam nodded jerkily.
The Gryffindor Quidditch team stood together as Madam Hooch levitated Ginny away. Adam moved to follow her.
"Not such a good flier now, is she?" Draco Malfoy sneered, once Madam Hooch was out of earshot.
The entire Gryffindor Team turned as one to face him. All of them looked furious.
"You attacked my sister! You stinking little ferret!" Ron roared and drew his wand.
"A terrible accident," Malfoy exclaimed, with an obviously fake expression on his face.
That was it. Adam strode forward toward Malfoy and stared at him. They were less than a foot apart and Adam saw that Malfoy had his wand in his hand.
"What are you going to do, Winters?"
Adam didn't reply. Instead, he swung his fist, which connected with Malfoy's nose with a satisfying crunch. Malfoy, obviously not expecting a physical attack, was taken completely by surprise and fell backwards. He sat on the ground in total shock with blood trickling down his nose.
The rest of the Gryffindor team cheered as Adam spun around and stormed off. He even got a slap on the back from Ron. Adam realised that punching Malfoy was going to get him into trouble, but it had been worth it. He'd hurt Ginny!
Adam stormed back towards the castle, needing to get to the hospital wing and make sure that Ginny was alright.
Once he reached the hospital wing, Adam was forced to wait outside until Madam Pomfrey had finished treating Ginny's injuries. Several others on the Gryffindor team joined him, including Ron, Fred and George.
After what felt like hours, the door creaked open. "You can go in and visit her now," Madam Pomfrey announced from the doorway.
Adam leapt up, dashed into the hospital wing and raced down the room searching for Ginny.
Adam froze when he saw her. She was lying in a bed, with her arms stretched out on top of the covers, looking very pale.
"Oh, Ginny," Adam said in a distressed voice.
The rest of the Weasleys caught up with him and they, too, stared at her lying in bed.
"She's going to be fine," Madam Pomfrey announced. "She was rather incoherent, so I've given her a Dreamless Sleep potion."
"W-w-what's wrong with her?" Adam stammered.
"Nothing too serious," Madam Pomfrey replied in a kindly tone. "A broken arm, a broken leg, lots of bruises and a concussion."
Adam nodded weakly and walked towards her bed and reached out to touch her. He hesitated, not knowing if he should.
"I've healed it all," prompted Madam Pomfrey. "She'll just need to sleep it off."
Adam sat down next to the bed and gripped her hand. Ron went and sat down on the opposite side.
The four of them, three Weasleys and Adam, sat there for nearly two hours, while Ginny slept.
"Alright, guys," Fred announced. "She's going to be fine. We're going to head off and get changed. We'll be back after dinner."
"Okay," Ron replied, standing up. "I'll come too. I'll be back in a bit."
"I'll stay here," Adam said in a quiet voice.
"Are you sure, mate?" George asked.
"Yeah," Adam replied. "Someone needs to be here when she wakes up."
"Okay, I'll… erm…" Ron hesitated, looking torn between staying and going.
"She'll be fine, Ron," Adam reassured him.
"Okay… I'll be back in a few hours, then," Ron answered. "You can take a break then if you want."
Adam sat there holding Ginny's hand for a couple more hours. Then, he suddenly noticed that it was dark outside. He stood up and looked out of the window; it was practically night.
"Damn," Adam muttered. He must have missed dinner!
"Adam?" Ginny called feebly from the bed.
Adam dashed back across to the bed, leaned over to look her in the eye and said, "Hi."
She looked up, and seeing him, smiled widely. "Hi!" she said, sounding brighter now.
"How are you feeling?" Adam asked, his face breaking into a massive grin.
Ginny started wiggling in the bed. She lifted her arms up and began to flex them. She then attempted to sit up. Adam saw immediately that she was struggling, so he helped her sit upright and arranged her pillows behind her.
"Thanks," Ginny said in a tight voice. "What happened? My arms are all tingly, my head hurts, everything aches and I feel so tired."
"What do you remember?" Adam asked.
Ginny's face scrunched up in thought. "Last thing I remember was flying towards the Snitch." Ginny flinched slightly. "What actually happened?"
Adam sat down in the chair next to her bed.
"I'm not sure," Adam replied honestly. "I think Draco Malfoy knocked you off your broom," he said.
"Oh," she replied in a small voice. "I fell?"
"Yeah."
Ginny sat there in a silence, suddenly looking even more tired than she had a few minutes ago.
"Did he get the Snitch?" she blurted suddenly.
"Yeah."
Ginny's shoulders sagged in disappointment. "Did he at least get detention or something?" Ginny asked, sadly. "For, y'know, knocking me off my broom?"
"No," Adam replied. "But all the Gryffindors are furious with him," Adam said.
"Oh," Ginny said, then her eyes narrowed. "You look guilty! What did you do?"
"Erm…" Adam hesitated.
Ginny glared at him. "Spill."
"Okay. I kinda punchedhimonthenose," Adam said hurriedly.
Ginny stared at him for a second. Then she burst out laughing. Adam grinned in response, happy to see Ginny looking better.
"Oh, Adam," she said, still giggling slightly. "You didn't have to punch him for me. But thanks… I guess."
"I expect I'll get a detention for it or something," said Adam. "But it was worth it!"
"I bet Snape will go nuts," Ginny mused.
"Well, they can hardly expel me can they?" Adam said with an exaggerated wink.
Ginny chuckled. "I better warn Madam Pomfrey. If they aren't careful, they won't be able to get your big head out of the door."
Adam stifled a laugh, clasped Ginny's hand and said, "I should probably go and tell Madam Pomfrey you're awake."