Ch 96 rebelling champion (pt.2)

The next morning, Ginny did join him for breakfast. "Hi, Ginny, have a seat." Harry patted the seat next to him and almost got his hand sat on.

"Thanks, Harry."

"What is she doing here?" Ron asked just before he shoved a lot of food into his mouth.

"I invited her. We decided to become better friends last night." Harry saw Hermione raise an eyebrow at them and Ginny mouthed something back. He guessed it was "later" or something like that. Ron looked confused, but he did not say anything else to them.

Harry took that as a good sign and started including her in the conversation as well by asking her questions. By the end of breakfast, Harry still thought she would be fun to have around.

Harry was up early on Valentine's Day writing a note. This was not a Valentine for Ginny; that was already taken care of. This was a note for Snuffles, otherwise known as his godfather. Harry realized he had a few problems in his life that he could not solve and needed help with, or at the very least some good advice. He went to the owlery to send the request for a meeting with a school owl. He did not want to bring attention to his hidden godfather with a very obvious owl, and Hedwig had something more important to do today, he thought with a grin. That done, he went to breakfast.

Ron was already there eating, so Harry sat across from him, as was habit. A few minutes later, two girls come in and joined them. The red haired one sat next to him and the brunette sat next to Ron. "Good mornings" were exchanged.

They were well into breakfast when the morning owl deliveries came. A brown owl with white spots dropped something in front of the foursome. It only took a few seconds for everyone to realize it was bundle of white roses. Hermione grabbed the card on top to tilt it her way, then with a smile, she picked up the bundle and handed them across the table to Ginny.

Ginny took the roses and counted eleven, then found a twelfth one with a short stem attached to the ribbon that held them all together. She opened the card and read:

Roses are white,

Violets are blue,

I don't know what I'm doing,

But I do know I like you.

-Your Cautious Admirer

"What does it say and who's it from?" Ron asked.

"They're from an admirer, that's all it says. I wonder why there's one short one?" she pulled it out of the bundle and held it up.

"Hmm, I see a pin in the stem," Harry said, "so I'd guess you should wear it." He pulled the flower from her hand, the pin from the stem, and pinned it to her robes. "Lovely, someone has nice taste," he told her with a grin.

Ginny grinned and blushed slightly. "I better take these back to my room so I can put them in water." She beat a hasty retreat with a blush still on her face. During her journey, she wondered if Harry would ask her to be his girlfriend today. That would be so romantic.

"I wonder who would send her something like that?" Ron wondered.

Harry thought he had a protective look on his face, but Harry did not care. He could handle Ron if necessary.

"The obvious answer is someone who likes her, and he might even be nearby," Hermione said. She gave a quick glance at Harry, but he busied himself with the rest of his breakfast and did not see Ron glancing around trying to find someone who looked suspicious.

At lunch time, Ginny sat by Harry. "Well, this is a surprise," he told her.

She blushed slightly and pulled out an envelope and handed it to him. "I didn't know when else to give this to you."

Harry raised his eyebrow in question, but went ahead and took it from her. Opening it, he found a simple looking Valentine card. Inside, he read:

No special rhyme,

Just a simple message to tell you how much I like you,

To a special friend who's been there for me,

From a friend who will always be there for you.

Your Ginny

Ginny watched him read it, and if she did not know any better, she would have said he had tears in his eyes. Nothing leaked onto his cheeks, but his eyes seemed to get shinier. Without warning, she found herself enveloped in a hug and it felt nice. He had hugged her a few times since the Yule Ball, but they were very lose hugs. This was one of passion as she felt him hold her very tight, as if he never wanted to let go of her. In fact, she suspected the only reason he let go of her as soon as he did, was because of the noise of something being dropped on the table in front of them. Looking up, she saw a medium-sized gray owl flying away. Letting go of Harry, she saw Hermione pick up the box and hand it to her; her friend did not every bother to read the name on the package.

"Why are you handing it to me?"

Hermione smiled. "Because Ginny, you got flowers this morning and none of the rest of us have any reason to be getting anything in the middle of the day."

"Yeah, why are you getting something and who's this one from?" her brother asked. While he had not said anything to Harry about the hug, he was looking at his friend a little differently.

Ginny looked at the card with her name on it. Inside, she read:

You're sweeter than this

-Your Cautious Admirer

"It's from my admirer again." Hermione looked triumphant in her guess while Ron looked confused. Ginny ignored them both and ripped the paper off the package. "Oh my, I think I'm in heaven..."

"What? It looks like a box of Honeydukes chocolate from here," Ron observed.

"This isn't just any chocolate, Ron, this is their best dark chocolate; the kind I can't normally get." It was out of her price range, but she had had a piece of it once and had desired more. She sneaked a glance at Harry and saw him looking at her with a blank face. Slowly, so as not to alert her brother and Hermione, she reached under the table and squeezed Harry's hand while she whispered, "Thank you." To his credit, Harry's expression never changed.

When dinnertime came, Ginny was practically bouncing with excitement. She had received two gifts already, one at each meal, so she was anticipating something during this meal too. She had also received a lot of comments from all the girls in her class about the rose she was wearing. They all found it as romantic as she did.

She and her special friend went to dinner as usual, walking closely together but not touching. Again she sat next to him, and again Harry acted as he normally did.

In some ways, Harry was a very frustrating boy. He was showing interest in her and they had spent a lot of free time over the last seven weeks talking. She had found out a number of things about him, some things she was sure that even Ron and Hermione did not know. On the other hand, they had done almost nothing like a boyfriend and girlfriend. They had not even kissed yet. He had held her hand a couple of times, once even in public, so she knew he was not ashamed of her. The problem seemed to be that he was just very cautious, as he had signed his notes today, about giving his heart out. She supposed she should be very happy about that because that made her feel very special that he would consider her worth it, but it was very frustrating.

They were nearing dessert when a pure white owl flew into the Great Hall and landed in front of Ginny. She recognized Hedwig immediately. The owl's arrival had captured everyone's attention, as owls almost never came at the evening meal, unless it was to deliver a howler. Hedwig stuck her leg out and let Ginny untie a thin and very rectangular box wrapped in shiny silver paper. After she had taken the package, Ginny gave Hedwig a piece of ham and petted the bird. "Thank you, Hedwig." The owl hooted and flew off.

Ginny felt like every eye in the room was on her now, and she was not far from being right. A few Slytherins and Professor Snape did not care, but other than that, she had everyone's attention. Opening the card on the box addressed to her, she read:

Maybe this is only representative, but you have mine anyway.

Please don't open this now, but meet me in room 17 at 7.

-Your Cautious Admirer

With a smile, she put the small, thin, long box and the card into a pocket in her robes.

"Aren't you going to open it?" Ron asked.

"I will later," Ginny replied. "I don't want to open it while everyone is looking at me." She saw Harry smile slightly.

Ron now looked at his best friend. "Harry? Why was Hedwig bringing Ginny a package?"

Harry saw a small smirk grace Hermione's face. Part of Harry wanted to groan at Ron's classic cluelessness. "Why don't you ask Hedwig?" He figured a stupid question deserved a stupid answer. It was not like Ron had not seen him and Ginny talking by themselves in the Common Room over the last month or so.

"That's stupid, I can't talk to an owl." The two girls started giggling and Harry smiled. "What?" No one answered him. "Come on Harry, why would Hedwig bring her something? Wait, you don't like Ginny, do you?"

"Would it matter to you if I did?" Harry asked him back nonchalantly as he dug into his dessert. He noticed that Ginny seemed to be amused at this based on her expression.

Ron did not answer for a moment, he appeared to be actually thinking about the question. "No, I guess not," he finally said. "I trust you with her. There are some here I wouldn't."

Harry could see that seemed to rile Ginny up a bit, and this did seem like an opportunity for fun. "Thank you, Ron, I'm glad you trust me with your sister. But tell me, why does anyone have to have your stamp of approval? Ginny seems very intelligent to me. Can't she make up her own mind?"

Hermione looked somewhat scared at that question, while Ginny's expression turned slightly smug. Harry considered that perhaps Hermione was afraid of what Ron was going to say, while Ginny approved of his question.

"Well, yeah, sure she can make up her own mind, but as her older brother I have to watch out for her," Ron explained. Hermione saw the expression on Ginny's face and scooted away from Ron.

Harry saw Ginny slowly reaching for her wand and decided that perhaps he should not have too much fun at his best friend's expense. He put his hand on Ginny's wrist to stop her as he said, "Ron, if you'll look at your sister right now, I think you'll see that Ginny does not agree with you on that attitude." He did see Ron's eyes open wide and a slightly fearful look come over Ron. "For your own good, I would suggest you rethink that position and then talk to Ginny about it - not tonight, but sometime soon."

When Harry saw Ron nod, Harry gave Ginny's wrist a quick squeeze and then slowly removed his hand. "If you'll excuse me," he told them as he stood, "I believe I'll take a walk. I have some things to think about." It was fifteen before seven; he would have plenty of time for his rendezvous.

Ginny took a few minutes to finish off her pumpkin juice and cool down. She agreed with what Harry had just suggested and planned on having that conversation with her brother soon, if he did not suggest it first. "Hermione, I'll find you later in the Common Room. I'm going to go find a nice quiet place to open my gift." She saw Hermione smile; the circumstances were not lost on her intelligent friend.

After she left the Great Hall, Ginny headed up to a corridor she did not travel very often. She thought room seventeen was this way, but in truth, she was not sure. A few minutes before seven, she found that she had been right as she came to a closed door with that number. Hoping for the best, that tonight would be when she would finally have Harry for a boyfriend, she opened the door.

It was a fairly large room and empty except for one chair and a raven haired boy sitting in it. As she walked over to him, she saw him pull out his wand and cast a locking spell on the door and then put his wand back up.

"I'd like this to be an uninterrupted conversation," he told her. "Have a seat." He patted his legs with his hands.

Ginny smiled at that. It looked like they were getting more serious. Now she had a quandary: sit sideways or straddle. After a brief moment, she decided to straddle his lap so it would be easier to look at him. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she coyly told him with a slight blush, "I'm all yours."

He chuckled and put his hands on her waist to help hold her in place. "Why don't you open your gift first? That's probably a good place to start."

"OK." Ginny was feeling pretty good. They had never sat like this with him before and she liked it. She also liked his hands on her waist holding her. Ripping the paper off, she saw a black velvet case. Opening that, she saw a gold necklace with a large gold heart with a script "G" in the middle. The heart pendant was a little over an inch across and fairly thick, which allowed the necklace chain to go through it, instead of having a loop on the top of the pendant like most pieces did. When she picked it up, she found that it was quite heavy. "Thank you, Harry. This is spectacular."

"Here, allow me," he told her and took the necklace from her. Undoing the clasp, he put it around her neck, and then fumbled for nearly a half minute before getting the clasp back together. He then slipped it under the top of her shirt so it was against her skin.

"That is really nice, but why did you get such a big pendant?"

He smiled at her. "Because it needs to be big to work properly. You see, it has a couple of wards on it, and its size gives the wards something to be anchored to, and to redirect the energy to, or so it was explained to me."

"What does it do?"

"It protects you from mental attacks. That includes those that are potion based, like love potions; spells are also blocked, like Legilimency; and other more personal magical attacks, like possession."

Ginny gasped. "You mean like, uh, ..."

"Yes," he answered, knowing the question. "That's why I got it really. I wanted to give you peace of mind."

"Thank you, Harry, though that does not really express my feelings. You've done so much today and all the gifts were so expensive."

Harry chuckled. "Ginny... I'm reasonably sure they did not cost as much as you may think, but even if they did, I think you're worth it." He got embarrassed now. "I'm not sure I meant to say that, but it is how I feel. You've become a pretty special friend, right up there with Hermione and Ron."

That made her happy, happy enough to lean forward and give him a hug. She was happier still when he returned the hug. In fact, he did not let go of her at all, not that she really minded.

"I hope this is OK with you, I think I can say this better if you aren't watching me."

Ginny giggled. "I don't mind, Harry. You can hold me like this all you want."

"You're very nice to hold, Ginny. I, uh, well, you can think of that heart as mine, if you want. I've really enjoyed spending time with you and getting to know you; and I want to keep doing that, if you want to."

"I do."

"That's good to hear, but I've got a problem."

Ginny started to pull back so she could see his face, but he held her tight so she could not. Realizing this was why he was holding her, she relaxed so as not to fight him.

"I want more, Ginny, but I don't know how; or maybe I don't feel like I can. But I don't want to lose you either."

"Why not, Harry? Why can't you?"

He sighed into her hair. "I don't know, that's the maddening part about it all. I've thought of little else for the last week in my free time, but I can't figure out what's stopping me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I had spell on me that was preventing me from having a girlfriend. I want to ask you, but I can't seem to."

Ginny thought about that. She had heard of boys who would not commit, but this did not see like that. Then she had the thought that maybe he was just using her, but she instantly threw that idea out. Harry was not that kind of person and he was not asking for anything inappropriate. For some reason, he could not ask her that specific question. "What do you think we should do? Should we just act like boyfriend and girlfriend anyway?"

"I guess we could, but I'm not happy about that. Can we just continue on like we are now for a little while longer? I wrote a letter to Sirius this morning asking him to come here so we can talk. I'm hoping he'll have an answer."

She thought about that. Maybe it was a guy thing and Sirius could help him. "I suppose that would be OK for now. Maybe we can start holding hands while we wait?"

"Sure, I can do that. Thanks for being understanding." Harry let her go a little so he could kiss her lightly on the cheek before fully letting her go. He had gotten over the embarrassing part now.

"What is this place? I don't think I've ever been in this room before."

Harry smiled at her. "I haven't been in here since my first year. This was the room I found the Mirror of Erised. You know, that makes me wonder where that is and what I'd see in it now."

"Oh, I remember you telling me about that now. I wish I could see in it."

"Maybe we can ask Professor Dumbledore sometime. Well, shall we go back?"

"I suppose, but I really did like sitting in your lap, Harry."

He laughed. "I guess we can start doing that too. Hop up and we can go."

When they returned to the Gryffindor Tower, Hermione was not surprised to see them holding hands. However, Ron was.

"So, you weren't just having fun with me at dinner, were you? You really are dating."

"Not officially," Harry told him. "We're just getting a little friendlier while we consider it."

"I don't think so. If you're not really dating, you shouldn't be holding hands and things like that. It's not proper unless you're officially dating," Ron said very seriously.

Ginny pulled her wand out. "Ron, I'd hex you for that right now, but I don't want to ruin Harry's evening. I suggest you think very seriously about what I will allow you to do for me and we'll talk about it tomorrow. Come on, Harry, let's play a game of chess. We can talk about Quidditch too."

"Hey, Ginny?" Hermione called as the couple started to walk a way. "What present did you get tonight?"

Ginny smiled. "I'll show you later so the git over there doesn't have a fit." Ron looked mad now, not that Ginny cared. She led Harry over to the House chess set and they spent the rest of the night playing very slowly with lots of talk and laughter. She thought it had been a wonderful Valentine's Day - not perfect, but wonderful nevertheless. Ginny even got a very nice hug when she went to bed.

A week and a half later, Harry walked hand in hand with Ginny down to the lake with everyone else for the second task. It was quite chilly, so he was bundled up in a long cloak and scarf. Ginny was similarly dressed.

"Harry, what are you going to do since you don't know what you have to accomplish like the rest of the champions?" Hermione asked.

"More of the same," Harry said as he shrugged his indifference. "I'll do enough to participate, but I'm not taking the Tournament seriously. The only real question is how much I have to do to satisfy the requirement."

Ginny gave him a good luck hug and a kiss on the cheek as he went off to join the other champions. There, Ludo Bagman explained the task. They each had someone in the lake they had to rescue and they only had one hour to do it. For Harry, they had Ron at the bottom of the lake.

As Bagman told the contestants to get ready, Harry noticed the others strip out of their clothes down to swimming attire. He was not going to be doing that. It was cold enough dressed as he was in warm clothing. Instead, he looked around, especially along the shoreline, and finally spotted what he wanted. He had an idea, and now he thought he could do it.

There was one complication to his plan and that was the three Weasleys still on the shore. Therefore, he quickly walked over to Ginny before the task started. "Ginny, I'm going to do something that may look like I don't care about Ron, but I promise I do; you'll have to trust me. Can you please tell the twins the same thing? I don't want you or them to be surprised and get mad at me, and I don't want anyone to do something that will be regretted later."

"Are you sure, Harry?"

"Yes. If you want to, think of it as a prank on Dumbledore."

Ginny laughed. "OK, I'm sure my brothers will like that. You better get over there, the task is about to start."

Bagman started the timer and the other three champions dove into the water. Cedric and Fleur seem to have a bubble around their heads, while Viktor seemed to morph slightly as he dove in. Whatever, Harry thought.

He pulled out his wand and cast "Accio rowboat". The small craft skipped across the water towards him. He grabbed the front of the boat as it reached him. Carefully stepping in so he wouldn't get wet, he shoved off into the water. "Everyone behind me better move quickly!" he called as he wedged himself in the boat tightly. Looking back up, he noticed that a few people had not heeded his warning. To his good fortune, three of them were named Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Pointing at the water behind the boat, Harry thought about the banishing charm. Instead of a single burst, he thought about a continuous banishing. With that in mind, he cast "Sendan!"

Water went flying backward and soaked Malfoy and his friends, along with a few others who had not moved; the boat shot forward. He had gone maybe a hundred yards when the boat stopped moving. Happy with the result, he cast the spell twice more. He was now pretty far out in the lake. Three times he cast "Accio Ron Weasley!" with his wand pointing to the bottom of the middle of the lake. After a few minutes of nothing happening, Harry turned the boat around and went back to the shore happy that this task was essentially over for him.

When he returned, he stepped out of the boat and walked up to the judges. "Well, my idea didn't work, I'm done."

Dumbledore looked at him. "Harry? Aren't you going to doing anything else to rescue Mr. Weasley?"

"I already tried something, Professor. Fourth years have not learned the necessary spells to do this, so I don't know what else to do. But I'm sure it doesn't matter since you, Headmaster, put Ron down there, I'll assume you can bring him back up. If not, I suspect Mrs. Weasley will be most upset with you for putting him down there." The Headmaster was not happy with that answer, but Harry knew nothing could be done to him as he had tried. Harry looked over at his friends and saw a smile on Ginny's face and outright laughter on the twin's faces. When no one else said anything, Harry left the judges and returned to his friends. The twins were quite pleased as they did see the whole thing as a prank.

Soon Fleur came back and Harry knew that Dumbledore would have to bring two of the hostages, as he thought of them, up. While they were waiting, Harry had an inspiration and called for Dobby. Happily, Dobby came. After greeting the elf, Harry asked the elf to bring a tray of hot chocolates for him and his friends to drink while they waited; Dobby was happy to comply. As they sipped their drinks, they started talking about the task.

"Harry, I can't believe you're doing this to the Headmaster," Hermione told him.

"Hermione, don't think of me doing it to the Headmaster, think of me doing it to the Tournament."

"I think it's funny," Ginny said. "I mean it's like you're trying to finish the Tournament with a zero. The best part is that you're not getting hurt."

"No, the best part is," started Fred.

"The look on Dumbledore's face. Way to go Harry," George congratulated him.

"Thanks, guys, I'm glad you're not mad at me for not trying to get Ron."

"No problem," Ginny told him. "We do appreciate the warning, and like you said, it's Dumbledore's fault he's down there and he will have to answer to Mum if the slightest problem happens."

When the task ended, each of the other three contestants received points, while Harry again got a zero. He was sort of surprised that Dumbledore did not give him at least one point for his attempt with the rowboat, but apparently Dumbledore was too upset with him to do that. It took another half hour before the Merpeople brought Fleur's little sister and Ron back up. Fortunately, Ron was not injured in anyway, other than sleeping through about twelve hours of his life.

The Saturday after the second task came and Harry got up very early, as he had told his friends he would and that they should not expect to find him for most of the day. Grabbing the Marauder's map and putting on his Invisibility Cloak, Harry made his way to the kitchens undisturbed. It was not hard to get Dobby to put breakfast and lunch for four into his backpack.

With care, he sneaked out of the castle to the Whomping Willow. A soft whistle provoked a big black dog to reach up with his paw and press a knot on the tree. As the tree went limp, Harry hurried over to the hole in the ground and joined the dog. After taking his cloak off, he petted the dog and they walked through the tunnel to the inside of the Shrieking Shack.

The dog changed back into Sirius Black, who then hugged his godson. "Harry, it's good to see you. How are you doing?"

Harry opened his backpack up and pulled out the food so they could have breakfast. He would leave all the extra food with his godfather. "You know how it is, good and bad."

"Aye, and the bad is why you want to talk, isn't it?"

"Yes," Harry told him between bites.

"So tell me what's going on and what's bothering you. If I can help you, I will."

"You promise all of this stays between us?" Harry asked seriously.

"That bad?"

"Maybe, but that serious. I know some of this won't, uh, make some people happy, but I really need to know some things."

"Hmm," Sirius said and contemplated his godson as he ate some bacon. "I'll tell you what. I'll answer as best I can and not tell anyone, but I reserve the right not to answer all questions. There are some things that could be dangerous for you to know, though I doubt you will ask me about those."

"Good enough, I suppose." Harry debated as to which question he should start with. "I guess I'll start with the easy one first. Sirius, I've found this girl that I like..."

"Oh ho!" Sirius grinned at the young man.

"Shut it, I have a serious problem."

Sirius barely held in several retorts, all of which would have turned Harry quite red. "Sorry, Harry; you have to understand how much the four of us liked to tease each other about girls. Continue on."

"Her name is Ginny Weasley. She likes me and I've decided I like her, she's a really nice person. But, I can't ask her to be my girlfriend. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I just can't do it when I try. It's like there's a spell on me or something that stops me. I don't know what to do."

That surprised the man. "Hmm, the only thing I can think of that even comes close would be some sort of enchantment that would protect her if she was already betrothed to someone else. However, from what I know of the Weasleys, they would not betroth their daughter at a young age. If I had a wand, I could try a couple of spells to check you out."

"What? You don't have a wand?" Harry was amazed.

"No, the Ministry snapped it when I went to Azkaban."

"And why haven't you gotten another?" Harry wondered. Surely the Headmaster would have help his godfather get a replacement wand.

"Because it's damn hard to do when you're a wanted fugitive, Harry," Sirius said sarcastically.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Sirius, you're a wizard. Here, take my wand, do a few glamours to yourself and go get one. I'll wait."

The man sighed. "Harry, it's not that easy."

"Sure it is. Here," he dug into his clothes and pulled out his money pouch, "there's at least a hundred Galleons in my money bag. You can pay me back later, or not, I've got plenty. I'll hide under my cloak while you Apparate to Knockturn Alley and get a wand. You should also get a few clothes."

Sirius looked at his godson and then started laughing. "With the right person to help you, maybe it is that easy." He waved the wand over himself and changed his face, his hair, and finally his clothes. "Back as fast as I can." He put a sealing ward over the shack entrance to protect Harry and then Apparated away.

Harry hid under his cloak and tried to take a nap, but he could not quite get comfortable enough for that. Half an hour later, a soft crack sounded in the shack and caused him to jump.

"Harry?"

The boy took the cloak off and looked at his godfather, who had a big bag in his hand. He also handed Harry's wand back to him. "Thanks, kiddo! That helps more than you can know. Here's the change. I owe you about ninety Galleons, but let's call it an even hundred for being such a nice guy."

"Whatever," Harry said and grinned. "Now, can you check for any spells on me?"

Sirius pulled out his new wand and cast four different spells. "Nope, nothing at all. Not even a tracking spell, which would not have surprised me. So, back to your problem, why do you feel you can't ask her?"

"I don't know. I can tell her that I want to ask her, and I can tell her that I can't. I don't understand how I can get so close but not do it."

"Very interesting. Let's try something else. I want you to close your eyes and think about Ginny for a moment." Sirius waited until Harry looked relaxed. "Now, I want you to think about asking her to be your girlfriend, but don't say anything to me. Just think about the question and let all of your thoughts and feelings swirl in your mind." He again allowed a short pause. "Now, try to sum all of that up into one word. What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of the question."

"Scared," Harry said without hesitation.

"You're scared?" Harry nodded. "All right, you have a fear. What's the fear? Rejection?"

Harry shook his head. "No, it's bigger," he whispered.

Sirius could see the struggle on the boy's face. "Loss?"

"Close, I'm lost. No, she's lost. She comes and then goes." Harry sounded like he was in a trance. Small beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. "She goes and I can't save her again."

"You almost lost her once?"

"Years ago in the Chamber, I barely saved her life and almost died." Harry continued to struggle. "Lost my parents too." Harry started to speak faster. "Almost lost you too. That's it! I'm afraid of her dying, people who I care about and get close to me usually die. I can't do that to her."

"Whoa, Harry. Let's not jump to conclusions here."

"But don't you see, that is the conclusion. Ron almost got killed in my first year by the giant chess pieces. Hermione barely escaped death from a Troll. Oh no, I gotta leave so my troubles won't hurt them."

"Harry, stop! STOP!" Harry finally shut up so Sirius could talk. "There, now let's talk about his calmly and rationally. I know we live in a dangerous world and we all experience loss. I can tell you a number of stories about losing family and close friends, but that does not mean I'm the cause of all the death and injury. And think of someone like Dumbledore who's really old, think about how much loss he's seen. Again, I'll tell you that any of his friends who have had problems are not Dumbledore's fault. Bad stuff happens to people merely because they live. Do you understand that?"

Harry thought carefully. "Maybe. I was around all of those times, but I guess you have a point. It was my idea to go after the Philosopher's Stone, but it could have been anyone of us who was on the chess piece that got hurt."

"Exactly."

"And Hermione got in trouble with the troll because she ran off on her own."

"Right. You went to save her," Sirius agreed.

"And with my parents, I was only one year old..."

"Right, you could barely crawl and talk. And as for me, that definitely wasn't your fault. So now that you understand, let me take it all one step further. When you isolate yourself, things get worse. You need friends with you to help make you strong, to cover each other's backs. So don't push your friends away. You'll only hurt yourself and cause them worry."

"So I need to ask Ginny?"

"Yes! Having a good girlfriend is very beneficial. Is she understanding? Does talking to her helps you understand things?" Harry nodded. "Will she stand by you when things get rough?" Harry nodded again. "Does she make life better?" Again Harry nodded. "Then don't delay, Harry my boy. When you get back this evening, take her someplace private, I can suggest several good closets for that, hold her in your arms, and ask her to officially be your girlfriend. It's really easy. I think your magic was sub-consciously preventing you from asking her."

"Right," Harry agreed. "I can do that. If I can stand up to Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster about not taking Potions, then I can do this easily."

"You did what?!" Sirius asked amazed, so Harry took a half hour to tell that story. By the time Harry was done, Sirius had fallen on the floor and was literally rolling in laughter. "Oh man, I would have loved to have seen Snape's face when Minerva took the body bind off. I have to hand it to you, Harry. That was done with style, truly worthy of a Marauder."

"Thanks!"

"Well, we've wandered far off our path. You said you had a second problem?"

Harry sighed. "I do. Not only do I need advice, I'm going to need help."

Sirius waited patiently while Harry thought about how to start this one.

"OK, I've noticed some things in my life that don't make sense, things I don't like either, things I want to change or at least understand. First, I've noticed that I'm treated very differently. When it was time for my Hogwarts letter, it was mailed to me and then Hagrid came and got me when the Dursleys wouldn't let me respond. But I've talked to Hermione, who is Muggleborn, and Neville, who also has no parents though he does live with his Gran, and neither of them had anything like my experience. Sure Neville had his Gran to explain things, but Professor McGonagall went to Hermione's house to talk to her parents and explain things. Hagrid is my friend and I know he wouldn't hurt anyone unless he was protecting himself, but he's scary looking to people who don't know him, especially Muggles."

"Hmm, I'm not sure what the school policy is on that, Harry, but I can see what you're pointing to. Go on with the other things you've noticed."

"I also don't understand why I have to stay with the Dursleys. They've mistreated me for as long as I can remember. I can even remember having to go to the hospital because Uncle Vernon broke my arm when he got angry with me, and I did not want to leave the hospital because those strangers were so much nicer than my relatives." That got Sirius's attention. "I've told the Headmaster this and yet he keeps sending me back. When I asked him why, the only thing I could get out of him was it's because there are some blood wards there to protect me, but that's obviously not true considering how much the Dursleys, all three of them, have hurt me. When I ask why about that, he won't give me any answers."

"Interesting, this is the first I've heard of those blood wards, and I have no idea what they would protect you from. Hmm, I think I may have to pay a little visit to your relatives. Anything else Harry?"

"Related to that, now that I know that I have a live, honest-to-goodness, godfather, I'd like to go live with you in the summer, but Dumbledore tried to forbid it. He even said he was my wizard guardian, but he also couldn't produce anything from my parents stating that he was."

Sirius thought about that. "You know, now that I have a wand, I believe I'll be able to help you out now; I couldn't before since I was always on the run, literally. Let me think about that. As for Albus being your wizard guardian, I suppose he does that with all students who don't have wizard parents or guardians."

"But what gives him the right? What did my parents want? I've never even seen their will." Harry was starting to get worked up. "Hell, my Muggleborn friend knew more about my parents than I did when I started school. Who was I supposed to have gone to? Surely my parents stated that."

"Aye, they did. I was first on the list and there were a handful of names after mine; none of them were Dursley either."

Harry swore.

Sirius laughed so Harry glared at him. "Harry, be glad I'm not a professor or you'd be in detention for that combination of words. But I can see you're serious about this, so I will investigate it for you. Anything else?"

"Yes. Bad things, and I mean very bad things, keep happening to me. In my first year, I had to face Voldemort twice and I killed Professor Quirrell. In my second year, I had to face a young but still powerful version of Voldemort housed in a diary, in addition to fighting a sixty-foot long basilisk. You know what happened my third year with all the Dementors and Wormtail. And now this year, someone has entered my name in the Triwizard Tournament, and no matter how much everyone thinks Professor Moody is crazy, I think I believe him when he says that someone did it to get me killed. Worse yet, I think there's at least one more something I should be adding to this whole list, but it keeps just eluding my grasp."

"That's some list, Harry. I can see why you're looking at it. That's a lot of coincidences to happen to one person."

"You don't know why?" Harry asked.

"No; sorry, kiddo."

"Damn! I was hoping you'd see a pattern. The only thing I can come up with is that Professor Dumbledore seems to be involved in each of those stories in some way. Usually indirectly, but for some he's a main character. So I know he must know more than he's telling me." Harry sighed in his frustration.

"Interesting observation. You know, Harry, you're missing two other people who are in every one of your problems, though sometimes very indirectly."

"Who?"

"Yourself for one," Sirius grinned and then laughed at Harry's face. "Second, Voldemort plays a part. You know, fear of Voldemort was why your parents went into hiding just after your first birthday. I never found out the full reason, just that it had something to do with Voldemort, who made Wormtail turn traitor, and then His Snakiness killed your parents before trying to kill you."

Harry's face lit. "That's it! That was what I was trying to think of. How many other students have had Voldemort personally come after them and their family? And Dumbledore was involved in that to, as he came at the end and took me away to the Dursleys."

"Yes, a very interesting set of circumstances indeed. I shall have to give this some thought. I doubt I'll come to any earth-shattering conclusions, but you never know. Can I share all of this with Remus Lupin? He was usually the brains in the group."

Harry considered that. "If you'll make him promise not to share it with anyone else. I really don't want this in any form to get back to the Headmaster. I really meant it when I said I'm not going back to the Dursleys, and I am seriously considering going to Beauxbatons next year if anything else bad happens this year."

Sirius nodded. "I understand, Harry. I don't think Remus will have any trouble promising before I tell him. I have no problem with you coming to live with me once I get my house set up, and I really don't care what school you go to, as long as it's a good one. Well, at least we got one of your problems solved and we can work on the other one over the next few months. Why don't you dig some lunch out of that bag and we can eat while you tell me about the second task."

Harry pulled out the sandwiches while Harry told about his un-champion behavior. Sirius almost choked when he started laughing about Dumbledore's reaction to Harry's solution to the task. They also spent several hours just talking and getting to know one another. Harry was glad he had asked his godfather to come to visit him.

Ginny was bored and a little worried. She had all of her homework that was due Monday done, so she was only doodling. Ginny was also wondering where Harry was. It would be time for dinner soon and he still had not shown up.

From literally nowhere, a small piece of parchment appeared in her lap. It said, "Room 17". Without hesitation, she picked her things up to take them to her room. This could only mean one thing, or rather one person.

"Where are you going? Hermione asked. She was working on a Potions essay.

"I need to walk and get some exercise before dinner. I'll see you there."

"Want some company?" her friend asked.

"No, thanks; I'll see you at dinner." She put her book bag on her bed and then quickly walked to room seventeen. She was walking fast enough that someone else had trouble keeping silent while matching her pace. That made her smile. She opened the door to the room, paused for a few extra seconds to let someone else go in first, then she went in and closed the door behind her.

Ginny had barely made it in when Harry appeared, the Invisibility Cloak now visible on the floor, and his arms went around her. "Hi, Harry," she told him with a smile and wrapped her arms around him. "Miss me?" she asked teasingly.

"Yes!" He told her with a big smile.

She laughed. "I take it Sirius helped you?"

"Yes. He helped me understand some things, then he told me to ask you to be my girlfriend. So Ginny? Will you be my girlfriend?"

Ginny pushed herself up and kissed Harry on the lips for the first time. It was a long, leisurely kiss, one that promised so much more in the future.

"I should take that for a yes?" Harry asked breathlessly.

"Uh-huh," Ginny murmured before she kissed him again. They barely made it to the Great Hall before the food was cleared away.

March, April, and May went fairly well for Harry. He and Ginny still spent a lot of time talking, though some snogging sessions found their way into the couple's schedule. Harry was also enjoying his two classes with the Beauxbatons professors and students. With a decent teacher, Potions was almost a joy, though it would never be as fun as his Defense class. He was also now fluent in French.

On the day of the third task, Professor McGonagall told him he had some "family" to see him and he could spend the day with them. She led him to the Trophy Room where he found Mrs. Weasley and Bill waiting for him.

"Harry dear, how are you?" Mrs. Weasley gave him a big hug. Bill shook his hand.

"I'm fine Mrs. Weasley."

"How's Ginny? She tells me in her letters that she's seeing a lot of you these days," the woman told him with a smile.

Harry blushed. "She's doing very well. We've had a lot of very long talks and have enjoyed getting to know one another." He tried not to think about any of their times in the broom closets here and there so his blush would not get him into more trouble.

"That's good to hear," the woman told him. They were slowly walking down the main corridor of the castle. "Harry? How do you feel about the Tournament? Are you doing fine there too?"

"Certainly, it's no trouble at all, at least if you don't count that stupid reporter and her articles." Harry had continued to avoid Rita Skeeter, not that it helped a lot. The reporter seemed to have no trouble inventing nasty quotes about him out of thin air.

"I quite agree with you on that woman," Mrs. Weasley said. "So Harry, are you going to try to do something on this last task?"

Harry thought that was a strange question from her. In looking at Bill, he noticed a puzzled look on Bill's face too. He decided he needed to be careful here. "Since I'm only a fourth year, I have no hope of winning, so I don't see why it matters." He watched her carefully to see if he could find a reason why she was asking this.

"Of course it matters, Harry. You want everyone to think well of you. You shouldn't abandon the task and do nothing. What would people think of you?"

"Well, all of my friends think I'm doing the right thing by trying to be safe. Or are you saying that it's OK for me to get hurt doing this?" Harry asked. The trap was set; he hoped he wouldn't have to spring it.

"Of course not, Harry. I want you to be safe just like I do all of my children. But you know Professor Dumbledore would make sure you wouldn't get hurt in this," she told him with confidence.

Harry mentally sighed, sorry that he was going to have to do this anyway. "Mrs. Weasley? Did Professor Dumbledore ask your permission to put Ron in a coma and then put him at the bottom of the lake for the second task, especially when he already knew I would be unable to get Ron out?"

"He did what?!" the woman almost screamed.

"You're saying the Headmaster involved Ron in the second task?" Bill confirmed.

"Yes. Each champion had a person to rescue at the bottom of the lake. They were taken the night before the task. Best as I can tell, the only way to rescue the person was with seventh year spells. So as you can see, I had no hope of completing the task. Therefore, I made a token effort, as is required of me. The first task was similar. The Conjunctivitis Curse and the major Fire Shield spells are also seventh year spells; again, I had no hope."

"Charlie told me what you were up against and I wouldn't have even wanted to attempt it," Bill told him.

Mrs. Weasley was in partial shock as she worked through what had happened to her youngest son. "He lied to me," she muttered.

It was not hard for Harry to guess what she was talking about. "I suspect he would tell you he had only left out part of the story, which he has done to me in the past. Did he ask you to talk to me about the third task?" Harry was certain they were discussing the same "he", but by using only the pronoun, Harry could try to get information out of Mrs. Weasley without being wrong about the person's identity.

Mrs. Weasley huffed. "That old coot, just wait until I see him again." She let out an angry noise before she turned to Harry. "Yes, he asked me to try to convince you to really compete."

Harry was not surprised. "How does it feel to be manipulated like that?" Both of the Weasleys looked shocked at hearing that. "Yeah, it's not very nice to think about, is it? I have several mysteries in my life that I can't figure out and every one of them has Professor Dumbledore in them somewhere. I think he knows the answers, but he won't tell me."

"But Harry," Molly protested, "adults can't tell their children everything. They're not ready to deal with it."

Harry wanted to groan. He was so close to getting her to see his point, but her motherly instincts were stopping her. "Mrs. Weasley, if I were five I'd understand; but I'm almost fifteen. I know I still have a lot to learn, but I know more than the average fifteen year-old."

"I disagree..."

"Mrs. Weasley? How many times have you stared death in the face? How many times have you been one wrong decision away from dying a sudden death?"

"None, but that doesn't matter..."

"Yes it does," Harry said forcefully. "I can tell you don't like to think about it, but please do for just a few minutes. I have stared down death three times since I started school here, and that does not count the dragon I avoided in the tournament. I've even killed someone, Mrs. Weasley." She gasped and started to move to hug him, but he stepped away which shocked and stopped her. "So can you, for just a moment, please admit that there is something special happening to me, that I need to know what all is going on around me? Can you admit that I need information if I'm going to stay safe? Can you see that by having faced death multiple times, I know more about life than the average person my age? Can you please treat me like an adult, or at least like Bill?" He saw a smile on the oldest Weasley boy's face.

"I don't know, Harry," she finally told him. "I've always seen you as another child of mine."

"But even children grow up; look at the man beside you," Harry told her.

"I know, Harry, but even then, I don't like it."

Now Harry sighed out loud. "I suppose I can see that, but you're going to have to get used to the fact that I'm not a normal boy." He thought of next year and decided to prime the pump for that while they were discussing growing up.

"Mrs. Weasley? How would you like to save some money on Ron and Ginny's education and let them learn more about another culture?"

She got a suspicious look on her face. "What are you talking about?"

"I haven't fully decided yet, but I've been thinking about going to Beauxbatons Academy next year." Molly eyebrows went to the top of her head. "I don't know that I will, but I have looked into it because of several bad professors and a Headmaster who won't tell me anything. I've been taking a couple of classes with the Beauxbatons Students and professors, and I like them. It's also five hundred Galleons a year cheaper per student."

"So you're thinking of transferring?"

"Yes. I'd also like to take a few friends with me, and I think Ron and Ginny would like it there. I've learned more about Potions this year with Professor Ferguson then I did in my other three years combined with Snape." Harry waited to see what she would say.

Molly thought about it for nearly a full minute. "I don't know what to say."

"I understand, but you don't need to decide right now. However, I would be grateful if you would think about it. I really would like to take a few friends with me," he told her with a grin.

That seemed to end the hard discussions and the rest of the day was spent telling stories from both Molly's and Bill's days at Hogwarts. They seemed to be more carefree days, days in which the people did not find themselves unknowing entered into potentially deadly tournaments.

The third task had started. Cedric, who had been in the lead point-wise, had entered the maze of shrubbery over five minutes ago. Viktor and Fleur had run in a little less than a minute after the leader. At the five and half minute mark, Ludo Bagman told Harry to go.

Harry entered the maze and at the T-intersection about ten yards in, he stopped and pulled out his wand. Pointing it straight in front of him, which should have been where the center of the maze was, and hence the trophy, he cast "Accio Triwizard Cup". After a few second of nothing happening, he turned around and went back to the entrance of the maze where everyone could see him and sat down just barely inside. Not really having anything else to do, he pulled out a pack of Exploding Snap cards, and began to play the solitaire version of the game.

Dumbledore and Bagman come up to him, but it was the Headmaster that asked the question. "Harry, what are you doing?"

Harry looked up from his cards as he was about to lay them out. "As I've told you every other time, I'm trying to survive something I never should have been in to begin with."

Bagman looked really upset at Harry and Dumbledore looked resigned. Looking over at the other judges, he saw that Percy was ignoring him, Karkaroff was wearing a huge smile, and Madame Maxime gave him a small smile and a nod.

Harry had talked to the Headmistress about the tournament and his non-participant stance. She had told him that she admired him for what he was doing. Knowing one's limits and not exceeding them to avoid serious injury or death was a mature thing to do. While he felt she was being truthful with him, he also felt she appreciated it because it gave Fleur a better chance to win. Because that was so obvious, he did not feel the same way towards her as he would of Dumbledore telling him the same thing.

Harry was starting on his sixth game almost an hour later when the hedges started to fall apart, leaves and twigs flying and falling from the top down, as if someone had taken a huge set of shears and started trimming the hedges an inch at a time. Harry grabbed his cards and came out of the entrance to the maze. After putting his cards back into an inner pocket, he dusted the leaves off of himself. Ginny joined him a minute later and picked some more leaves out of his hair.

When the shrubbery had disappeared, Cedric Diggory could be seen standing in the center of the maze holding the Trophy. The Hogwarts students cheered, Harry was as happy for Cedric as everyone else.

The other two champions could be seen. Krum was weakly fighting what appeared to be a Sireen, but it was not acting like a real Sireen, so Harry thought it must have been a Boggart. Fleur was seen talking to a Sphinx. There were a number of other things visible, like a giant spider as well as a full grown blast-ended Skewt. Harry was very glad not to have gone any further into the maze.

Krum and Fleur were rescued from their monsters and brought over for the official awarding of the Triwizard Cup. Cedric happily accepted it and it was obvious that his parents were very proud of him. Harry was amused when Cedric even gave him credit for helping him to win, that Harry had been a good sport by not distracting anyone and by supporting him the entire time.

Harry was glad it was all over and he could be normal now, or as normal as he ever was, he considered. As he was about to walk back to the castle for the after-tournament party, Professor Moody put a hand on his shoulder.

"Potter, I'd like a word with you in private for a moment."

"It can't wait until tomorrow, Professor?" He really wanted to go to the party; a Butterbeer sounded great right now and he knew there would be some there.

"I won't keep you long, Potter. I want to talk to you over there about the Tournament," he said in his gruff voice. He had pointed behind him.

Harry noticed that the old man had kept his hand on Harry's shoulder. That and the insistence seemed odd to him. "OK, let me give my girlfriend a hug good-bye." He turned to Ginny, who was looking at him strangely, and hugged her. "Get McGonagall and rescue me, something's wrong," he whispered into her ear. As he pulled back, he said out loud, "See you at the party in a few minutes."

He turned and started walking slowly with the Professor, whom he noticed had them heading towards the front gates. Moody was asking about what he had seen during the three tasks, and what people had said. Harry imagined it was a lot like what an Auror would do during an investigation. He hoped Ginny understood and hurried; he was quite sure he could not take Moody down on his own.

Ginny watched her boyfriend walk away with their Defense professor. She was confused by the man's actions and she had to agree with her boyfriend: something was not right here.

After they had walked away, she turned and scanned the crowd walking towards the castle. There, not more than fifty yards from her was Professor McGonagall. She started walking quickly at first, then after she passed some people, she started running.

"Professor McGonagall!" she called as she reached the side of her head of house. "Something is wrong, very wrong, and you need to help."

The usually stern looking woman looked at her. "What's wrong, Miss Weasley?"

"It's Professor Moody. He said he has to talk to Harry right now and he's leading him towards the front gate. Professor Moody was acting funny too, funny even for him."

Mentally McGonagall laughed at the last part, though she did not show it. She stopped her walk back to the castle and looked backwards. In the half moon, she could barely see two figures walking away from the castle. She could not tell who they were, but one was definitely taller than the other. She had to admit, Ginny made a good case for this being "funny".

"Please, Professor," Ginny begged. "Harry thinks something's wrong, but he needs help to figure out what it is."

"Very well, let's go see what's happening." The two women started briskly walking after the two figures in the distance. They were walking almost twice as fast as the ones in the lead, so it did not take long for them to get near.

As they neared the lake, Harry heard the voice he had been waiting for. "Alastor?"

Moody suddenly turned around and seemed to pull up a shield in front of him as he fired a Stunning Spell at the Deputy Headmistress. As the woman shot a spell back to defend herself, Harry quickly pulled out his wand and stunned Moody in the back. For all of his talk about "Constant Vigilance", Moody had forgotten about the boy behind him.

McGonagall came running over. "Harry, what were you doing?"

"I was trying to get an imposter captured. This didn't seem like the real Moody, because the real Moody wouldn't take me to someplace less safe," Harry reasoned.

"Maybe he's under the Imperius Curse or something then. Harry, take his wand." She tied the man on the ground up to be safe. If she was wrong, she knew Alastor would understand. With a flick of her wand, the unconscious Professor floated behind the other three as they made their way to the castle.

As they reached the doors to the castle, the Headmaster came out. "There you are, Minerva. What do you have?"

"I don't know, Albus." McGonagall slightly flustered; she did not like not knowing what was going on. "Mr. Potter claims Alastor was acting strangely, even for him, and I think I'd have to agree. He was taking Harry towards the front gates as if to remove him from the school."

"I have to agree that would be most unusual," the old man said. Just then, the prisoner on the ground started going through mild convulsions. A few seconds later, the magical eye and the artificial leg fell off. The four onlookers were now starting at a much younger looking man. "Barty Crouch, Jr.! This is most interesting. Minerva, please find Severus and have him bring some Veritaserum to Moody's quarters. You should also probably get our Minister of Magic and bring him with you, but don't tell him who we found. Just tell him we have a problem that he needs to know about. I suspect we are about to find out some very interesting things."

The older woman left and the Headmaster turned to the two students. "I thank you, Mr. Potter, for your good deed this evening. I know the real Alastor Moody will thank you too when we find him. In the meantime, why don't the two of you go enjoy the party?"

"Will you tell us what you find out?" Harry asked.

"I'm sure I'll be able to tell you some of it. I don't want to make any promises before I find out what he knows though."

Harry started feeling incensed again. "If it's something that doesn't affect me, I understand. But if it affects me, even indirectly, I want to know. I can't make good decisions if I don't have enough information."

"We'll see, Harry. Enjoy the party," Dumbledore told them as he took the unconscious Death Eater into the castle.

As Harry readied to board the carriages to go to the Hogwarts Express to go home for the summer, he saw the real Alastor Moody overseeing things. The ex-Auror had indeed sought out Harry; they had had conversation after the Leaving Feast. Harry thought back to that time last night.

"Potter?" The Defense profressor called out. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, Professor," Harry had agreed and went to a nearby classroom.

Moody shut the door behind him. "Potter, I want to thank you for helping. Dumbledore told me that it was you who figured out Crouch was not me. Being imprisoned my own trunk and forced to give up my secrets, well, I thank you for rescuing me from that."

Harry thought the teacher wanted to say more, but could not quite bring himself too. "You're welcome, Professor."

The older man snorted. "Not much of a professor, was I?"

Harry shrugged, "Maybe not as yourself, but since the imposter had to be like you, I did learn a lot this year. Professor, could you tell me what he said? No one will tell me what happened, and I know it affects me."

Moody snorted. "It's hard to be vigilant when you don't know what to be on the look out for, isn't it?" Harry nodded. "Well, Potter, Crouch's plan had been to get you away from the castle. Once he had done that, he was going to take you to where Voldemort was in order to use you in some ritual to get the Dark Lord a new body." Harry was very surprised at that. "Unfortunately, by the time the information was obtained, and Albus had gotten past many nasty accusations against him by Fudge, no one was found at the location. So it's all speculation as far as Fudge is concerned."

"Except for one captured Death Eater who was supposed to be dead?"

A gruff laugh escaped the man. "Good point, Potter, except for him."

"Thank you for telling me this, Proffessor."

"My pleasure, Potter. Work hard and keep an eye open for trouble." With that said, the one-legged man had left.

Harry very grateful for the ex-Auror telling him the information, as he was grateful for not having been an unwilling participant in the Dark Ritual. Moody was right, it was hard to be vigilant when you did not know what to be vigilant for.

That was in contrast to when Harry had talked to the Headmaster the morning after the capture. The Headmaster had told him nothing useful at all, other than it was Crouch Jr. who had put his name in the Goblet of Fire for some nefarious purpose, a purpose which was not named except to say that it would have benefited Voldemort.

On the train ride home, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione secured a compartment just for themselves. Ginny sat very close to Harry and held his hand.

Ron seemed to sigh as if he had a depressing thought. "I really am going to have to get used to seeing you two like that, aren't I? These last few months weren't something temporary, were they?"

"Nope, I don't plan to let go of him," Ginny said with a bright smile on her face.

Harry looked pretty happy too. "Well, there is one way out of it for you Ron."

"What?"

"I think the abduction attempt by Crouch Jr. was one thing too many for me." His friends had been astounded when he had told them the story Moody had relayed. "So I'm going to transfer to Beauxbatons Academy for next year. I'd really like all three of you to go," he turned to look at his girlfriend, "especially you, but if you don't want to come, I'll understand."

Hermione was the first to answer. "I don't know, Harry. I really like Hogwarts and I'm not sure about the travel."

"Madame Maxime has promised me International Portkeys for me and my friends as needed," Harry told her. "Also consider that we'll get to go over early, probably just after Ginny's birthday, you'll become fluent in French, plus think about all the new cultural experiences." Hermione looked torn.

"I know why you want Ginny to go, but do you really think it would work out for me, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Sure. They have four Quidditch teams in the school over there too. We'll all help you adjust. Besides, if you don't go, you'll have to get a new chess partner while you're at school. Although, I suppose if seeing Ginny and I hold hands is too much for you, you should stay at Hogwarts," he teased his friend.

"You're right, I should go so I can watch over Ginny." At Ginny's changed expression, Ron quickly added, "Just teasing, Ginny, just teasing." He remembered their little conversation from a few months back very vividly. When they had finished their talk, Ron had fully agreed to leaving her alone unless she asked for help with a boy. Besides, he really did trust Harry with Ginny.

"Talk to your parents and send me an owl before the end of July," Harry told them. "I have to tell Madame Maxime by the first of August, and we'll have to tell Professor Dumbledore by then if we're not going to Hogwarts. Also, don't forget that it's five hundred Galleons cheaper then Hogwarts because of fewer government taxes."

"Well, I know I'm going," Ginny told him.

"I talked to your mum about it to help her start thinking about it, but have you heard a yes from her already?" Harry was surprised she had not shared that news yet.

"No, I haven't heard from her about it, but I've got to go so I can protect you from all the French witches," Ginny explained with a smile.

Harry leaned over and kissed her cheek. "As a last resort if she says no, you could tell her that you owe me a life debt and I want you to come as payment."

Ginny got a calculating look on her face. "That might work, but as you say, that would be a last resort." Ginny looked at Harry then back at Hermione and Ron. They looked comfortable, so she stood and pulled on Harry's hand. "Come on Harry, let's go for a walk. There's something else we need to talk about."

Ron looked at Hermione after the door had closed. "They're not just going for a walk are they?"

Hermione dug out a book from her bag. "Probably not. I suspect they'll discuss Harry's living arrangements now that Sirius has a place. And I imagine they'll discuss other things."

"I just can't believe my little sister has a boyfriend and snogs," Ron complained. It was just unfair that she would do that before him, he thought.

"Hush, Ron. It's good for both of them to have a friend like that. Besides, I doubt anyone else would understand either of them."

"What do you mean?"

Hermione shook her head slightly at his cluelessness. "Ron, how many other boys are there for Ginny to get to know who can really understand what she went through in her first year? Who else has experience dealing with You-Know-Who? As for Harry, how many girls know You-Know-Who and have had to fight him like Ginny has? Those two have a special understanding, not to mention they're cute together." Hermione giggled as she opened next year's Ancient Runes book. Ron sighed and pulled out a Quidditch magazine.

Back in the baggage car, Harry held Ginny close, enjoying the feel of her body against his. "So are you really glad you're my girlfriend?"

"Yes, without a doubt. Why do you ask? I would think it would be obvious."

"I just want to make sure. I've found a girl who's a great friend and I don't want to lose her."

"Not bloody likely..."

Harry leaned down and kissed her. As they parted, Ginny giggled. "What? Was the kiss that bad?" he asked her.

Ginny giggled again. "No, you're a very nice kisser. I was just thinking that's one French thing you won't have to learn." She silenced his protests with another kiss.

He was definitely going to have to make sure she came to Beauxbatons with him.

END