Suffocating In Darkness

Chapter 27

Something that Oliver and I partied over for many hours was not only that we won the Quidditch cup (due to me managing to play seeker again and catching the snitch) but the fact my brother finally grew some balls and snogged Ginny Weasley's face off in front of everyone. Seriously, I'm an incredibly proud sister.

The fact that Harry was going out with Ginny seemed to interest a great number of people, most of them girls, yet Harry found himself newly and happily impervious to gossip over the next few weeks, something that annoyed me to death, he kept talking about it again and again. But after all I suppose, it made a very nice change to be talked about because of something that was making him happier than he could remember being for a very long time, rather than because he had been involved in horrific scenes of Dark magic or because he was a deranged liar.

"You'd think people had better things to gossip about," said Ginny, as she sat on the common-room floor, leaning against Harry's legs and reading the Daily Prophet. "Three Dementor attacks in a week, and all Romilda Vane does is ask me if it's true you've got a Hippogriff tattooed across your chest."

We all roared with laughter. Harry ignored us.

'What did you tell her?'

'I told her it's a Hungarian Horntail,' said Ginny, turning a page of the newspaper idly. 'Much more macho.'

Thanks,' said Harry, grinning. 'And what did you tell her Ron's got?'

'A Pygmy Puff, but I didn't say where.'

Ron scowled as we rolled around laughing.

'Watch it,' he said, pointing wamingly at Harry and Ginny. 'Just because I've given my permission doesn't mean I can't withdraw it -'

"Your permission",' scoffed Ginny. 'Since when did you give me permission to do anything? You might as well start demanding Minnie and Lyra get permission to date Fred and George! Anyway, you said yourself you'd rather it was Harry than Michael or Dean.'

'Yeah, I would,' said Ron grudgingly. 'And just as long as you don't start snogging each other in public -'

'You filthy hypocrite! What about you and Lavender, thrashing around like a pair of eels all over the place?' demanded Ginny. 'And again, Lyra and Minnie!'

'Okay, just because we show our boyfriends, or boyfriend and a complication, affection, doesn't mean we thrash around like eels!' I informed whacking Oliver in the head. 'Ha! I won!'

But Ron's tolerance was not to be tested much as we moved into June, for Harry and Ginny's time together was becoming increasingly restricted. Ginny's O.W.L.s were approaching and she was therefore forced to revise for hours into the night. On one such evening, when Ginny had retired to the library and Harry was sitting beside the window in the common room, supposedly finishing his Herbology homework but in reality Lyra was doing it while he was reliving a particularly happy hour he had spent down by the lake with Ginny at lunch-time, I hated having this stupid mind link with Harry, Hermione dropped into the seat between him and Oliver with an unpleasantly purposeful look on her face.

'I want to talk to you, Harry.'

'What about?' said Harry suspiciously. Only the previous day, Hermione had told him off for distracting Ginny when she ought to be working hard for her examinations.

'The so-called Half-Blood Prince.'

'Oh, not again,' I groaned. 'Will you please drop it?'

Harry had not dared to return to the Room of Requirement to retrieve his book, and his performance in Potions was suffering accordingly (though Slughorn, who approved of Ginny, had jocularly attributed this to Harry being lovesick). But we were sure that Snape had not yet given up hope of laying hands on the Prince's book, and was determined to leave it where it was while Snape remained on the lookout.