Hello Allison. I've had this story on my mind for two days now. OK Great! I have little time these days, but I'll make some time to do that. I love guessing! What a clever way to start a post. I love the way you wrote this. And I completely agree with them not wanting to tell the others. Hermione would first be trying to convense them that it was such a long time ago, and that form of magic is so uncertain. And Ron would want to talk to his dad about it to see if he knew anything from the ministry side of it. Then Harry and Abby would go balistic with Ron and Hermione continually worrying over them, and always trying to think of ways to keep it from happening. That ^ reminded me of when everyone at Hogwarts thought Harry was a direct decendant of Voldemorts and he would petrify them. Loved this. ^ She does have a way with words doesn't she? Its good he has Abby, because Dumbledore didn't handle the situation at all. I love Dumbledore but I think he was wrong on this ignoring Harry.
Great post Allison. I'll be watching for your next post.

Thanks Jennie and Connie for your lovely comments. s you both! Abby is in a very similar position with her magic as Harry was in his second world. I'll be looking for your pm about what you think

Lupin and I sat there for a couple of minutes, neither of us saying anything. Deciding I might as well practice some more with him in the room I started to try some more complicated spells, Professor Lupin merely watching and nodding his head when I managed to cast the spells ice free.

After about an hour Lupin told me that he had to go, so we parted way, Lupin giving me a hug before he left. Professor Lupin was like a second father to me, and I appreciated his willingness to help me even when things are rough. As he closed the door behind him I looked down at my watch to see what time it was. 8:00....if I didn't hurry I was going to be late to our secret Defense Against the Dark Arts meeting.

I ran when I could and walked casually when people were around me, and I made sure the entire seventh corridor was clear before I walked back in front of the portrait three times, and pushed the huge wooden doors open. Almost everyone was there already, Ron, Hermione, and Harry huddled in a small circle discussing what they should teach for the lesson.

"There you are," said Hermione as I joined them. "How did it go?"

"I think I've got things under control," I said, turning to look around the room and meeting Seamus' eyes. He smiled at me warmly and I smiled back.

"We were discussing what we should do for our lesson today," said Ron, giving the ground a gentle kick. I reached in to his mind, wondering what had him so down, and I realized Hermione had received a letter from Krum earlier in the day.

"We could always work on some more protective spells, like Protego," I offered.

"Good idea," Harry said with a small smile before turning to address the room.

"Everyone quiet please," Hermione called out, everyone falling silent at once. Hermione nodded at Harry that he was free to go.

"Okay, so today I thought we would work on Protego, which is another defensive spell that can be quite useful. For those of you who don't know what it is, it basically produces a shield that can deflect spells. Now, in order to do this we need to pair up again, but if you can try to alternate between people you practice with. You know, to get a look at different styles and strength of spells."

Harry waited until they were all paired off before telling them to step to the side so he could demonstrate how the spell worked.

"Mind if you demonstrate with me Abby?" Harry asked, before adding quietly, "you know, if you're ready."

"Sure, I can help," I said with a smile.

Harry nodded happily before heading off to the other end of the room. "Alright, on the count of three I am going to cast Rictusempra at Abby and she is going to block the spell with Protego." Harry shifted his focus to me.

"One...two...three," Harry said.

He flicked his wand and pronounced the spell and just as the spell was about to leave his wand I yelled Protego, the spell being absorbed into the shield before the shield disappeared clearly. Harry nodded encouragingly at me and everyone in the room clapped at the demonstration. To my surprise everyone in the room thought I was just as good of a witch as Harry if not better.

"Now go on everyone and practice, but be sure to space yourselves out. And try not to use offensive spells that will cause a lot of damage in case your partner's shield doesn't work the first time," Harry said, eyeing Colin Creevey who appeared to be plotting a good spell to use against a Hufflepuff that made fun of how attached he was to his camera.

Harry headed back over to me while everyone else started to practice. "So, the teachers were able to help you?" Harry asked as we watched Hermione send Ron flying backwards.

"Yeah, they were great. Professor Lupin actually came and helped quite a bit."

Harry smiled. "I wish we had Professor Lupin this year rather than that old toad."

"You and me both," I said, watching Seamus who casted a perfect shield to block Dean's spell.

"How are you and Seamus doing?" Harry asked, following my gaze.

I turned and looked at him. "Good I suppose. He's very understanding, you know?"

Harry raised his eyebrows at me. "Well...he's understanding now at least."

I smiled slightly. "How was your lunch with Cho?" I asked, shifting my focus to her. I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of her friend, but she was not having a very easy time casting the shield charm.

"It was good, but I don't know. All she seems to want to do is talk about Cedric."

I exhaled deeply. "Well, perhaps she thinks that you can help her grieve, or at least offer some form of explanation as to what happened to him."

"Yeah, but to be honest I don't like thinking about Cedric's death. It's bad enough that I dream about it all the time."

I nodded my head in understanding. The past week Harry had dreamt of nothing but Cedric dying. It was like that scene kept being played, then rewound, and then replayed again, over and over until Harry finally woke up in sweats.

"The nightmares will pass I am sure. It will just take time," I said with a sympathetic smile.

"Abby?"

"Yeah," I said, trying not to laugh as a disgruntled Ron got up after being knocked on the ground for the fifth straight time.

"Do you think you'll stay with Seamus?"

I turned to look at Harry, completely taken off guard by the question. "Well...I don't really know Harry. I'm taking it day by day."

Harry nodded, before turning to look at Cho Chang. We didn't speak for the rest of the lesson and I couldn't help but wonder why it was that Harry wanted to know because he had been trying very hard to think of everything but our conversation.

"Good job everyone. As you know this is our last lesson before the holidays," Harry said, nodding in understanding as people groaned. "But I promise as soon as we get back from the holidays we will continue practicing. But really everyone, just well done. I couldn't be more proud."

Everyone clapped loudly, Fred and George whistling in approval, before everyone collected their things and headed out. I turned to look at Cho Chang who was standing by the mirror, looking at the picture of Cedric that we had posted there.

"Are you ready?" Seamus asked, coming up next to me.

"Yeah," I said with a smile, pulling my eyes off of Harry who was heading over to her.

Everyone in the room had left for the four of us. I knew what Harry was thinking and I definitely didn't want to be there for it. So I took Seamus' hand and led him out of the room, the picture of Harry's lips upon Cho's filling my mind.

It was irrational but all I wanted to do was run back in to the room and tell Harry no. Tell Harry that it was me that he should kiss, not her. But I didn't. Instead I kept walking, lying my head against the comfortable shoulder of the boy who was mine.

Great posts! I really do love your story and the fact that you brought back Lupin just makes it that much better Hope to read more soon! XD

!Jesse!

Hello Allison. Great post as always. It's so nice that Abby is getting the hang of her magic, without freezing the object she is using the magic on. But still, Toad Face deserved it. I love Remus being brought in to the story. he was such a kind and compassionate professor, and a wonderful human being. Ah! A very good idea! I wanted to defend Harry here because, as you know, he's my favorite character. But, the thing is, is Harry didn't claim he was anything great. And that it was mostly luck him coming away living. But, he is great isn't he. Wow! That took me by surprise also. Loved this so much!
Great post Allison. I'll be watching for your next.

hey there genious friend!
i cnt believe i posted in time OMG! im on fire today! (lol)
great chapter! ABBY YOU'RE SOOO BLIND READ HIS MIND U PHSCIC PERSON! GRRRR! *ahem* hem hem!
right got that out of my system !


JENNIE XXXXXXX

Thanks for all the lovely comments! It is a bit frustrating with the whole Harry and Abby thing isn't it? Thanks to the lovely Mathi over in the graphics forum I now have a siggy supporting this ff Hope you guys like it, and here is some more of the story!

When we made it back to the common room Seamus said goodnight since he had been up late all week studying for our O.W.L.s. He felt bad for going to bed so early, but I told him not to worry about it, and that we could hang out another time when he was less tired.

Ron and Hermione were sitting by the fire, Hermione a book perched on her lap and Ron scribbling something down on a piece of parchment with his quill. I went over to them and plopped down on the couch next to Hermione, resting my head back against the sofa and closing my eyes. I could feel that both Ron and Hermione were looking at me but I didn't want to meet their gaze for fear I might lose it. They knew that Harry and Cho were probably going to kiss, and they knew how much it was going to hurt me. Or at least Hermione knew...Ron was a little slow on the uptake.

"How are you?" Hermione asked, placing her book marker into her book.

"I'm alright," I said with a gentle shrug.

Hermione looked at me as if her own heart was breaking for my own. She knew how difficult this was, but at least she didn't have to see Ron snogging another girl. I was about to ask her what she was reading when the portrait swung open and Harry walked through it.

Ron sat up, excitement for Harry coursing through his veins, and instinctively Hermione reached out and touched my arm. I appreciated the sentiment but it did send a rush of all of her emotions coursing through my body, which was definitely not going to help.

"What took you so long mate?" Ron asked teasingly as Harry sat down in front of Ron, leaning his back against the brick of the fireplace.

"Oh shut it," Harry said, mild excitement filling his whole body.

Ron scooted himself forward. "So...how was it?" Ron asked.

Harry looked at Ron, avoiding contact with my eyes. "It was...wet."

Ron leaned back, his mouth falling open slightly. "A good wet or..."

"Well, she was crying you see, so I suppose the wetness from her tears was what I was tasting."

"She was crying?" Ron asked, completely dumbfounded. "You were that bad huh?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I am sure his snogging was satisfactory Ronald. Cho just has a lot on her mind lately."

Ron turned himself around so that he could look at Hermione. "Like what?" he asked.

Hermione closed her book. "Well for starters Cho is concerned that she might not even be able to come back next year because her father might be fired from the ministry. Then Cho is trying to deal with Cedric's death while at the same time feeling confused over her feelings for Harry, all of which are causing her grades to slip, leading her to be paranoid that she's going to fail her O.W.L.s."

Ron stared at Hermione as if she was going completely mental. "It's not possible for her to feel all of those things at once."

Hermione rolled her eyes again. "Not everyone is quite as void of emotion as you are Ronald."

Ron made a face to imply that he was offended, but I knew better. Ron was just confused as to how girls could process so much emotion at once. If only he knew that that was what I went through on a daily basis.

"So, are you going to ask her out?" Ron asked.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not really sure where things go from here."

I had been keeping quiet. I wanted to be happy for Harry. Happy that Harry had found someone who could like my Seamus for him, but I couldn't help but feel sad that I wasn't the one who had kissed Harry. I had been too chicken to do anything about it when I knew fully well what was going to happen.

"Well, I guess there's no point in trying something now, especially since we're heading home for the holidays tomorrow," Ron said, giving Harry a little punch in the arm.

"Yeah, it wouldn't make much sense," said Harry, turning to look at me. I had my gaze on the fire, trying desperately to control my facial expression so Harry didn't think I was mad. That would have been very hypocritical of me.

"Are you coming to stay with us over the holidays at...you know?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I was planning on it," I said, surprising myself with how pleasant I sounded.

Harry nodded. I kept my gaze on the fire, taking in deep breaths.

"We better finish packing then, shouldn't we?" said Hermione, getting up off the couch to stretch.

"Yeah, might as well," said Ron with an eye roll. He did hate packing.

"Are you coming Abby?" Hermione asked as the three of them went around the couch to head upstairs.

"I'll be up in a little," I said with a small smile.

Hermione nodded, before leading the three of them up the steps. I was alone in the common room, and as soon as I was sure that everyone was out of earshot I let the tears fall. I cried quietly, my body shaking from the sobs, before slinking on the floor in front of the fire. I watched as the fire slowly took on a blue color before shifting completely to a wall of solid ice.

Love the post...it's good that she was able to
control her emotions from hurting anyone
PAMS
!JEsse!

Hello Allison. This was a well written chapter. I enjoyed it very much. I had a bad case of heartbreak for Abby though by the time I was finished reading. I can't wait for Harry and Cho to break up so Harry can get with the one who really loves him. And I love your ending you wrote. I am so glad that her power she is learning right now isn't fire. Maybe when she has water mastered, she will be able to control her powers when she learns the other elements.
Great post Allison. I'll be watching for your next.

Thanks for the comments everyone I went back and forth for a little while as to which element I wanted Abby to be able to control, and I landed with ice because of her eyes and ice just fits her personality more in my opinion. Here is the beginning of Chapter 15. Enjoy!

The process of getting to the Order to stay with Sirius for the holidays had been quiet eventful. We went back on the Hogwarts express, traveled to the Burrow so everyone thought that we were staying there, before apparating with several of the order members to the doorstep of the place with all of our luggage. I figured at this point all the things we were doing to try and look unsuspicious made us look suspicious, but hey, what did I know about these things?

Sirius was absolutely thrilled to have us for the holidays, giving Harry a long, heartfelt hug the moment the door was closed behind them. I was glad to see that Harry had Sirius as a father figure, not that Lupin or Dumbledore weren't, but I felt like on an emotional and mental standpoint Sirius understood him best. They were very similar after all.

"Did you let your parents know you were staying here dear?" Mrs Weasley asked as she set down a glass of pumpkin juice in front of me. Everyone else had gone upstairs to put their things in drawers for the break, but I wasn't really in any kind of hurry.

"I sent them along an owl when we got to the Burrow," I said with a small smile.

Sirius came and sat down across from me, his eyes trying to read inside my mind. Good luck.

"Mmm," Mrs Weasley said, taking a sip of her own pumpkin juice. "Have you talked to her about it?"

I looked at Mrs Weasley. "No, I haven't," I said with a small shrug. "I'm not really sure I am ready to talk to her about it yet."

Mrs Weasley nodded. "Well take your time dear. Your mother knows this will be a bit of an adjustment in all aspects." She got out of the chair and headed over to the stove to stir some soup that was cooking in a pot. Sirius leaned forward so she couldn't hear what he was saying.

"Why didn't you stop him?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Seemed kind of hypocritical seeing as I have a boyfriend, remember?"

Sirius scoffed. "Please Abby. You don't honestly think that Harry is meant to be with that girl and you with....what's that boy's name again?"

I eyed him. "Seamus," I said.

"Right, Seamus. Not to insult him or imply he isn't a good guy, but Abby, you and Harry...well a love like that is rare to find."

"I can't just hurt Seamus like this."

"Abby, I have a feeling deep down the kid already knows. Everyone knows. The only two people who don't seem to want to admit it are you and Harry."

"Are you sure we aren't talking about Ron and Hermione?"

Sirius let out a chuckle. "Well them as well."

I smiled at him, the attempt rather weak. "Listen, I know I am not exactly the poster child for successful relationships, but Lily and James were, and I just see them in you so much when I look at you and Harry. Your love in much like theirs was."

How ironic I thought to myself, seeing as they both died by Voldemort's hands.

"All I'm asking Abby is that you at least give yourself enough confidence to believe that you and Harry can be something. And not just something, but an inspirational something. Alright?"

"Alright," I said, smiling as he gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "I better go and unpack," I said, getting up and heading up the stairs. Sirius was hoping that he had gotten through to me, because he honestly didn't want to see Harry end up with the wrong girl. I couldn't help but smile at how supportive he was of me, and how much he thought I belonged with Harry and not "that girl".

Once I made it up to the room I found Ron and Hermione arguing over where something should go, but Harry was nowhere to be found. Hermione turned to look at me upon my arrival, trying desperately to come off with a pleasant air.

"Hey Abby! Ron and I were just discussing some things. Harry is in the other room, if you know, you wanted to talk to him?" Hermione said, her eyes hopeful.

"Yeah, sure," I said. I headed up the next couple of steps before knocking on the door.

"Come in!"

I turned the doorknob and came in, closing it behind me. Harry was sitting on the bed, eyeing all of the Gryffindor banners and things throughout the room. This was obviously where Sirius had slept when he lived here, and he apparently loved flaunting how different he was from the rest of his family.

"What are you up to?" Harry asked, laying down the photo album that Hagrid had given us our first on the little table.

"Not much really. Just hanging around I suppose. Are Ron and Hermione fighting?" I asked, leaning against the wall.

"Apparently, but I left as soon as it started. Figured it was best to not get involved in their quarrels."

"Good thinking," I said with a little chuckle. "They always work through these things anyway."

"Yeah, they do." We were both silent, me staring at the roaring lion behind Harry's head, and Harry looking down at the ground.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

"Sure," I said, shifting my focus back to him.

"It's about what happened between me and Cho."

I cleared my throat. "What about it?" I asked.

Harry got off the bed and walked towards me. "It was a mistake."

I raised my eyebrows. "A mistake?" I said. "I thought you've been wanting to kiss Cho. I mean, you've liked her since last year."

"I thought I wanted to too, but as I was standing there looking at her and as my lips made contact with hers I realized I was making a mistake."

I shifted my gaze to the ground, uncertain of what to show or how to respond to what he was telling me.

"It was a mistake because the entire time it was happening I was asking myself why wasn't it you?"

I could feel my heart rate starting to quicken, still not shifting my eyes off of the floor as I felt him standing right in front of me, so close that if I moved I would touch him.

"Abby?" he whispered to me.

I closed my eyes. "Don't do it and don't say it unless you mean it." I said, the words hardly noticeable if he hadn't been standing so close.

I watched as his hand came up to my face and turned it so that I was looking at him. His amazingly green eyes staring in to mine with such longing that I could hardly stand it.

"I do mean it," he said firmly. "But I won't do it unless you want me to."

I let out a little laugh. He smiled warmly before bending down and pressing his lips against mine. I felt my body relax as his free arm slipped around my waist, pulling me closer so that our bodies were touching completely. The hand that had been on my cheek was moving through my hair, and Harry let out a sigh as our lips parted slightly.

I moved my hands up so that they were lying against his chest, my eyes closed in the perfectness of it all. After a couple of moments Harry released his lips from mine and looked at me.

"Abby?" he said, returning his hand so that it was cupping my cheek.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I love you."

I laughed, tears of happiness starting to stream from my face.

"Harry?"

"Yes?" he asked, his smile widening.

"I've always loved you."

awwww! soooo cute genious-friend!
i love it FINALLY THE PAIR OF THEM SEE SENSE!!!!!!!!!!!
hehe! now i can stop being frustrated!
PAMS and BUMPS! honestly it's scary how much i love your story! I think it's the best one i've read so far on ss! you should enter it into a contest or something!
don't thank me for the compliments u deserve them Genious-buddy!
your fun sized friend,
JENNIE XXX
p.s......... well i just wanted to put p.s it looks so cool!

I was wondering how u were going to make the whole cho and Harry thing and Seamus and Abby thing work out, even if I already knew the outcome brilliant post

!Jesse!

Aww, thanks everyone :glomps: I am glad that you enjoyed it I try to please my own creativity as well as you guys I realized I had to rework a scene here because I hadn't included it before they came to Sirius' for the holiday. Hopefully I captured the importance of it enough with my way

I would have stayed in that moment forever with Harry if it hadn't been for Mrs Weasley hollering up the stairs that it was time for dinner. Harry looked at me, not wanting to leave, and pulled me into a hug. I rested my forehead in the crook of his neck, and breathed him in. The sent, the feel, the everything of the moment that I wanted to hold on to.

At the sound of Mrs. Weasley's footsteps on the stairs, and her thoughts wondering where we had run off to, I released myself from Harry. I knew Mrs Weasley was supportive, but she would not let Harry and I have any alone time together if she knew we were a couple.

"Better go," I said, eyeing the door and raising my eyebrows.

"Right," Harry said, leaning his hand over me to open the door.

I quickly reached out and raised my finger to my lips, motioning for him to be quiet. Harry waited as Mrs. Weasley knocked on the door.

"Are you two in here?" she asked. Mrs Weasley was about to open the door but I had locked it right after I had come in, luckily for us. Deciding that we wouldn't be in here, we heard Mrs Weasley steps move on word, waiting until she knocked and opened the door to the next room before Harry and I came out of that one.

We moved quietly down the steps, stopping right in front of the door leading to the door that would take you to the kitchen. We turned to look as Mrs Weasley came down the steps, grumbling to herself.

"Did you call us Mrs Weasley?" I asked, my face completely straight.

"Oh, there you two are," she said, eyeing us suspiciously. "I had called you to let you know that it is time for dinner."

"Oh, well, better head down then," said Harry, giving my lower back a little push to let me know that I should go.

We walked down the steps, Mrs Weasley thinking the entire time that we were acting strange and that she needed to keep an eye on us. I was able to prevent myself from laughing, but I couldn't take the smile off of my face.

Everyone was already seated at the table and looked up upon our arrival. They were all thinking the same thing, just with different tones and congratulations towards either me or Harry. I sat down next to Hermione who looked at me with that smile of hers, as if she had known all along that it was going to happen right at that moment. Ron smiled at Harry with that "you sly dog you" look and Sirius gave Harry a little pat on her the shoulder. He smiled at me brightly.

"Well, go on and eat everyone!" Mrs Weasley said, sitting down at the table and smiling at us all.

We all dug in, the soup tasting marvelous as usual, the small chat of us all getting louder and louder so that all you could hear was one another's laughter. Harry was sitting next to me, and reached his hand under the table to take mine in his. I held it, loving the feel of his fingers intertwined with mine, when the thought hit me as to how I was going to tell Seamus.

I wasn't regretting the kiss at all, and I had been waiting so long for it to happen that at that point in time I wasn't really concerned with the fact that I was dating Seamus. But to be honest, I had to agree with Sirius, Seamus knew. I could sense it in the back of his mind that he wasn't expecting us to last, but I just went along with it, not wanting to hurt him or make him unhappy. After all before I had started dating Seamus I had been his friend, and I certainly didn't want to lose his friendship because of this.

The rest of the day went quickly, Harry and I not really getting any alone time since Mrs Weasley set us to work around the house. Despite her cleaning and such the house was still a mess, and there was a ton of stuff that needed chucking. Kreacher, who walked around as we cleaned mumbled to himself in an angry tone how it was wrong of us to be touching his master's stuff. Sirius told us to ignore him, but Sirius couldn't hear his angry thoughts from four rooms over like I could. I felt bad for Kreacher...no one liked him and he knew it.

We had all spread out in our own bedrooms, basically deciding to crash in whatever room we had been sleeping in. Ron and Harry had crashed in one room, Hermione and Ginny in another, Fred and George in one, and I had landed in a room by myself. I had gone back to help Ginny and Hermione but had gotten distracted by a stack of books dealing with dark magic in what I figured was Sirius' mom's.

I fell asleep face down on the bed, the dust of the sheets covering the entire side of my face. I was almost at the point of dreaming when I ripped my eyes open at the feel of something on my shoulder. I swung around, about to clock whoever it was in the face, but stopped mid way when I realized it was Harry.

"Geeze Harry, you scared me," I whispered.

"Sorry," he whispered back. "I just felt like we didn't get any more alone time today," he said.

"I know," I said, moving myself over so that he had room to lie down.

He laid down next to me, taking my hand in to his and holding it. I smiled at him.

"What are you going to tell Seamus?" he asked.

"The truth," I said with a little shrug that caused dust on the canopy above us to fall off around us.

Harry nodded. "He knows, doesn't he?"

"I think deep down he does."

Harry nodded again. "Are you having any regrets?" Harry asked, nervous as to what my answer would be.

"No, are you?" I asked.

"Not at all," he said, scooting closer so that our foreheads were touching. "Good night Abby."

"Good night Harry," I said, moving my head forward a little bit so I could kiss him on the lips.

We feel asleep, but the dreams were far from peaceful. We were in a dark corridor, but low to the ground, almost as if we were slithering upon it. I was in Harry's mind, and he and I were about to do something bad. Something very bad.

Hello Allison. It is very late for me, but I didn't want to let anymore time go before I posted a comment. Wonderful writing Allison. I agree with Genny Malfoy. We'll have to make sure this story gets nominated for the Goblin Awards if they do it again next year. I loved both chapters, and I can't wait till your next one.

Aww thanks Connie I feel so touched you guys would want to nominate my story

The corridor was dark but I could tell from the feel and look of the ground that we were at the ministry. Off in the distance, towards the end of the hallway, I could see someone's feet. I slithered closer and closer, making sure that I wasn't noticed by the man. I could feel the hatred towards him rising and rising as I got closer and closer.

His wand was lit, but pointed higher up so that I could press myself along the shadows where his light missed. By the time that I was up and close to him I realized it was Mr. Weasley. He had heard my last slither, and quickly pointed his wand towards the ground, jumping backwards as I struck. I hit him once, Mr. Weasley stumbling back into the door, then struck him again, this time bringing him down to his knees. I was pleased with myself, but I knew one more strike would do it. I leaned myself back before cocking forward, biting him right in the neck.

He slumped to the ground, unconscious. My work was done so I began to slither back the other direction. It would only be a matter of time before he was dead.

Harry jerked awake almost as fast as I had. He was sweating and he turned to look at me with utter horror in his face.

"Did you?" he asked, panicked.

"Yes. We must go and tell the others!" I yelled, pulling him out of the bed and out the bedroom with me.

We ran down the stairs and slammed open the door into Mrs. Weasley's room. She was still awake, reading a book on her lap, before she jumped in terror at our arrival.

"What in the world are you two doing?" Mrs. Weasley asked, covering herself up in modesty.

"Mr. Weasley is hurt, at the ministry. We've got to send someone to help him!" Harry screamed.

Faster than I knew it would be possible Mrs. Weasley was out of her bed and sprinting through the door. We followed her, passing Hermione and Ginny who had opened their door at all the commotion.

"What is going on?" Hermione asked as we flew past her.

"Not now!" I called back, making sure that I kept up with Mrs. Weasley. I had to give the woman credit. When time called for it, she was quicker and smarter than anyone I knew!

She led up down the steps and into the kitchen where Sirius was talking to Professor Lupin, and much to my surprise Professor Dumbledore. They all turned to look at us upon our arrival.

"What is it Molly?" Sirius asked, standing up and pulling his wand out instinctively once he registered the look on her face.

"Something has happened to Arthur. I don't know. Tell them Harry!!" Mrs. Weasley replied, frantically waving her arms that Harry should fill in the gaps.

"He was attacked by a snake," Harry said, looking directly at Dumbledore.

"You saw the snake attack him Harry?" Dumbledore asked, standing up.

"No, I was the snake."

Everyone was silent and stared at Harry. Dumbledore shifted his gaze to the fireplace and kept his eyes there.

"What do you mean, you were the snake Harry?" Lupin asked, coming towards him.

"I mean I was the snake. I saw everything through the snake's eyes," Harry yelled out frantically. "Dumbledore, please, what is happening?"

"Lupin have you and Kingsley go and collect Arthur from the ministry, and be sure to take him to the right people at St. Mungo's. You understand?"

"Of course." With that Lupin was out of the kitchen and heading towards the door to take him outside. I was sure he was going to apparate to the ministry.

"Albus, please tell me Arthur will be alright," Mrs. Weasley said, slinking in to a chair. Sirius came over and began to rub her back.

"Of course he is going to be alright Molly. We will take care of him."

"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry said, taking a steps towards him. Still Dumbledore kept his gaze on the fire.

"Would you please look at me?!" Harry yelled. Still Dumbledore did not look up.

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING HIM LIKE THIS!" I yelled, giving Professor Dumbledore a thorough push to break his gaze. Mrs. Weasley and Sirius looked dumbfounded that I had just pushed him, but it was what needed to have happened.

Dumbledore swung around to look at me. I was glaring at him and I knew it. "Leaving him in the dark is not helping him. It's not going to stop Voldemort from getting in, and it is not going to help Harry to protect himself!"

Dumbledore stared at me for a couple of moments, Harry's gaze going back and forth between me and him. Finally Dumbledore spoke.

"I am so sorry Harry," he said with a sigh.

"Professor, what is happening to me?"

"Voldemort is trying to penetrate your mind. For now you must be taught how to keep him out." Dumbledore turned to look at Sirius.

"Can you get a hold of Snape?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, right now?" Sirius asked.

"No, for tomorrow. For now I want Abby to protect him."

"But Professor, I've never tried to keep someone out of someone else's head before," I said, not sure I was the right person to be handling this.

"You can do it Abby. You know Harry and you know how to keep him out. Just transfer you ability. You can do it. For now I must go talk to someone."

With that Dumbledore was gone as fast as Lupin had left, Harry, Sirius, Mrs. Weasley, and me standing there still as statues. Harry turned to look at me.

"Abby?" he asked.

"Let's go," I said, taking his hand and leading him back upstairs. We needed somewhere quiet and somewhere away from all the other thoughts that could possibly infringe on what I was trying to do. At this point, everyone was out of their beds and heading down the stairs.

"What's going on?" Ron asked, still looking like he could fall right back over and go to sleep.

"Go and talk to your mom about it," I said, pulling Harry past them.

"What in the?" Fred went as I rushed past them. I took Harry and I in to the room that we had just been in and closed and locked the door.

"Abby, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know occulmency and I don't know how to teach you. That's what Snape is going to have to do, but for now I am going to try and offer you some kind of protection from Voldemort."

"What do you mean?"

I let out a sigh. "I am going to try and create a mental wall in your brain so that Voldemort can't use your connection to get inside your thoughts."

After a couple of moments Harry nodded in understanding.

"Okay," I said, putting my hands on either side of his face. "Close your eyes and try to clear your thoughts."

I closed my own and concentrated on Harry's mind, it's structure, everything.

Here goes nothing.

Hello Allison. Oh my goodness! Where to begin! That was a smart piece of writing. I like it better this way than him falling asleep.
Loved that. Very nice. The man knows trouble when he sees it. Liked this part better than JK's way. And I loved the rest of the chapter, but didn't want to take up a lot of room. Very ominous sounding. I can't wait to read more.

Great post it's VERY intense can't wait to read more and to find out what happens PAMS!!!!!
!Jesse!

Aww thanks guys!! Sorry for so long without an update...inspiration hasn't really been hitting with all my school work

Here is the rest of chapter Fifteen. Enjoy!

It took what seemed like forever for me to finally feel like I had created some sort of block in Harry's mind. I had no idea as to how long it was going to last or how effective it was going to be, but I had done my best. I had reached as far in to his mind as I could go, putting up a mental shield as soon as I hit the point in his mind where things were fuzzy, scattered occasionally with thoughts or emotions that definitely came from Voldemort.

I collapsed back down on the bed, resting my head against the bed post and closing my eyes. I felt Harry sit next to me and wrap an arm around my shoulder. I moved my head so that it was resting on his shoulder (which was far more comfortable) and enjoyed the silence of the room.

That was until Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George came piling in to the room without so much of a knock.

"Sorry to interrupt what we are sure is a tender moment," said Fred, sitting down on a wooden chair.

"But we feel like some explaining needs to be done," said George, popping what I assumed was a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor bean in to his mouth.

"Is Mr. Weasley alright?" Harry asked.

"He's fine," said Hermione, sitting on the ground and pulling his legs to her chest. "They've gotten him to St. Mungo's. We wanted to go and visit but the doctor said he would be able to come home tomorrow."

"It looks like they got to him just in time," said Ron quietly.

I gave Ron the most reassuring smile I could muster.

"We owe you a big thank you," said Ginny with a smile.

"Yeah, without you I'm pretty sure my dad would be gone," said Ron, even quieter than the first time.

Harry nodded solemnly. They didn't know that Harry had seen the whole incident as if he was the snake, and to be quite honest I didn't feel like it was something that needed to be discussed right now. All that mattered was that Mr. Weasley was safe and that they were going to make him better. All the other details were moot points.

"So, why did you two come flying up here?" asked Hermione, observing Harry's arm around my shoulder with a little smile. She was happy for me.

"I was trying to block Voldemort from being able to access Harry's mind. Well, or at least stop Harry from slipping in to Voldemort's mind before he becomes aware of it."

Everyone was silent for a couple of moments, just staring at me.

"You can do that?" asked Ginny, her eyebrows going up in amazement.

"Well I'm not exactly sure that it completely worked, but I tried my best." I let out a sigh. Who knew such a thing could be so mentally taxing?

"Well as long as it holds under Professor Snape gets here tomorrow, that's all that matters," said Hermione with a reassuring smile.

"Sirius told us what happened mate," said Fred upon Harry's confused expression. "And don't worry about how you saw it."

"Or what perspective you saw it from," chimed in George.

"All that matters is that you saved our dad," said Fred.

"The rest is irrelevant," concluded George.

All of us began to chuckle at how connected Fred and George seemed to be. In attempt to keep things light hearted Fred and George pulled out a box of new chocolates that had invented that tasted like whatever you were craving in that moment.

Harry and I stayed on the bed, his arm wrapped around me. I could feel his cheek pressed against the top of my head, and the happiness that everyone felt for us. They had all been waiting for the day this would happen, and they were pleased that the wait was finally over. Well...almost all of them.

"Hey Ginny, can I talk to you for a moment?" I asked when the others were distracting with a game of wizards chess.

"Sure," she said. I led her out in to the hallway after giving Harry an "it's okay" smile.

"Everything alright?" she asked.

"I want to make sure we're alright," I said with a little smile.

Ginny shifted her feet uncomfortably. "I don't want you to think that I'm not happy for you, because I am. You've been like a sister to me all these years and whenever I've needed you, you've been there."

Her mind flashed back to our second year, when Ginny had confided in me about the journal and her desire to get rid of it. I had been the one to tell her to throw it away, and I had helped Harry and Ron rescue her from the chamber.

"But all those things don't change the fact that you have feelings for Harry."

She gave me a small smile. "I wish they did."

"I do too," I said, resting my hand on her shoulder.

"If you're worried that things will be different between us now, don't be," said Ginny, giving me a stern look.

I smiled. "I know they won't be, I just want you to know that I understand."

Ginny let out a laugh. "Of course you know! You know everything!"

I laughed as well, giving her an innocent shrug of the shoulder. She smiled at me brightly.

"Have you told Seamus?" she asked.

I let out a deep exhale. "Not yet. I want to do it in person."

Ginny nodded. I one eyebrow went up as I caught a drift of her thoughts. "You know I could let you know when I'm going to tell him, you know, incase you wanted to be nearby?" I said, looking around the room innocently.

Ginny gave me a little punch in the arm. I smiled at her.

"You'll be the first to know," I said, before opening the door and leading her back inside.

Hello Allison. I'm always so happy to see you put up another post. Now Harry and Abby should be able to get a good night sleep. Not together. I'm not promoting sleeping together here. I want some boxes of those chocolates! Not just one either! So does Ginny like Sheamus now?
Great work Allison. Don't push yourself if you feel overwhelmed. You can center on your schoolwork and take a break here if you need to. I'm sure I'll still be here waiting.

Ginny and Seamus? Never saw that one coming! But I like how u put abby's and ginny's friendship in there and showed that they were still okay PAMS!
!Jesse!

Thanks everyone I do love Ginny and I don't want to leave her character all alone and hurt now that Harry is with Abby

The next two or three days flew by with all the work we were doing around the house, and with the inability for anyone to sit still for very long, because we all figured the less preoccupied we kept our minds the more worried we would be about Mr. Weasley. Luckily for all of us Mr. Weasley was good and well enough to return home on Christmas to celebrate the holiday with us.

We were all sitting around the long oak dinner table, and I watched with a smile as the rather bandaged Mr. Weasley lifted his glass to salute Harry and I. We raised our own and took a swig, although I could sense that Harry was doing it more to appease everyone else rather than himself. He still didn't like thinking about how he was the snake, and his occulmency meetings with Professor Snape were going far from well.

"Maybe you should talk to Sirius about things," I offered before taking a sip of my soup.

Harry looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. "Listen, keeping it all locked up inside is not going to make the situation any better and you might find that Sirius can offer a different perspective on things, you know?"

Harry stared at me for a little before letting out a sigh that implied he knew I was right. "All right, I'll go and talk to him."

"Good," I said, taking a swig of my pumpkin juice. "I think he's upstairs working on cleaning one of the rooms. Perhaps you should chat now while there will be few interruptions?" I suggested.

Harry shook my head in disbelief at how pushy I was being before sliding his chair back and heading up the stairs. I myself had my own problems to be worrying about, one of which was the unexpected arrival of my mother. She was eyeing me from the other end of the table, dying to talk to me but not wanting to push. I caught her eye and signaled that we could go talk somewhere if she wanted to.

She stood up and led us out of the room, up several of the staircases before going into one of the rooms and shutting us closed behind it.

"I don't want to push if you aren't ready to talk Abby," my mom said, sitting down on one of the wooden chairs.

I leaned against the wall and let out a sigh. "I haven't known what to say which is why I didn't contact you about it sooner."

My mother nodded in understanding. "Your father is concerned that you won't be able to handle this, which is why he has been so against me telling you."

I raised my eyebrows. "Why is dad against it?"

"Because you are his daughter and he wants to protect you. I wanted him to come with, but he felt like if you wanted to talk about it you would have come home for the holidays."

I stared at her for a couple of moments. "I didn't come here to avoid talking to you. I came here for Harry and to help out with things. This place is a mess and it certainly isn't going to clean itself."

I mother looked at me sternly. "There's no need to get snippy Abigail."

"I am not getting snippy," I replied back defensively, glaring at the Slytherin crested wallpaper.

My mother let out an annoyed sigh. "So, is there anything you would like to get off of your chest?"

I shifted my weight slightly, looking down at my feet and running my tongue along the front of my teeth. "Not in particular."

"Okay, well, I have some things I would like to say."

"Go on," I said, motioning that she could go.

She cleared her throat. "I want you to stop seeing Harry."

I looked up at her, my face completely blank. "Come again?"

"I was hoping that perhaps things would change over the course of time. I was willing to let you and Harry experiment with the whole friendship idea, but I can tell you two have become more than just friends and I don't like it. It isn't safe Abby."

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" I fumed.

"Abby, I am your mother and my first concern is you, not that boy downstairs."

"Oh, now he's just some boy downstairs? Has it ever occurred to you that what he is supposed to do is going to save the wizarding world from a dictator who only wants to torture and abuse people?"

"Of course I have, but if the boy is as strong as the prophecy says than he can defeat Voldemort on his own."

"And what am I supposed to do? Sit back and watch?"

"That is exactly what you are going to do. I have requested that you be removed from the Order of the Phoenix. I feel like the more we can detach you from this the safer you will be."

"Well, that's not going to happen," I said, glaring at her. My mother glared back.

"This is not up for discussion Abby," my mother said, her voice firm.

"Well consider your opinion truly noted."

"Abigail."

"No mother, I am not going to sit back and watch as the one boy who I have ever loved in my entire life tries to face one of the greatest wizards in the world on his own!"

My mother flew out of the wooden chair and knocked it over. "Abigail I refuse to let you die over something so foolish as love!"

"FOOLISH?!" I yelled, taking a step towards her. "And what may I ask is a better reason to die for if not love, huh?"

"You have no idea whether or not this fling with him is going to last," my mother hissed out at me.

"GET OUT!!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, slamming open the door with so much force one of the hinges cracked. My mother's eyes got wide as the entire door began to freeze, like one giant icicle, the wood creaking and protesting at the change in temperature.

"Abigail how did you...?" my mother asked, staring at the door.

"It's none of your business. Now get out before I make you get out!"

My mother stared at me, a sort of freight in her eyes that I had never seen before, before stomping out of the room and down the steps. I stood there, my breathing quickening before falling to the floor. I closed my eyes and tried breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. I was started to calm but once I opened my eyes I realized there was fog forming around my mouth with every inhale I took. I looked down at the ground to find I was sitting in a perfect circle of ice.

Great chapter it truly is an amazing story

Thanks guys Here is some more of Chapter 16. Enjoy!

I don't know how long I sat there before I heard a gentle knock on the door, before Hermione entered.

"Oh my god, Abby!" Hermione said, falling down on to her knees next to me, looking at the ice with shock in her eyes. "Are you alright?!"

"Yeah," I'm fine I said with a little shrug. "Just a difference of opinion between my mom and I."

Hermione reached out and put her hand on my shoulder. "She left. She wouldn't tell us what happened, but just that you needed some time to see things her way." Hermione paused. "What did she say?"

I cleared my throat in frustration. "She wants me to abandon Harry and his fight against Voldemort in order to save myself."

Hermione raised her eyebrows, shock coming off of her entire body. "Why would she say that? Doesn't she know how much Harry means to you, and that we can't just leave him alone to fight Voldemort by himself?"

I scoffed. "Apparently she isn't concerned with the bigger picture, she's only concerned about making sure that I live through it, even if that means our world will be one of torture and misery."

Hermione gave my shoulder a little rub. "Not to excuse her, but I guess she is just acting as every mother wants to. No mother wants to give their child permission to potentially die in order to save someone else."

I was silent for a couple of moments, staring at one spot on the floor until my eyes lost their focus. "I shouldn't have yelled at her like that," I said finally.

Hermione turned her eyes back to the door that was still completely frozen. "I think she knows that you just love Harry and want to do everything you can to help him. Same with all of us really," Hermione said, giving my shoulder another rub.

"Yeah, I just don't get why she doesn't understand you know? It's not just about Harry and I. There's a bigger picture, and what can I possibly say to make her see that?"

Hermione contemplated the question for a moment, letting various thoughts run through her head responding. "Maybe she is like Seamus, and she just needs to see things for herself you know? Maybe she needs to see the bigger picture first hand in order to understand that this is not just something that we can all back out of."

I nodded. "I hope so. I would hate to think that I am going to lose my mother over this."

"I don't think you'll ever lose her Abby. We don't ever lose our parents, we just get lost in the grey areas."

I gave a little smirk. "I suppose you're right." I shifted my gaze back to the ice around my feet. "Perhaps I should try to get rid of this?" I said with a little laugh.

"It might not hurt," Hermione said, helping my stand up. I pulled my wand out of my pocket and pointed it at the pile of ice. "Scourgify," I said, running it around in circle until the puddle of ice was completely gone.

"Not too shabby," Hermione said with a little punch in my shoulder. We both turned towards the door at the sound of a knock. Hermione went over and opened it to find Ron and Harry standing on the other side.

"What are you two up to?" Ron asked, eyeing us suspiciously.

"Just chatting," said Hermione with a little shrug before turning her head towards me and giving me a little wink. I smiled at her while shoving my wand back in to my pocket.

"So, how did your chat with Sirius go?" I asked Harry as he sat down at the miniature table pressed up against the wall.

"Well I suppose. It's just nice to know he's here and so supportive."

We all nodded in understanding. Sirius really was one of the most understanding people in the world, and we were all glad that he could offer Harry the father figure that he had lacked for all of his life.

"What were you and your mom talking about?" asked Ron, eyeing a glass filled with dust skeptically.

"Oh, just life," I said with a little shrug.

"She stormed out with barely a word," said Harry, looking at me curiously. "It must have been a pretty intense conversation."

I gave another little shrug. "Difference in opinion on how to live my life is all," I said with a nonchalant smile. I could tell Harry didn't believe me but I didn't want to get in to it at the moment. Ultimately it was my decision on standing by Harry, not my mother's, and I hoped that in the end she would come around and support my decision.

"So, does your mother have more cleaning for us to do?" Hermione said, tapping the same glass that Ron had eyed. We all made disgusted faces as a worm climbed out of followed by a small cloud of dust that hovered for a couple of minutes.

"Agh, that is just gross," said Ron, stomping the worm beneath his foot.

"Well if there are more rooms that look like this one, then I would say yes," said Harry with a little laugh.

"Ooh, we should discuss what our next lesson is going to be about when we get back from the holidays," Hermione said with a bright smile.

"Good idea," chimed in Ron.

"Do you think teaching us how to do Patronuses would be out of the question?" Hermione asked with a bright smile.

"I don't see why not. It'll take some practice but we've got plenty of time, and it is definitely something a couple people have mentioned about wanting to learn," said Harry with a nod.

"Smart girl, Ginny is," said Ron with a little smirk.

"How so?" I asked, finding the statement rather random.

"Didn't she tell you the name she came up for our meetings, or at least what we should call ourselves?" said Ron in shock.

We all shook our heads.

"Dumbledore's Army," Ron said, sitting up a little bit straighter as he said it.

"That is great!" said Hermione with a big smile. "Absolutely perfect!"

"We'll have to congratulate Ginny for the title if we ever see her," I said with a little laugh.

"Eh, my mom has her helping with stuff in the kitchen," Ron said with sympathy for Ginny.

We nodded our head in understanding.

I could tell that Hermione had something on her mind. "What is it Hermione?" I asked.

"What do you think would happen if Professor Umbridge caught us?" she asked. We all stared at each other, each of uncertain as to what would happen.

"Well, I guess I'd just have to turn her into a popsicle," I said with a completely straight face.

Harry let out a little laugh. "She'd make a perfect popsicle."

"Yeah, cold and hard," chimed in Ron.

Hello Allison. Sorry I'm so long getting to comment here. I loved the chapter. Yeah, plus he's modest that way. He doesn't like attention on himself when he thinks he didn't do much to deserve it. Uh oh! Here it comes. What!?!?!?!?!?! I can't believe her! Oh dear, I don't like it when kids yell and threaten their parents. Addittedly, her mother was wrong to think she could tell Abby not to see Harry and think there wouldn't be any problems. And she did approach Abby totally wrong. But still
Great writing Allison. I can't wait to read your next post. And Allison, even though I don't always get to comment right away, I do read it right when you post a new chapter.

EDIT:


I posted this comment and found you posted another chapter just ahead of me. So, this comment is for this chapter. It's just the mother in her. I often wonder what James and Lilly would have done if they hadn't been murdered.I'm sure they would try to keep Harry from being involved. Ewwww gross Ron! I can just see Ron doing that! Now he needs to clean his shoe and the floor! But surely she won't! She'll be kicked out of school!
Great post Allison! I'll be watching for your next.

PAMS!
thats all that I can say lol!
OMG! harry and Abbie are so cute!
I love them together! when's the wedding?????
love,
JENNIE XXX

Thanks everyone! Glad that you are liking it You might have to wait a bit for the wedding Jennie. They are rather young for that!

None of us could believe how quickly the rest of the break flew, and before we knew it we were saying our goodbyes to Sirius and on our way to the train station. I had woken up from the night before with a sick feeling in my stomach. Everyone told me that it would be okay, but I hated to think of the idea of hurting Seamus, and no matter how understanding he was, it was still going to hurt.

We approached the Hogwarts Express and I saw him standing there talking to Dean. He turned and looked through the crowd, his eyes landing on me and a huge smile crossing his face.

"It's for the best," Hermione told me as he started to come towards us. "You can do this."

"Thanks," I said quietly, separating myself from the rest of them. I had been debating all morning the pros and cons of what time to tell him that I was going to start seeing Harry. Every time I felt the slightest bit prepared I thought of Seamus' face, and all my confidence disappeared.

"Hey!" said Seamus, pulling me in to a hug. "How was your break?" he asked, releasing me from the hug.

"It was good, how was yours?" I asked, giving him a little smile.

"Eh, same old I suppose. There's never a lack of funny stories when you spend a couple of days with my loony grandmother."

We both chuckled lightly before I shifted my focus to the ground. I could tell he could sense that something was wrong, but he didn't want to push.

"You alright?" he asked.

I inhaled before looking back at his face. I owed him the courtesy of at least looking him in the eye. "Listen, Seamus, I have a great time dating you these past couple of weeks."

Seamus took a small step back. "Don't," he said, holding up his hand as I went to continue. "I'll spare you having to say it."

"But Seamus," I protested.

"No, it's alright Abby. You think I didn't know? You think I couldn't sense it." He gave a shrug that was more tense and rough than he was trying for it to be.

"I never wanted to hurt you."

Seamus gave a little smile. "I know you didn't Abby. Sometimes things like these just happen, and there's not much we can do about it."

"I really am sorry Seamus," I said, wanting to hug him but not sure if my physical contact would make things better or worse.

"I swear Abby, it's okay." Seamus reached out and pulled me into another hug, holding me for a moment and breathing me in, before letting me go and walking off.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all starring at me, along with Ginny who gave me a sympathetic smile. I slowly walked over to them, watching Dean and Seamus board the train.

"Well, he seemed to take it alright," said Ron, giving me a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah he did, but he's still going to be hurting for a bit," I said with a frown.

"Well, it's alright. He'll be okay in a couple of days, and he'll find someone new," said Hermione, sneakily giving a wink to Ginny who immediately blushed.

"Well, you better start boarding," said Mrs. Weasley, separating from the group of people she had been talking to to come over to us. "Have a great semester and don't forget to write!" she said, as Ron stealthily dodged a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, sure mom," he said, before speed walking off to the train, hoping no one had noticed. Hermione gave a little shake of the head before giving Mrs. Weasley a hug and thanking her for letting her stay with them over the holidays.

"Of course dear, of course!" she said, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley," I said, pulling her in to a hug.

"Oh you are so welcome dear," she said with a smile.

I waited for Harry to finish receiving his hug before we headed off to the train to find a place to sit. Luckily we were able to find a compartment all to ourselves, and we filed in. I smiled warmly to see Luna sitting there, reading another one of her father's magazines upside down.

"How were your holidays Luna?" I asked.

"Lovely," she said with a smile. "Father made some of his famous pumperwick beat soup."

Ron's mouth fell open slightly at the name of the soup, and Hermione discreetly stomped on his foot.

"Sounds yummy," he said, trying to recover himself. As usual Luna hadn't even been phased by Ron's reaction. I was the only one who really knew that Luna came to expect people to find what she said to be strange. In fact she was quite unsettled when they didn't find her strange.

"I could take a nap," I said to Harry as the others started in small chat about how they thought this coming term was going to be, and how nervous they all were for their O.W.L.s. Although none where quite as worried as Hermione.

"Me too," said Harry, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I laid my head against his shoulder and let out a little sigh of peace.

"I feel so stupid," Harry said, loud enough so I could only hear.

"Why?" I said, lifting my head up slightly to look at him.

"Because, we fit you and me, and I can't believe how long it took me to realize."

I let out a little laugh. "Sometimes it's easier to miss the things right in front of your face."

Harry smiled before leaning down to give my forehead a kiss.

"I love you Abby," he said.

"I love you Harry."