Oh God Not Again!

Chapter Thirty Seven

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: Wow, there were a lot of pissed anti-Ron/Hermione fans complaining Harry referred to their constant bickering as unresolved sexual tension. Harry's problem is that since he ended up with Ginny in the future, Ron with Hermione, Neville with Hannah, ect. Is that he just assumes it's going to happen again. He knows he'll have to put some effort into getting Ginny, but everything else will sort itself out the way it was before, ignoring any changes he might make. It's like someone looking back on Lily and James and saying that Lily had liked him for awhile but waited until he was less arrogant to go out with him. It may or may not be true, but since the end result is marriage and kids, that's what he's going to assume. Besides, it was just one comment from someone who expects them to hook up in the future, not an in-depth pro-Ron/Hermione argument. Neville calling it a lover's spat was just trying to embarrass them so they'd shut up.

Other note: Hey, last week this story totally made it to the one-year mark! Wow, I honestly thought I would have gotten bored by this point and quit…Miracles happen, I guess. :p

"So, you're Dennis Creevey then?" Harry asked politely, looking at Colin's younger brother. The small boy had never really forgiven him for Colin's death since – according to him – Colin wouldn't have snuck back into Hogwarts in the first place if it hadn't been Harry's decision to have the battle. Harry wasn't entirely sure about that, but since he'd mostly ignored Colin due to sheer annoyance and he had so obviously idolized him, there was some lingering guilt there. He had already made the effort to be nicer to Colin himself but he figured it wouldn't hurt to do some work with Dennis, either.

"Uh-huh," Dennis confirmed, nodding excitedly. "I fell off the boat on the way up here and Colin said the giant squid pushed me back in! Isn't that awesome?"

"That is quite a story," Harry conceded. "Of course, my own boat ride was on a nice, calm night without any near-drownings and I think it would have been a much pleasanter experience, but I can't really tell people about it because they don't care. You, however, can use your story to terrify all the little first years for the next six years."

Dennis' eyes widened in anticipation. "Awesome!"

"This is Harry Potter, Dennis," Colin introduced reverently. "He's probably insane, but really cool. If you ever get really bored, go find him and something exciting is sure to follow."

It was, Harry reflected as he moved back to his own seat, better than being sought out because of his evil facial disfigurement.

"I do hope this year's batch of Gryffindors are up to scratch," Nearly Headless Nick remarked idly. "We don't want to break our winning streak, do we?" He paused. "Of course, that's not bloody likely with Harry here, but it wouldn't do to get overconfident, would it?"

"I just want you to know that I really hate you right now," Harry glared at the insensitive ghost, who looked remarkably unconcerned. If looks could petrify, though…

The opening feast was, of course, fantastic and Harry was fully engrossed in it when he heard Hermione horror-struck screech. Alarmed, Harry's head shot up in time to hear her say, "There are house-elves here? Here at Hogwarts?"

"Certainly," Nick said, looking surprised at her reaction. "The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred."

"I've never seen one!" said Hermione.

"Well, they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day, do they?" said Nearly Headless Nick."They come out at night to do a bit of cleaning ... see to the fires and so on ... I mean, you're not supposed to see them, are you? That's the mark of a good house-elf, isn't it, that you don't know it's there?"