Fanfiction by *Lilia*

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=22 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03f000d2egerdp.gif"> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=145 BGCOLOR="#333399" TEXT="#080000" background="03ea2c00erkjzj.gif"> <div> <IMG SRC="0f26d480.gif" border=0 width="109" height="72" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Ahh, the wonderful world of fanfiction...and this one just gets weirder and weirder...no slashie though, rest assured there will never be slash in my fic.</div> <div> It's sad, really, how "fanfic-ish" this is getting, I mean sheesh, you haven't even read the Hogsmeade visit part yet...that one may be going through many more revisions until I post it.</div> </td> <td valign="top" height=458 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#336600" FACE="Tempus Sans ITC" >Alohomora!</FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#663399" FACE="Times New Roman" >    </FONT> |    <B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Papyrus" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alohomora!"><U><B>home</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <IMG SRC="04007040.gif" border=0 width="263" height="4" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>Fanfiction by *Lilia*</B></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Papyrus" >*this is not the author's real name.  Duh.  All original Harry Potter characters and related places are property of J.K. Rowling, her publishers, and Warner Bros. However, Lilia Watt, Amelia Watt, Aura Watt, Ariana Mellengraf, Aidan Quinn, and Christina Zorkovsky are all MY characters (even though Christina only gets a cameo).  I added a plot twist, a BIG plot twist, so some things may be changed or they might not make sense.  If it doesn't tally with canon, please don't hesitate to let me know.  Expect a sad ending...or not.  Depends on how I feel when I write it.  If you like it, please visit my short </FONT><A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Songfic"><U>Songfic</U></A> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Papyrus" >and </FONT><A HREF="id52.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Letters By Night"><U>Letters By Night</U></A><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Papyrus" >.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> (hey, the links to other parts of the site are at the bottom! And character pic!)</div> <bR> <div> ~Just a warning: the story which follows is a little corny, quite sappy, and the narrator is a bit whiny.  Plus this is nowhere near as good as the actual Harry Potter.  Also, it may have some lines that are almost exactly like some from the books.  The original is always best.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  Please send some comments my way.  I was working so hard on giving the characters a little more pride than I have.  I'm not sure I did too well, and I apologise for how mean Ginny is; she's actually my favourite Harry Potter character, but, see, what happens sort of exacerbates her jealously of Lilia because of.....well, never mind, you have to read.  Also, my Harry is a bit different than J.K. Rowling's Harry......hers is more real, and I don't know what to do about that because someone has to be the strong one (emotionally, I mean).  I commend her and am deeply indebted to her for her writing ability.  And now I've lost the topic so I'll just shut up.</div> <bR> <div> "Lilia Watt" or "The Story of a Girl Not So Famous or Special as Harry Potter" or "Something About Harry"</div> <bR> <div>     I wonder now how I might've reacted to the news that greeted me if I'd known what was in store.  As it was, I was shocked (though that's quite an understatement), and a bit skeptical to say the least.</div> <div>     I was never much of a dreamer.  I thought of myself as a realist, and hardly believed in anything I couldn't see with my own eyes.  But I digress.</div> <div>     It was hard enough moving to England after eleven years in America.  I didn't have many friends.  You can imagine my complete surprise at the letter I received the summer after my eleventh birthday.  Not even in the mailbox!  I felt a thick envelope drop down with a <I>thud</I>, and I could have sworn I saw a large owl soar out through my window.  I sat massaging my head as I opened the letter and read:</div> <bR> <div> Dear Miss Watt,</div> <div>          We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  </div> <div>          Term begins on September 1.  We await your owl by no later than July 31.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Yours sincerely,</div> <bR> <div> Minerva McGonagall</div> <bR> <div> Minerva McGonagall</div> <bR> <div> Deputy Headmistress</div> <bR> <div>     I reread the letter, my jaw going slack.  "Mother!!"</div> <div>     <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Garamond" >My mom rushed into the room.  "What's wrong, Lilia?  Are you okay?"</FONT></div> <div>     <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Garamond" >"Mom, take a look at this letter," I said, handing the yellowing parchment nervously to her.</FONT></div> <div>     She read over the words, her brown eyes growing rounder every second.</div> <div>     "D'you think it's a fake?  Maybe it's a joke," I suggested.</div> <div>     She shook her head, mouthing soundlessly.  Finally, she gathered herself enough to speak.</div> <div>     "My sister got one of these when she was your age," she gasped.</div> <div>      I raised my eyebrows in disbelief.  "Aunt Amelia?"</div> <div>      She nodded.</div> <div>      "How come you never told me this before?" I asked, confused.</div> <div>      "I.........didn't think you'd believe me," she shrugged, strangely avoiding my gaze.</div> <div>      I blinked my bright green eyes and brushed my raven hair from my face as I read the letter a third time.  I picked up the envelope that I had thrown on the floor hastily.  The front read:</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Miss L. Watt</div> <div> The Upstairs Bedroom on the Left</div> <div> 7 Thompson St.</div> <div> London</div> <bR> <div>      I flipped over the envelope to see an odd crest on the back.  A badger, a snake, a lion, and a raven surrounded a large letter H.  How curious.</div> <div>      My mother watched me with great interest.  "We'll have to go to Diagon Alley soon," she said.</div> <bR> <div>      Three years later, there I stood, ready to start my fourth year at Hogwarts.  I bid my mom goodbye and strode through the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten.</div> <div>      The Hogwarts Express roared softly in the background, and I stood on tiptoe and surveyed the crowd, looking for my so-called best friend.  My eyes spotted a group of flaming red-headed people, and I began to walk in their direction when suddenly I was hailed by Ginny Weasley, who had come looking for me.</div> <div>       "Lilia!" she exclaimed, hugging me.  "Come on, we're over here," she told me, grabbing hold of my hand and leading me that way.  The same every year.</div> <div>       "Now boys, this is your last year, I don't want you doing anything reckless," Mrs. Weasley was saying.</div> <div>       "Aw, Mum, when have we done anything reckless?" asked Ginny's older brother George, with an air of great innocence.</div> <div>        Ginny snorted.  Her twin brothers, Fred and George, were notorious jokers, and this would be their seventh and last year at Hogwarts.</div> <div>        "Oh, hello, Lilia dear," said Mrs. Weasley vaguely, before she continued lecturing them.</div> <div>        I tuned my ears to the other conversation in our vicinity.  Ginny's brother Ron, and his friends Hermione and the famous (*derisive snort*) Harry Potter, were talking in hushed tones.</div> <div>         "Think I'll survive my fifth year?" Harry asked them bitterly.</div> <div>         "Oh, Harry, please don't say things like that," pleaded Hermione anxiously.  She seemed a bit more uptight than usual.</div> <div>          "I wonder how Sirius is," said Ron, lowering his voice even more, though not low enough for my ear to miss it.</div> <div>           "He's very busy, or so he tells me.  He can't tell me exactly what he's doing, in case the letter's intercepted and all, but....."  Harry stopped abruptly, apparently noticing me staring at them and eavesdropping.  I turned away and rolled my eyes, but my face went pink.  </div> <div>           "Lilia, it's leaving," Ginny said grabbing my hand yet again and dragging me off.</div> <div>           "'Bye Mrs. Weasley!" I yelled.</div> <div>           "'Bye kids!" she shouted back, waving, as we got on the train and it pulled out of the station.</div> <div>            Another year<I>, </I>I thought.  </div> <div>            Ginny and I shared a compartment with a few other fourth years, and while Ginny chatted pleasantly with them, I sat in thought.  What a boring person I am, I thought.  Strange how all manner of things can go on at Hogwarts and nothing ever happens to me.  I didn't mention this to Ginny, who I knew would tell me sharply to be grateful for it.  Ah well, off to another year we are, same as always.  Formalities over, Ginny could go back to criticizing me.</div> <div>      As we clattered up the way to the castle in our horseless carriages, I wondered again, how I could possibly be bored with this.  After all, I was a witch (though not a very good one), and how many people could say that?  I looked around.  Okay, a lot of people could say that.  I concentrated on being happy that I was alive to be bored, though this thought didn't help much.  Pity parties are my specialty.</div> <div>       We stepped out at the gates, and it was swelteringly hot, even for the UK.  It was humid and damp, and the students picked their way along the cobbled ground, trying to avoid puddles.  Me being the accident-prone type that I am, I was talking to Vivian, a third year, when one of these puddles slipped my notice.  Which wasn't the only thing that slipped.  I fell backwards and was caught, thankfully, before I hit the hard ground.  “Thanks,” I said breathlessly, then found myself looking into a pair of brilliant green eyes.</div> <div>      “No trouble,” answered Harry, going a peculiar shade of magenta as he helped me upright.  I glared at his back.  How "nice" of him.</div> <div>      Ginny shot me a slightly contemptuous look as I sidled casually back over to her, watching my step this time.  I sighed.  “Oh, come on Ginny, give it up already.  Potter's full of himself.”</div> <div>      “He is not!” she replied defensively.</div> <div>      “Blind, you are,” I answered, feigning sadness.</div> <div>       She crossed her arms, looking huffy.</div> <div>      By this time we'd entered the Great Hall, and the crowd walking in fell silent, taking their seats at their house tables.</div> <div>      Everyone around me shifted impatiently in his or her seats as the Sorting progressed.  Well, actually, it inched along.  The silence ceased as “Zorkovsky, Christina” was made a Ravenclaw. </div> <div>      “Blimey, I'm hungry,” commented a round-faced third year to his friend.</div> <div>      “When aren't you?” his friend shot back.</div> <div>      The chatter again stopped as Dumbledore stood.  “Though events of last term must be taken into consideration, I must advise you all not to worry unless called upon to do so.”  A smile tugged at his lips.  “And as I see you have all been waiting patiently - or impatiently as the case may be - I have but a word to say to you: Begin!”</div> <div>      “Finally,” moaned the round-faced boy.</div> <div>      I was in agreement.  The gold plates filled with food, and everyone ate voraciously.  </div> <div>      “Won't you have anything to eat?” I pleaded with Nearly Headless Nick.  </div> <div>      “Pointless,” he replied.</div> <div>      “Ah well, it isn't very good anyway,” I said in attempt to make him feel better.</div> <div>      “I believe you,” he answered, his voice dripping sarcasm.</div> <div>      “Aw give up, Lilia, you try that every year,” Ginny told me.</div> <div>      “I wonder what our schedules are this year,” I mused.</div> <div>      “I'd say perfect if we could drop Potions,” she said with a sigh.</div> <div>      I gave a derisive laugh.  “At least you're doing well in it.”</div> <div>      She didn't answer.  Obviously I had a point.</div> <div>      My friend on the other side of me, Ariana Mellengraf, said reassuringly, “You've gotten through it for three years, you'll do it again.”</div> <div>      I smiled wanly.  “Not if the Slytherins can help it.”</div> <div>      We went on in this manner, finally with Ginny concluding, somewhat bitterly, “As much as you say you hate this place, I can't help wondering why you stay.”</div> <div>      Taking this for her to mean that I chose to be terrible at my studies, I kept my mouth shut for the rest of dinner, though the comment smarted a bit.  Maybe she'd be less irritable in the morning.</div> <div>      After dinner, we made our way sleepily up to Gryffindor Tower, Ginny and I still not speaking.  What a day.</div> <bR> <div>      At the breakfast table, we were handed our new schedules as the morning mail arrived.  Nothing for me.  Again.  </div> <div>      “Potions in the morning,” I said, trying my best not to sound whiny.</div> <div>      “Ah, but we're not with the Slytherins this year!” observed Ginny cheerfully.  She <I>was</I> happier in the morning.</div> <div>      That, at least, made me smile.  “I'm sorry I complain so much, Ginny.  It just upsets me that I'm a near failure at magic.”</div> <div>      She put a comforting arm around me.  “Don't worry, Lilia, we'll get through it together, just like we always do, okay?”</div> <div>      I grinned.  “You can count on it.”  Little did I know how different that year would be.</div> <bR> <div>      Snape seemed to have lost none of his usual bitterness over summer break.</div> <div>      “Though it is the beginning of the year, I will have no slackers this term.  Today we'll see how well you remember what you learned last year.  Swelling Solutions!  Finish by the end of class,” he said silkily, turning and pointedly sneering at me.</div> <div>      “I've got an antidote ready, Watt,” he added, shaking a little bottle at me.</div> <div>      Ginny, Ariana, and I worked diligently on the solutions.  Fortunately for myself, this was one I remembered.</div> <div>      I busied myself adding the last of the ingredients, and the three of us were quite satisfied with the solution.  Snape bitterly awarded us full points.  I beamed at Ginny and Ariana, but for my lack of attention I paid dearly.  It seemed that there was too much in the cauldron, for it fast began tilting, then spilled all over the table.  I buried my face in my hands in exasperation, and grabbed a towel.  It hit no one, luckily, but the bell chose that moment to ring.</div> <div>      “Ten points from Gryffindor for your inattentiveness, Watt,” called Snape over the heads of the departing class.</div> <div>      I scowled, and said hurriedly to Ginny, “I'll catch up with you.”</div> <div>      “McGonagall will have your head if you're late,” she answered, leaving.</div> <div>      “I've lived through it before,” I replied as I wiped up the mess of Swelling Solution.</div> <div>      I sped off to Transfiguration when this was done, hardly watching where I was going.  Excellent move.  I smacked right into someone going the opposite way, sending both their books and mine to the floor.</div> <div>      “I'm so sorry,” I muttered, gathering my books.  “Wasn't paying attention……”  We'd both grabbed the same quill, which turned out to be mine, and I took this moment to look at the victim of my clumsiness.  Brilliant.  Ugh.  It was Potter.</div> <div>      “It's okay, neither was I,” he answered, his voice shaking slightly.</div> <div>      My expression shifted to mild disgust, and I looked at my watch.  Thinking it best to end the conversation, I mumbled, “Sorry again, but I'm late for Transfiguration."</div> <div>      "Good luck,” he called after me as I took off running again.<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >      </FONT>I walked cautiously into McGonagall's class and sat down at my seat, pretending I had been there all along.  McGonagall continued lecturing.</div> <div>           “I hope everything hasn't leaked out of your heads this summer, and I'd like to thank Miss Watt for gracing us with her presence,” she finished sharply.  “Not a good way to begin the year,” she said, glaring at me over her spectacles.  I hid behind my books, and Ginny gave me a sympathetic look.  Oh, if she only knew.</div> <div>      “Reviews!” barked McGonagall, passing out hedgehogs to turn into pincushions.  Ah, good, I can get through this, I thought.  McGonagall placed a fat hedgehog on my desk.  It blinked benignly up at me.</div> <div>      “Okay, you little cactus, I have to turn you into a pincushion.”  I pointed my wand at it.  I began to say the spell, and a bright, vivid blue light shot from my hand, right at the poor, unsuspecting animal.  It blew up like an enormous balloon, and shot quills around the classroom, where they ricocheted off the walls.  My classmates all ducked under their desk, but thankfully no one was hurt badly.  Ariana had a quill in her nose, and a boy named Aidan Quinn emerged with many spikes in his bum.</div> <div>      “You and Longbottom ought to get together sometime,” commented Professor McGonagall, her voice quivering with a mixture of anger and surprise.</div> <div>      I looked back at Ginny, who shrugged.  Just like every other first day, I supposed.  It wouldn't have been too bad except for what I heard on the way out.</div> <div>      “Lilia……”</div> <div>      “…..so clumsy, it's a wonder she got into Hogwarts…..”</div> <div>      “…..maybe she should try that Kwikspell thing…..”</div> <div>      Halfway between exploding and crying, I stormed from the classroom, past the people commenting about me.  Witches, hmph.</div> <div>      I didn't talk much during lunch, their words still spinning in my head.  I was busy with my food, and Ariana interrupted me.</div> <div>      “Er…Lilia?”</div> <div>      “What?” I answered sourly.</div> <div>      “You're putting ketchup on your cake,” she said, pointing.</div> <div>      I sighed disgustedly and pushed my newly red chocolate dessert away.</div> <div>      “Are you alright?” Ginny asked me, sounding concerned.</div> <div>      “I'm great, lovely, just perfect,” I snapped, trying to hide my tone of pain.</div> <div>      Ginny seemed to be fighting a scowl.</div> <div>      “It's all okay for you,” I continued in my anger.  “You're a pure-blood wizard, good at magic, and you can walk and talk at the same time without crashing into something.”  I put my head down on my arms, getting cake in my hair.</div> <div>      She still had nothing to say, or if she did she was holding her comment.</div> <div>      Things were stranger during that first month.  Similar events like the Transfiguration incident were rare, and Ginny was strangely distant from me.  I usually exasperated her, but now she had no smart remarks, or comebacks, or irritated sighs.  She was simply quiet, and seemed empty.  This confused me, but it all became clear one day as we were walking through the halls.</div> <div>      Now halls may not seem an extraordinary place, but I suppose what happened hit Ginny where it hurt.  She, Ariana, and I were taking our time walking to Herbology, when none other than Ron, Hermione, and Harry passed by us.  The halls were crowded, and Harry and I brushed arms momentarily, and we kept on walking.  I rolled my eyes.  He, however, had gone slightly red and was staring after me.  As soon as we were outside, Ginny spoke up, fury in her every word.</div> <div>      “I see what you're trying to do, Lilia, little miss `Feel sorry for me because I'm a ditz'.  You can't get to me, and I won't let you take Harry!”</div> <div>      I stood back and gasped, thunderstruck and completely bewildered.  “What do you mean, d'you think I'm looking for your pity?  And how exactly could I take Harry, especially since he's not yours to begin with?  I don't even want him!”</div> <div>      “Trying to work him over, looking pretty and helpless, an `exotic' American,” she spat, shaking.  I had apparently hit a nerve deep within her.</div> <div>      “Oh ho, so now I act like a klutz on purpose and I flaunt myself?  Give me a break!” I snapped at her.</div> <div>      “You're nothing but a superficial idiot and....and a Squib!” she shouted, turning on her heel and running off to Herbology.</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="News Gothic MT" >     </FONT>Ariana ran after her, trying to get her to make up with me I guess, and I just stood there, my mouth hanging open.  <I>A Squib.  </I>She had called me a Squib.  I walked blindly to Herbology, astonished that she would call me such a thing, and that she would accuse me of being accident-prone to get attention.  No, not this, not right now……</div> <div>      Ariana tried to mediate us during Herbology, as we extracted bubotuber pus.  Nevertheless,  Ginny was still upset that I had caught Harry's eye, and I was flabbergasted that she had called me what might as well have been a Muggle.  Such a petty girl, I thought bitterly to myself.  All I did was <I>accidentally </I>touch his arm!  She nonchalantly aimed a bubotuber at me, and it squirted pus onto my hands, which swelled rapidly.  She ducked behind Ariana, smirking.</div> <div>      “Get yourself to the hospital wing, Miss Watt, Madam Pomfrey will fix you up,” Professor Sprout said, ushering me out of the greenhouse.</div> <div>      Ginny and I weren't speaking, obviously.  I'd always had trouble admitting things to Ariana, who was a little nosy and tended to talk a lot, so I tried to study.  The least I could do was prove Ginny wrong.</div> <div>      “I'm going study for the Arithmancy test on Monday, Ariana.  See you later,” I told her as I exited through the portrait hole.</div> <div>      “Bye,” she called back.</div> <div>      I walked sullenly down the stairs to the library, with so much on my mind.  I missed the trick step - nothing new - and my foot sank into it.  “Damn it!” I said, rather louder than I meant to.</div> <div>      “Need a hand?” queried a familiar voice behind me.</div> <div>      Oh, no, not again.  Not him….was it?  Of course.  Potter.</div> <div>      “We seem to be running into each other a lot,” he said smilingly, with a nervous sort of laugh as he lifted me out of the step.</div> <div>      “Thank you,” I answered miserably, as I sat down on the staircase massaging my ankle.  “I hate that step,” I said resentfully.  “Don't you have somewhere to go, Potter?”<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >  </FONT>The weight of my stress was getting to me.  I won't break, I won't let Ginny be right, I'm not going to let anyone see me cry, I promised myself.</div> <div>      “What's wrong?” he asked, obviously noticing my tone.</div> <div>      I bit my quivering bottom lip.  “Nothing, I just….”</div> <div>      “It doesn't sound like nothing,” he said seriously.</div> <div>      “What would you know?” I returned angrily, starting toward the library.  "As if Famous Potter has any problems..."</div> <div>      “Lilia, wait,” he said, ignoring my comment, grabbing my wrist and pulling me back.  “You.... can trust me.”</div> <div>       I shook slightly out of fury at Ginny and all the people who'd laughed at me, and spoke randomly.</div> <div>        “No, no I can't, I can't trust anyone…….my best friend - no, my ex-best friend - was she evr my friend at all?  Well, she hates me, all over something stupid…..you're the last person I would tell, I don't even know you!”</div> <div>          I yanked my wrist from his grasp, fighting my tears as I stormed in the direction of the library once more.  Harry just stood there for a moment, looking hurt and slightly belwildered, then, having reached a decision, ran after me, standing in my way.</div> <div>          “Wait,” he said plaintively.  “If this has to do with Ginny, I can help, right?”</div> <div>          “No,” I sputtered, “It's not all to do with Ginny, but you can't fix it anyway.  Not you.”  I blinked furiously to clear my vision.</div> <div>          “I...want...to help,” he said, sounding as though it were difficult to get the words out.</div> <div>          I didn't want to tell him anything.  He wouldn't understand, he was everyone's "perfect child", what a joke......  “Look, I don't know what you're after, but don't think I haven't already read all about you and your glory seeking……”</div> <div>            I had hit a nerve.  “Blasted Rita Skeeter!” he exploded.  “Don't believe everything you read.  You said it yourself, you don't know me.”  His voice became calmer.  “Now tell me.  I'll listen.”</div> <div>         I broke down; the words tumbled from my mouth before I could stop them.  “I hate this school, I hate being a witch - though I'm nearly a Muggle - , I hate being thought of as a awkward dunderheaded prat!”  By this point, I was sobbing unrestrainedly, and I buried my face in my arms, sitting back down on the staircase.</div> <div>      Harry sat beside me and put an arm awkwardly around me.  I couldn't help myself; I just let it all go, crying through my hair onto his shoulder.  He simply sat there, silent, letting me finish.</div> <div>      “I don't think of you as a prat,” answered Harry finally.</div> <div>      “Y- you don't?” I sniffed, looking up with my face all wet.</div> <div>      “No,” he said firmly.  “Lilia, you seem like a good person, and one day you will be a great witch.  Then you can say `Ha, look at what I've become!'”</div> <div>      “That's easy for you to say.  You're the `Boy Who Lived' and everyone loves you.  You've escaped Lord Voldemort four times.  You're already a great wizard,” I managed, gasping.</div> <div>      “You can hardly expect yourself to ever be a great <I>wizard</I>,” he told me, trying to wipe my tears.</div> <div>      I dodged his hand and laughed weakly.</div> <div>      “Besides, being famous isn't all it's cracked up to be, people staring at me wherever I go…..misleading newsprint...”</div> <div>      “Oh, people do stare at me, because I'm tripping over one thing or another,” I said, sniffing again.</div> <div>      “That can't be true,” Harry replied.</div> <div>      I gave a hollow laugh.</div> <div>      “Aw, come on, dry your eyes.  Where were you headed anyway?”</div> <div>      “The library,” I answered in a small voice.</div> <div>      He grinned.  “Shall I..... walk you there?”</div> <div>      “Can't say I didn't warn you,” I grinned back.</div> <div>      “Come visit me in the hospital wing,” he joked.</div> <bR> <div>      I suppose this could be called something of a turning point.  I wasn't completely convinced, though...</div> <div>      “Lilia?” Harry said, jerking me out of my thoughts.  “Did you really want to study?”</div> <div>      I shook my head sheepishly.  “How could you tell?”</div> <div>      “Well, for one, you were drooling on the book.”</div> <div>      “Ew.  Oops.,” I said, mortified.</div> <div>      He laughed.  “So…what's really wrong between you and Ginny?”</div> <div>      “Don't be nosy.  I can't tell you.”</div> <div>      “<I>Sorry</I>,” he answered, backing away.  He didn't pursue the subject, for which I was grateful.</div> <div>      “Why are you doing this?”</div> <div>      “Doing what?”</div> <div>      “I mean, why are <I>you </I>even bothering to talk to me?”</div> <div>      He quirked an eyebrow.  “Is there…something wrong with that?”</div> <div>      “No.  Yes.”</div> <div>      “Does this have anything to do with what you think I'm like?  Honestly, Rita Skeeter made up all of it.  The most I've ever said to her is `Erm'.”</div> <div>       We talked a lot that day.  <I>A lot</I>.  It was amazing how little I really knew about him, and how what people said was different from reality.</div> <div>      “Myth or fact…Parselmouth?”</div> <div>      “Fact.  I didn't even know until I talked to that boa constrictor in the zoo.”</div> <div>      “Weird…I hate snakes.  Erm…myth or fact…heir of Slytherin?”</div> <div>      “Myth, that's some stupid rumour Ernie MacMillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley started.”  He grinned.  “My turn…”</div> <div>      I laughed nervously.</div> <div>      “Er…pumpkin juice stain on library copy of <I>Hogwarts, A History</I>?”</div> <div>      “Whoa, myth.  Ariana did that, and I took the wrap.”</div> <div>      “Oh, okay.  That nasty burn on Snape's hand?”</div> <div>      I smiled maliciously.  “All me.  He was grading a Pepper Potion, and I accidentally knocked a beaker into the cauldron, and it made a big splash.  Too bad he covered his face with his hands,” I finished sadly.</div> <div>      We talked late into the night, leaving only when Madam Pince shooed us out.</div> <bR> <div>      There was a bit of an awkward moment, as it was midnight when we got back to the common room.</div> <div>      “Ooh, what were you two doing out this late?” asked the Fat Lady, winking.</div> <div>      “Medea,” replied Harry, rolling his eyes as the Fat Lady swung forward.  We climbed into the common room, and approached the stairs.</div> <div>      “Well…thanks, Harry,” I said with a smile.</div> <div>      “No problem,” he answered, flashing a gorgeous smile back at me.</div> <div>      My head spun as I tried to sleep that night…<I>he sure was nice, like Ginny had said…ooo, Ginny, she's been so awful to me…but I don't even like Harry…do I?  Does he like me?  Why do I care, I don't even know him.  Will I feel terrible from lack of sleep tomorrow morning?  What if……</I></div> <bR> <div>      “Lilia, where were you?”</div> <div>      “Er…nowhere, Ariana.”  I yawned and rubbed my eyes as I came down into the common room.  It was Sunday.</div> <div>      “I waited for you, and you never came back.”</div> <div>      “I…well, I had a lot of studying.”</div> <div>      She didn't look convinced, but answered, “Sure, okay.”</div> <div>      I looked around and noticed Ginny sitting on a couch across the room, talking to a fifth year and a few third years.  I had made up my mind to apologise in my incessant mental rambling the night before, because I felt suddenly as if I was doing exactly what she accused me of.<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >  </FONT>  It had been two weeks since the incident.</div> <div>      Just then, the Three Musketeers came in through the portrait hole.  (Great timing, Potter.)  Harry opened his mouth as if to say something to me, but I coughed and gestured discreetly toward Ginny.  He nodded and Ron immediately began whispering in his ear.</div> <div>      I approached Ginny cautiously, and to my surprise, she stood up. </div> <div>      “I need to talk to you,” we said at the same time.</div> <div>      “You first,” we said in unison.</div> <div>      “Together?” I suggested.</div> <div>      She smiled.  “Okay.”</div> <div>      “I'm sorry!” we said together.</div> <div>      “I had hoped we could start all over,” she said quietly.</div> <div>      “Of course.”     </div> <div>      “Sit down,” she said, motioning at the couch, and so I did.</div> <div>      “We were just discussing the prospect of this year's Yule Ball,” put in the fifth year.</div> <div>      “We're having another one?”  This was news to me.</div> <div>      “We don't know yet,” spoke up a third year.  “But it's tentative, and would be in a month and a half.  On Christmas day.”</div> <div>      “A month and a half?  We need to get planning!” I said excitedly.</div> <div>      Ginny grinned.  “That's the Lilia I know.”</div> <bR> <div>      Meanwhile, Harry and I talked a lot over the next month.  He would send a glance my way in the halls, or flash that beautiful smile again.  I tried to act as if nothing were happening, but I was starting to feel something whenever I was around him…</div> <div>      I yawned loudly as I sat down to breakfast on the morning of the first Quidditch match of the year.  I had always enjoyed the excitement of watching, because I knew I'd never play.</div> <div>      Word was out that Ron Weasley was the new Keeper. Ginny had opted to sit next to her brother, as he looked a little green.  I sat across from them, eating my oatmeal as I listened to Ginny comforting him.</div> <div>      “Don't worry, Ron, you'll do fine!  You're a Weasley; everyone knows you can play Quidditch.”</div> <div>      “It's a Shooting Star, for Pete's sake, Ginny!  I'll fall flat on my face!”</div> <div>      “Calm down.  And have some breakfast.”</div> <div>      “I'm not hungry,” said Ron firmly, pushing his plate away.</div> <div>      “It's just Quidditch,” said Harry from Ron's other side, helping himself to some cereal.  “You've played it loads of times.”</div> <div>      “Ungh,” Ron groaned, burying his face in his hands.</div> <div>      Ron didn't speak again as he, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Ariana, and I departed for the field.  I mumbled, “Good luck,” to Harry out of the corner of my mouth as he and Ron went to the locker room.</div> <div>      The rest of us headed to the stands, but Harry pulled me aside absently and handed me his wand. “Oh, almost forgot, hold this, will you?” he said, then dashed off.</div> <div>      “Strange boy,” I muttered, and followed the others.  It had never occurred to me that one could lose a wand while in the air like that.</div> <div>      “Welcome to the first Quidditch match of the season: Gryffindor versus Slytherin!” Lee Jordan's voice rang out.  I sat down next to Ginny, hugging my robes and Gryffindor scarf closely as the wind began to blow.  The players shot around the field, letting off pre-game steam.  Hagrid, behind us, was looking through enormous binoculars.</div> <div>      “Blimey, Gin, yer brother looks…sick!”</div> <div>      Ginny sighed, disgusted.  “Let me have a look,” she said, taking the binoculars from Hagrid.  “Ugh…he doesn't <I>look </I>sick,” she said as the speck that was Ron landed, “he <I>is </I>sick.”  She jerked the binoculars away from her eyes and handed them back to Hagrid.  Ron took flight again, and the whistle was blown.</div> <div>      “And they're off!  Gryffindor's new Keeper's first game, he looks a little pale…don't worry!  Katie Bell in possession of the Quaffle…ooh, narrow miss from a Bludger…”</div> <div>      And that was about all I heard of the game because at that moment, something began wildly jumping around in my pocket.  I stood up quickly, and reached into my pocket, pulling out my wand (which was making noises like a squirrel).  As soon as I held it, it stopped.  I pulled the other mad wand, Harry's, out of my pocket, hoping to make it act normal - but I made it worse.</div> <div>      Bewildered, I backed into my chair as both wands went completely ballistic.  One shot me in the eye, and people around me began to back away, confused.  Then there was a complete uproar in the Gryffindor stands, as both wands hopped chaotically around and sparked, unfortunately only in my vicinity.  Then one bounced off of Hagrid and hit me with the force of a full-speed golf ball, and I suddenly found myself sprawled on the floor under the seats.</div> <div>      “Ow, my eye,” I said blinking, and saw Hagrid's huge, hairy face over me.</div> <div>      “That ain't all that's happened to yeh,” he said, and people around me began to laugh.</div> <div>      “I'd better take yeh to the hospital wing,” he told me, lifting me up.  I heard roars of laughter around me, and cheering from the other people who were completely immersed in the game.  I lifted my hand to rub my eye………</div> <div>      My hand was huge!  I stopped abruptly in my tracks and said, “Er, Hagrid?  What happened?”</div> <div>      He grinned.  “Seems yeh've been turned into a miniature version of me.  But never worry, Madam Pomfrey can mend it,” he said, far too matter-of-factly, then held up the wands, far apart.  “Which one's yours?”</div> <div>      I took it.  “T'other one's Harry's,” I said absently as he pocketed it.</div> <div>      Oh, how mortifying!</div> <div>      It was all Madam Pomfrey could do to keep from exploding with laughter.</div> <div>      “Mmf…okay dear, it may take a few days for you to be back to…n-n-normal.”  She drew the curtains around the bed, and went into the other room, where I could hear her laughing.  My face itched horribly on account of all the hair, and I was miserable.  But it didn't end there.</div> <div>      “Lilia, Lilia, are you okay?  Everyone said you'd gone to the hospital wing.”  I saw Harry's outline through the screens, still in his Quidditch robes.</div> <div>      “I'm here,” I said.  “I'm not hurt, at least, but…”  I examined my enormous hairy arms.</div> <div>      “Come on, it can't be <I>that </I>bad,” he said, reaching for the curtain.</div> <div>      “Harry, please, honestly…”</div> <div>      “Girls are far too melodramatic,” he said, and pulled open the screens, then jumped back in surprise.</div> <div>      “I'm Hagrid!” I exclaimed, throwing my large arms in the air in exasperation.</div> <div>      He coughed to disguise his laughter.</div> <div>      “Shut up, Harry, this is <I>your </I>fault,” I snapped, folding Hagrid's arms.  “Stupid wand went haywire…”</div> <div>      His eyebrows rose.  “Oh…I gave <I>you </I>the wand?  I usually give that to Hermione…must not have been paying attention…”  He looked at me and coughed again.  “S-sorry, Lilia.  I'll…I'll just go now, shall I?”  He turned and headed for the door.  “Oh, and we won the game,” he shrugged, and left.</div> <bR> <div>      I was de-Hagrid-ized and back to normal within a few days.  But the teachers had no mercy on me.</div> <div>      “Please, Professor, don't do this to me.  I have Ophidiophobia.”</div> <div>      “Nonsense, Miss Watt.  You will turn that garden hose into a snake.  Your grade depends on it.”</div> <div>      “But, Professor!”</div> <div>      “This topic is closed.”</div> <div>      I muttered a few choice words under my breath, and turned back to Ariana and Ginny.  “Well, she'll answer to Madam Pomfrey, I suppose, if I get bitten,” I sighed as I put my head down on the desk.</div> <div>      “That's why you have to learn the spell properly,” interjected Ginny.</div> <div>      I gave a sarcastic laugh.  “And send the snake shooting all over the room?  I don't think Aidan Quinn has quite recovered from the porcupine incident.”</div> <div>      “It was a hedgehog, Lilia.”</div> <div>      “Sorry.”  No matter what she said to me, I had decided to be nice to her, to get my conscience to stop bugging me.</div> <div>      “You okay?”</div> <div>      I looked up.  There was a look of genuine concern on her pretty, freckled face.  Some people have all the luck.</div> <div>      “I'm fine, Ginny, actually, never better.”  I smiled.</div> <div>      “Great.  So here's what I'm thinking of wearing to the Yule Ball…”</div> <bR> <div>      I decided I needed professional help for the Ophideus spell.</div> <div>      “Hermione!” I said joyfully, spotting her in the common room.</div> <div>      “Hey, Lilia,” she answered sweetly.  Hermione had indeed grown lovely over the summer, and her hair was no longer curly, but sleek and beautiful.  I felt a small twinge of jealousy at her grace and intelligence, but that's life.</div> <div>      “We're learning the Ophideus spell, and I really need your help.  I'm afraid of snakes, you see, and I don't want to have an angry snake slithering toward me because I bounced it off of the walls.”</div> <div>      “Sure, I'll help,” she told me with a laugh.  “Why would you bounce it off of the walls, though?”</div> <div>      “Not on purpose!  My wand did something weird awhile ago to a hedgehog, and I wanted to make sure I had someone competent to deal with it in case it happened again.”</div> <div>      “Okay, how about tonight at 9:00, in the spare classroom on the third floor?”</div> <div>      “That's great!  Thanks.”</div> <div>      “Hey Hermione!” called Ron as he climbed into the portrait hole.  “What d'you say about this Yule Ball thing?”</div> <div>      “What do you mean?” she replied with a grin.</div> <div>      I thought it best to leave them alone, and I winked at Hermione as I left discreetly.</div> <bR> <div>      “Where're you going?” asked Ginny, as I was departing to meet Hermione.</div> <div>      “Ophideus spell lessons, with Hermione.  Spare classroom on the third floor.  Later!”  I left Ginny standing looking a little bewildered, and headed for the third floor.</div> <div>      “Sorry I'm late!” I said breathlessly as I burst into the classroom.  “The staircase wouldn't move to let me to the third floor, so I had to go the long way…”  I stopped as I looked up.</div> <div>      “I brought someone to help in case things get out of control,” said Hermione, signalling toward Harry.</div> <div>      Harry shrugged and grinned sheepishly.</div> <div>      “Actually, he almost begged to come when I told him…Ow!”  Harry had elbowed her to make her stop talking, and she smirked.</div> <div>      “Okay, hold your wand like this…good, okay…angle your wrist down a bit….there…and say `Ophidios apparum!'”</div> <div>      “McGonagall will get a letter from my mother if I get hurt doing this…” I muttered, shaking terribly.  I really don't like snakes.</div> <div>      “Don't worry about it,” said Harry, laying a hand on my shoulder.  “I'm a Parselmouth, remember?”</div> <div>      I nodded, and steadied my hand.  “Ophidios apparum!”  The dormant water hose lying on the classroom floor shifted shape into a long, black and white striped snake.  I froze, staring it in the eye as it glided slowly at me.  “Quick, how do I make it change back?”</div> <div>      “Say `Ophidios Disapparum'!”</div> <div>      “Ophideum Disapparum!” I yelled, and a shock went through my entire body, and I was vaguely aware of blue light and a throbbing pain on the back of my neck.  I had no clue as to the snake, and my vision clouded.  When I came to, the snake was again a motionless garden hose and Harry and Hermione were standing over me.</div> <div>      “Are you okay, Lilia?” asked Hermione, as she and Harry helped me up.</div> <div>      I made a small noise of dissent, aching as they placed me in a chair.</div> <div>      “I'll take her to the hospital wing, Hermione.”</div> <div>      “Well, okay.  But be careful, Harry.”  She quietly went out the door.</div> <div>      “Hurts,” I mumbled, the pain in my body ebbing away-except for my neck.</div> <div>      “What hurts?” he asked softly, holding onto my hand.</div> <div>      “My neck.  The back.”</div> <div>      “Hmm.”  He lifted my hair off my neck, and touched my skin ever so gently.  I shivered, and a warm feeling spread through me.</div> <div>      “It doesn't look bruised.”</div> <div>      “It…doesn't hurt anymore, either,” I answered.</div> <div>      “Odd.  We'd better get back to Gryffindor tower.  That's enough Ophideus for you tonight.”</div> <div>      We walked quickly and quietly back, Harry looking at me sideways as if I were about to fall over.  He had also insisted on holding my hand in order to prevent this.  He let go and looked at his finger all of a sudden, and said, “Whoa!”</div> <div>      “Hm?” I answered absent-mindedly.</div> <div>      “My finger's glowing.”</div> <div>      Indeed it was, giving off a soft golden light like a candle.  I laughed in spite of myself.  “Maybe <I>you </I>should visit the hospital wing.”</div> <div>       As we were about to split at the staircases, as we always did, he suddenly asked, “What happened?”</div> <div>      “I'm…not sure, really.”</div> <div>      Our gazes connected, and he continued, “Are you sure you're okay?”</div> <div>      “Yes,” I replied, though I wasn't really positive of this.</div> <div>      “I'll be keeping an eye on you,” he said, sounding hesitant, and looked as if he were debating something.  He took a step toward me, and before I knew what was happening, he had kissed me.  We stared at each other in shock for a moment, faces burning.  And then…</div> <div>      “Good night,” we said together, then turned quickly away up the two staircases.</div> <bR> <div>      “Professor, I tried, I really did!”</div> <div>      Professor McGonagall eyed me suspiciously.  “Miss Watt, I…”</div> <div>      “I fainted,” I interrupted.  "Hermione and Har...Hermione can tell you."  Ginny was nearby.</div> <div>      She pursed her lips.  “Mind you find a way to make up the grade.”</div> <div>      I breathed a sigh of relief.  “I will, I will.”</div> <div>      “So she excused you from it?” prompted Ginny, Ariana listening intently.</div> <div>      I beamed.  “Yup.”</div> <div>      Ginny gave me a look reminiscent of McGonagall as well.</div> <div>      I laughed. “Thanks, Ginny.”</div> <div>      The bell rang, to my great happiness.</div> <div>      Harry was waiting beyond the door after I'd gathered my things and walked out.  At the sight of Ginny, he<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>ducked behind a passing crowd of Ravenclaw sixth years, one of which looked meaningfully at him.  I was so intent on keeping Ginny from noticing Harry that this escaped my eye.</div> <div>      “Go ahead to lunch, Ginny, I'll catch up.”  She looked at me and raised her eyebrows, but said nothing and walked off.  I was feeling incredibly guilty about all this secrecy...I had to find some way to tell her.</div> <div>      “Hi, Lilia,” Harry said suddenly, standing up straight and dusting himself off.</div> <div>      I grinned and distractedly stumbled over a passing Slytherin, who gave me a nasty look and shoved me into the wall with his elbow.</div> <div>      “Leave her alone,” said Harry fiercely, standing between the Slytherin and I.</div> <div>      “Excuse me?” growled the Slytherin, who was easily twice Harry's size.</div> <div>      Harry looked up into his face.  “I told you to leave her alone.”</div> <div>      The Slytherin looked angry, but some stroke of luck had Professor Dumbledore walk by at that precise moment.  The boy simply scowled and stalked off, throwing Harry at the wall in the same way as me.</div> <div>      Harry shrugged.  “I tried,” he said, his glasses dangling from his ear.</div> <div>      I put his glasses correctly on his face, and answered, “Thanks,” and hugged him.  He laughed nervously, then stepped back quickly as sparks emitted from my fingertips.</div> <div>      “Static?” I suggested.</div> <div>      He shook his head.  “Only you.”</div> <div>      “Odd, I am,” I replied with a wink.</div> <bR> <div>      Something else was odd; Harry seemed to be around a lot lately.  Every time I felt down, or needed a hand up (most literally), he would be there.  It seemed deliberate, planned.  But why?  There was no chance that he liked me…was there?  But I didn't like him…at least I didn't think so.  I thought perhaps I might ask him.  It was the week before Christmas Break, if I remember correctly.  Anyway, I asked him.</div> <div>      “I…er..,” he began awkwardly.</div> <div>      “What?  Do you feel sorry for me?” I demanded impatiently.</div> <div>      “It's because…I like you okay!” he answered angrily, turning away with his face nearly the same colour as the chairs in the common room.  (A/N: Red.  As if you didn't know.)</div> <div>      My anger vanished in light of this, and I was astonished both by what he said, and how he said it.</div> <div>      “I…I..,” I spluttered.  I took a deep breath.  “Do you…not want to like me?”</div> <div>      He sighed and stared into the fireplace.  “I don't really know.”</div> <div>      “Shall we go for a walk?”</div> <div>      He nodded.</div> <div>      A few minutes later, we were walking slowly around the lake in the chilly air.  I pulled my cloak tighter, and turned to him.</div> <div>      “But why, Harry?  Why me, of all people?  I mean, to everyone else I'm just that accident-prone American girl.”</div> <div>      “I'm not totally sure, exactly.  I know it sounds stupid, because we hardly know each other, but it's this feeling I get when I'm around you, like I have a purpose, a destiny.”</div> <div>      “But you already had a destiny, long before me.”</div> <div>      He looked up into the grey sky.  “I don't understand, either.  But I admire you.  Your spirit, your…”  He faltered.  “You trust…”  He stopped and sat down.  “That which I have broken,” he finished miserably.</div> <div>      <I>Oh, no, here it comes,</I> I thought.  <I>There's always something wrong with me…..</I></div> <div>      “What do you mean?” I asked, not particularly wanting to know.</div> <div>      “Lilia…I'm…er…seeing someone, actually.”  He looked at his feet.</div> <div>      This was not what I expected.  “So I suppose you go around kissing and flirting with people you have no feelings for?  I would have thought that you, of all people, Harry Potter, would know what it's like to be singled out.  But, no, honesty isn't good enough for famous Mr. Potter here.”  I turned on my heel, staring furiously into the trees.</div> <div>      “Lilia,” he began imploringly, laying a hand on my shoulder.</div> <div>      I shook him off.  “You know, perhaps some first impressions are correct.” He opened his mouth to protest.</div> <div>        “All men should go to hell,” I continued, breathing hard through my nose, and I stormed off back to the castle, angry with myself.</div> <div>      <I>How could I have been so stupid, thinking all those little things meant anything?  Hah!  Just a pawn, I was.  Idiot, to let myself fall for him.  Snobby, that Potter.</I>  I bit my lip, blundering my way up the stairs and deliberately avoiding the trick step.</div> <div>      I went wordlessly up to my room, alone, and flung myself on my bed and wept.</div> <bR> <div>      “Lilia, you look terrible,” Ginny told me one morning, a few days later.  I had to agree.  My face was tear-streaked and puffy, and there were dark circles under my eyes.  I hadn't gotten much sleep lately, and I'd been obsessive about my studies.</div> <div>      “What's wrong?” she asked, concerned.</div> <div>      “I…I can't tell you,” I said lamely.</div> <div>      She looked astonished.  “Why not?”</div> <div>      “Because you'll hate me, and all I need is to lose another friend, when I've nearly the world against me anyway.  All my teachers, all those people laughing at me, Har….,” I gulped and broke off.  On the bright side, I could stop feeling guilty about Ginny.</div> <div>      Ginny quirked a brow, and Ariana put in, “That's not true.”</div> <div>      I snorted.  “Yeah, and yesterday Snape <I>wasn't </I>a slimy git.”</div> <div>      “You can't expect that to change,” laughed Ariana.</div> <div>      I sighed.  “I need to go to the library.  I have some work to do.”</div> <bR> <div>      A few minutes later, there I sat, reading an enormous book and taking notes for my History of Magic essay.  I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder.</div> <div>      “Lilia…” Harry said softly.</div> <div>      “Potter,” I replied coldly.  He sat down opposite me at the table.</div> <div>      “I need to talk to you,” he continued, sounding child-like.</div> <div>      Not looking up from my work, I answered, “I wouldn't know whether to believe you or not.  As a matter of fact -“</div> <div>      “I broke it off with Cho,” he interrupted.</div> <div>      At these words, I stared intently at him.  “Liar,” I breathed.</div> <div>      He appeared to be hurt, and looked at his hands for a moment, twisting nervously in his chair.  Then he stood hesitantly, and came around the table to sit next to me.</div> <div>      “Please, Lilia, just hear me out.”</div> <div>      I looked up, pen in hand, and calmly answered, “Fine.”</div> <div>      “You've been crying,” he said abruptly, placing his hand on my cheek.</div> <div>      I moved his hand away.  “Nonsense,” I insisted.</div> <div>      He sighed heavily.  “I don't know where to begin.  I've been fighting a sort of internal struggle since I met you.  It may sound stupid, but it almost feels as if... I belong with you…”  He shook his head as if such a thought was silly.  “I feel something unexplainable around you, and I couldn't bear to know that I'd hurt you.”  He blinked his eyes furiously, and I was astonished to see that they were glistening with tears.</div> <div>      “Harry, I…”</div> <div>      He took my hand.  “Please forgive me.”</div> <div>      My hand felt unexpectedly warm, and, inexplicably, I smiled and nodded.</div> <div>      “Oh, look at that!” Harry interjected, gesturing towards our clasped hands.  They were both glowing with the weird, golden light.</div> <div>      “Maybe I gave you whatever was wrong with me before.”</div> <div>      I smiled.  “I'd share anything with you.”</div> <bR> <div>      At dinner, I was positively ravenous.  I'd lost my appetite since the fight with Harry, and I supposed it was back with a vengeance.</div> <div>      “You certainly look better, Lilia.  Stopped crying, have you?” queried Ginny.</div> <div>      I nodded, and couldn't help but smile, hiding my still gleaming hand underneath the table.</div> <div>      “Speak up, tell us why!” Ariana said expectantly.</div> <div>      I gave her a look that plainly said, “NO.”</div> <div>      On my left, I felt a warm hand laid upon my own under the table, and I looked to my other side.</div> <div>      “Stopped crying, have you?” Harry repeated, grinning.</div> <div>      I tried to look innocent.  “Crying?  Who's crying?  I don't know anything about any crying.”</div> <div>      “Why was she crying, Harry?” Ariana asked curiously (and quite nosily, I thought).</div> <div>      “I…er…erm…because,” he mumbled.</div> <div>      “What was that?  Can't hear you!”</div> <div>      “It's…erm…nothing, nothing at all,” he finished.</div> <div>      Ariana looked suspiciously from me to Harry and back again, but said nothing.  Ginny was too busy talking to a fifth year called Fiona to even notice this conversation.  I looked away to avoid confrontation, and spotted a Ravenclaw sixth year with black hair glaring at me with something akin to hatred.  Harry saw this as well, and glanced at me nervously with a “Help me!” sort of look.  I pretended to cough, and this was when I saw my hand -- and Harry's.  I gasped in fear and tried to hide the glowing appendage by sitting on it, and I felt an electrical current immediately jolt through me.</div> <div>      “Ow!” I shrieked, my eyes watering.  The whole hall became suddenly quiet.  I looked around nervously, and bit-by-bit, the noise started up again.  I leaned over and whispered incoherently to Harry, “Hospital wing.  Hand.  Now.”  We dashed off without so much as a word to either Ginny, Ariana, or what I supposed must have been Cho.</div> <bR> <div>      “Oh, dear, that is rather strange,” muttered Madam Pomfrey, hovering over the two of us.   “Does this hurt?” she inquired Harry, poking his hand, which was still clasped in my own.</div> <div>      “No,” he answered, bewildered.</div> <div>      “No?  How about this?” she continued, poking my hand.</div> <div>      “No,” I repeated.</div> <div>      “Hrm….”  She buzzed around irritatingly for a moment, and then tried to separate our hands, and I felt the enormous shock again, and both Harry and I screamed.</div> <div>      “My, my, it seems you're stuck!  I've never seen anything like this before.  Perhaps it'd be best to talk to the Headmaster, yes, that's the ticket, just sit still while I go fetch him,” she rambled, rubbing her head with her index finger and shutting the door behind herself.</div> <div>      All was silent for a little while, then, inexplicably, I began to laugh.</div> <div>      Harry glared at me.  “I fail to see the humour in this.”</div> <div>      “It's not funny, it's just….ironic,” I replied, stifling a snicker.</div> <div>      “Oh.  Well, then,” said a voice suddenly.</div> <div>      Professor Dumbledore swept into the ward.  “Madam Pomfrey, I assure you, it is not a problem.  Perhaps in a few hours it will be gone.  There's never been such a case before - “ he stopped abruptly, noticing Harry and I sitting there baffled, our hands burning.  He cleared his throat.</div> <div>      “Erm, yes, as I was just saying to Madam Pomfrey, perhaps a good night's sleep is all you need.”</div> <div>      “What?” both Harry and I said at once.  Harry continued, “We can't go into the common room like this!”  I nodded vigorously.</div> <div>      “Ahem, well, then maybe you should stay in the hospital wing.”</div> <div>      That was possibly the most awkward suggestion yet, but we couldn't stand to have all of Gryffindor see us in such a situation.</div> <div>      </div> <bR> <div>      “Harry?”</div> <div>      “Mm?”</div> <div>      “Are you awake?”</div> <div>      “I'm talking to you, aren't I?”</div> <div>      “Could you move a little more this way?  My arm isn't made of taffy.”</div> <div>      He laughed softly and sleepily.  I blinked as the light from our hands slowly faded.</div> <bR> <div>      I woke up the next morning, feeling de-energized but well.  I felt something move against my hand, and glanced over to see Harry still asleep - but my hand was my own again.  I touched him gently on the face, and he yawned.</div> <div>      “Wh'time `sit?” he said drowsily.</div> <div>      “I don't know.”  I handed him his glasses.  “We're better, it appears.”</div> <div>      “Oh, good, you're awake,” interrupted Madam Pomfrey.  “You'd both better not do anything too strenuous, don't want you going all berserk like that again.”</div> <div>      I pulled a face at Harry with my back to the nurse as she droned on.  He coughed to disguise his laugh.</div> <div>      “Out with you now, don't want to disturb the others,” she said, rushing us out the door.</div> <bR> <div>      If I thought Professor Dumbledore's suggestion was awkward, it was nothing compared to the third-degree we received back in the common room after classes and dinner that evening.</div> <div>      “Why'd you run off like that `Arry?” asked Seamus, with a wry smirk on his face.</div> <div>      “Erm, well, you see…,” began Harry.</div> <div>      “Sudden seizure,” I said suddenly.</div> <div>      Both Seamus and Harry turned and stared at me.</div> <div>      “And what about you?” quipped Ariana.</div> <div>      “I had to help him to the hospital wing,” I said quickly.</div> <div>      “And that's why you were gone all night?”</div> <div>      “Er…I caught the seizure, too.  Yeah.”</div> <div>      Ginny seemed a bit too preoccupied.  She had hardly noticed we were gone.</div> <div>      “Lilia, come see, I've got something to show you,” she insisted absently, grabbing me by the arm and dragging me off up the stairs.  (I was grateful to escape the questions.)</div> <div>      “I've finally found a dress for the Yule Ball!” she declared, throwing open the door to our room.  She walked gently over to the closet, and slowly opened it as if it were a sacred relic.  Inside was a beautiful silk green dress, the perfect green to contrast with her hair.</div> <div>      I gasped.  “Ginny, I'm jealous!”</div> <div>      She grinned, apparently satisfied with my reaction.  “It looks even better on.  D'you think it might convince Harry to dance with me?”</div> <div>      “Harry?” I asked, hoping I sounded off-hand.  “Er…yes, of course.  Who wouldn't want to dance with you?”</div> <div>        She smiled.  “I'm glad we're friends again.  But now we've got to find you a dress!”</div> <div> I laughed.  “Better not be too elaborate, or I'll trip on it.  Or spill something.”</div> <div> “Don't worry, I'll find you something.”</div> <div> The `something' was made clear the night before the Ball.  Ginny and Ariana ushered me up the staircase in the evening, with smug looks on their faces.  They threw open the closet, saying, “Ta da!”  </div> <div> I gasped.  It was deep, dark, and midnight blue, with off the shoulder straps and a gathered front, and a long, flowing skirt.  The back was open in a sort of V-shape, and all the edges were trimmed in gold.</div> <div> “I love it!” I exclaimed.  They both grinned.  </div> <div> “You owe me one,” said Ginny.  </div> <bR> <div>             Getting ready for the Yule Ball was the highlight of Christmas break.  Ginny had curled her hair so that it delicately fell about her pale, freckled shoulders.  She looked stunning.  I, on the other hand, had done up my long black hair in a bun, and I decided to wear bold red lipstick.</div> <div> “Harry Potter, eat your heart out,” said Ginny into the mirror.  Ariana and I giggled.  I had set Dean Thomas up with Ariana, who was dressed in red.  We went downstairs.</div> <bR> <div> “Lilia, ready to go?” asked Ginny, after Ariana and Dean had met up.</div> <div> “I'll catch up,” I answered.</div> <div> “Be fashionably late,” she told me, and she, Ariana, and Dean exited.</div> <div> Then I saw Harry.  He looked spectacular, wearing dark green dress robes over a nice shirt and slacks.  He hardly looked different from other days; boys are so lucky.</div> <div>             He was talking to Ron, who was smiling so much I thought his face might break.</div> <div> “Can you believe it, Harry?” he said as they came down the stairs.</div> <div> Harry laughed.  “Calm down, Ron,” he said, then looked up and at me.  “Wow,” he breathed, and gaped.</div> <div> I blushed and laughed nervously, and he closed his mouth.</div> <div>             “Go on ahead, Harry,” Ron said, and winked.  “I'll wait here for…my date.”</div> <bR> <div> The Yule Ball itself was another story entirely.  </div> <div> It was hard to watch Harry dancing with Ginny.  I had warned him not to pay any attention to me, lest Ginny notice, but all the same, I was a bit jealous.  I contented myself with looking at the other dancing couples.</div> <div> Fred and Angelina.  I snickered.  <I>There </I>was an item.  Numerous people winced as they danced past, stepping on toes.</div> <div> Dean and Ariana.  How cute! What a matchmaker I was.</div> <div> The song slowed and came to and end.  Ginny was positively radiant, as Harry gave her a smile and a nod.</div> <div> “Did you see us, Lilia?” she said, trying desperately to contain her glee.</div> <div> “I did, Ginny,” I answered, and could not help but laugh.  “You're rather a catch, aren't you?”</div> <div> She giggled.</div> <div> “What about your brother and Hermione?”</div> <div> Ginny smirked.  “I know.  I resisted the urge to tease him, even if he deserves it.  Well, speak of the devil!”  At that moment, Ron approached our table, looking both secretive and dubious.</div> <div> “Ooh, lover boy!” cooed Ginny at him.</div> <div> “Ginny, not right now.  I'm too happy,” he said, loudly, as Colin Creevey walked up to Ginny.  Then Ron stooped down and whispered in my ear, “Harry wants to talk to you.  Meet him in the entrance hall.”</div> <div> Then he went back toward Hermione, grinning broadly.</div> <div> “Be right back, Ginny.”</div> <div> “Okay Lilia,” she answered distractedly as she went off to dance with Colin, yelling behind her to Ron, “Kiss Hermione for me!”</div> <bR> <div> “Lilia, I know you said to keep my distance, but I had this brilliant idea, and - “ he rambled, and took a breath as if to continue.</div> <div> “It's okay, Harry.”</div> <div> He let out the breath.</div> <div> “How was your dance with Ginny?”</div> <div> “I really hope I'm not leading her on.  Was I flirtatious?”</div> <div> “A bit, yes, I'm afraid.”</div> <div> He sighed again, and stood like one of those magazine models.  “What can I say?  Must be the old Potter charm.”</div> <div> I gave a derisive snort.  “And it's not the fact that she has a major crush on you?”</div> <div> He grinned.  “That too.  But what about you?” he continued as we walked toward the door to the garden.</div> <div> “Ahh, I, myself, am a bit more selective than that.”  I put on a look of indifference.  “I only like you because you're famous.”</div> <div> “Is that so?  Well, it turns out that I have a bit of a weak spot for girls that make my hand look like a torch.”</div> <div> We stepped out into the garden, and I quirked a brow at him.  “And how often does that happen?”</div> <div> “With just this one girl…”  He smiled at me and we sat down on one of the stone benches.  A statue of a cherub stood in the middle of the small circle of benches, and I could hear voices on the other side of the rosebushes, but there was no one in sight.  I leaned back against the leaves, disturbing a few fairies who took flight.</div> <div> “I wanted to dance with you,” Harry said quietly, not looking at me.</div> <div> “I hate hiding.”  I glanced at him and then fingered the velvet of my dress absently.</div> <div> “So do I.  But…”</div> <div> “But what?”</div> <div> He sighed.  “I…nevermind.”</div> <div> I looked at him inquisitively.  He seemed to be searching for words.  Finally, he said, “I just…didn't expect it to be so diffcult to stay away from you, even for tonight.”</div> <div> I smiled.  “You really mean that?”</div> <div> He nodded.  “This is going to sound corny, but even when I was dancing with Ginny, all I could think about was you.”  He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, and looked at me for a moment, laying his hand lightly on my shoulder.</div> <div> And then he kissed me.  A <I>real </I>kiss.  The warm feeling I had felt the night of the Ophideus spell spread through me again, and I was vaguely aware of a soft light and whispering voices around us.  As we broke away, he smiled.</div> <div> “I've been waiting to do that,” he whispered.</div> <div> The light suddenly seemed brighter, and reality slapped me in the face.</div> <div> “Harry,” I said frantically.  We were both glowing.  Our entire bodies.  And there, before us, was an audience who had come to see what the light was about.</div> <div>             “Nice one, Potter.”  It was Malfoy, a malicious grin splashed across his pointed face.  “Ahh, and Little Weasley's best friend.  What fresh torment is this?”</div> <div>             I glared at him.  </div> <div>             “Get stuffed, Malfoy,” spat Harry.</div> <div>             “Tsk, Potter.  Don't get angry.  You'll set something ablaze.”  And before either Harry or I could react, he took off for the Great Hall.</div> <div>              It suddenly hit me.  “Ginny.”  Harry and I ran after Malfoy in a blurry glimmer.</div> <div>              But Malfoy got there first.  Harry and I walked around in circles in the entrance hall, wondering what to do.  Not only were we both gleaming, we were a mess.</div> <div>             “Harry, now what?”</div> <div>             “Why don't we just go back to the common room until we stop glowing?” he panted.  “We-“  He stopped, and the colour drained from his face.</div> <div>             It was Ginny, walking toward us, nearly dripping fury.  In the shadowed doorway behind her stood Malfoy, smiling nastily.  Ginny stopped, and her eyes lingered on my hair, which had fallen from my bun, and on the lipstick on Harry's face.</div> <div>            “Ginny, I can explain,” I pleaded.</div> <div>            “How long?” she asked, her voice quiet and deadly.</div> <div>            “How long what?”</div> <div>            “How long has this been going on?!”</div> <div>            “I…since the beginning of November, but Ginny, honestly I didn't-“</div> <div>            “He meant nothing to you, and you nothing to him, right?”  Her voice grew louder.</div> <div>            “I swear I wasn't doing this to spite you, and I didn't want you to get hurt-“</div> <div>            “It's too late for that, isn't it?” she almost shrieked.  Heads began peeking around the doorway of the Great Hall to see what was going on.</div> <div>            “Well, you can just take that other glowing freak Potter and you can both bugger off!” she screamed, and turned on her heel to walk off.  But she turned around again.</div> <div>            “Oh, and Harry, you've got <I>red</I> lipstick on your face, did you know?”  And she stalked off.  The people in the Great Hall continued to stare at us until Professor McGonagall whisked us off.</div> <div>            As soon as we were out of earshot, she began, “Miss Watt and Mr. Potter, I don't want to hear about your social life.”  She glanced at Harry, who was trying to wipe my lipstick off his face, and he immediately stopped.  “What am I to do with you?”  She stared at us side by side, lighting up the stone passageways like a pair of candles.</div> <div>           “You cannot possibly understand the danger the two of you are in when you are in such a…condition.  I'm afraid I may have to send you to the Headmaster if something like this happens again.  I don't know exactly what <I>has</I> happened, but I must assure you, it is not wise.  You shall both report back to your dormitories.”</div> <bR> <div>           Since we were sent back early, the common room was vacant.  I sat exhaustedly on a small couch by the fire as Harry paced back and forth.</div> <div>           “I don't understand.  Why is this dangerous, apart from being embarrassing?”</div> <div>           “For one, either of us could be electrocuted like last time.  Or knocked out.”</div> <div>           “Somehow I don't think that's what McGonagall meant.  And why does it happen?”</div> <div>           I sighed and shrugged tiredly.  I had other things on my mind.  Ginny and I had finally started our friendship over.  No snide remarks, no looking down on me.  And there it went.  All because of something I had little control over: a boy.  I couldn't even be happy about my first kiss...</div> <div>           Harry sat down and put his arm around me.  “Are you alright?”</div> <div>           “School will be hell when it starts again.  I've now acquired a…reputation of sorts.”</div> <div>           “Welcome to my world,” Harry said bitterly, and his light began to fade.  “They'll forget about it eventually.”</div> <div>           “Ginny…Malfoy…won't let any…forget,” I muttered sleepily, dropping my head onto his shoulder.</div> <div>           “I'll be here,” was the last thing I heard him say before I fell asleep.</div> <bR> <div>      I woke up the next morning, sunlight streaming through the curtains of my four-poster.  The room was quiet, and I was a bit disoriented.  Then it all came flooding back…the dance…the kiss…Ginny shouting with tears in her eyes.  I sighed and flopped back onto my pillow, looking up into the canopy.  I could hardly bear to think of what I might face if I went downstairs.</div> <div>      But the common room was empty again.  Must be a Hogsmeade trip, I thought.  I sat down heavily in a chair.</div> <div>      “Hello,” someone said.</div> <div>      I jumped and looked over.  “You scared me, Harry.”  He was sitting sullenly on the small couch in front of the fire, his face in his hands.</div> <div>      “Why'd you stay behind?” I asked.</div> <div>      “Why d'you think?” he said sarcastically.</div> <div>      “I don't see how any of this has affected you,” I replied, a little coldly.</div> <div>      “Ron hates me,” he answered.  “Because of Ginny.  Fred and George are a bit miffed as well, and now everyone thinks I'm some kind of playboy or something.”</div> <div>      “I've no best friend as well, I'm still glowing,” I stood up and held out my hand, “and I'm horrible at magic.  Are we even?”</div> <div>      He sighed and looked out the window.  “I didn't mean to answer you like that.  It just seems like before, I had friends but I didn't have you.  But now that I have you, I've no friends.  It's almost like…we're not supposed to be together.”</div> <div>      I shook my head to clear my mind.  “Harry, the only way we can get through this is together.  If I didn't have you, I'd have…nothing.”</div> <div>      He stood up too, and hugged me.  “You're right.”  But something wasn't right, not right at all...</div> <bR> <div>      The weeks following Christmas Break stand out very prominently in my memory.  Though painful, they were my last moments of ignorance.</div> <div>      “Hey, glow worm, why don't you light up the corridors for us?”</div> <div>      I rolled my eyes.  I had gotten worse comments before the…erm - incident.  “Is that all you can come up with, Quinn?”  I could hear remarks from Malfoy directed at Harry through the crowd, and the snickers of derision, and I couldn't help but feel that this was somehow entirely my fault. </div> <div>      I stumbled gracefully into Snape's class late, held back by the jostling people.  “Miss Watt, you foolish girl, this is the fourth time this week you have been late for my class.  Any more tardiness from you, and I shall notify your head of house -“</div> <div>      “But-“ I protested.</div> <div>      “Sit down, Watt.”</div> <div>      I closed my mouth and went immediately to work, as I seemed to do when I was upset.  Even still, it was difficult not to let my mind wander, and the weight that had settled heavily on my chest begged to be lifted.  Harry's comment earlier had almost seemed correct; everything <I>was </I>going against us.</div> <div>      “Miss Watt!” barked Snape.  </div> <div>      I jerked my head up, my heart sinking.  I'd done it again…</div> <div>      “Please <I>kindly</I> tell the class the name of the potion we've just been discussing.”  He stared at me, as did all the other eyes in the room.</div> <div>      “Er…”  My brain wildly searched for something, anything…  “Veritaserum?” I guessed.</div> <div>      Snape seemed startled.  “That is…correct,” he answered, sounding slightly bewildered, and continued the lesson.</div> <div>      I couldn't believe it either.  The world certainly is a twisted place.  Let what happened next attest to that…</div> <div>      I walked alone to lunch, watching my feet.  A pair of hands pushed me roughly into an empty classroom, and I heard the door shut behind us.</div> <div>      “Harry, why - wha - what's going on?”</div> <div>      “I don't want the whole world around,” he said.  There was no warmth in his voice.  “Lilia, I can't do this anymore.”</div> <div>      I knew it was coming…and now there was nothing I could do about it…</div> <div>      “Harry, I -“</div> <div>      “Haven't you noticed?” he said, pacing around the vacant desks.  “Ever since you came along, things I consider important lay in ruins…it can hardly be a coincidence.”</div> <div>      In my pain, I lashed back.  I wouldn't let him blame all of this on me.  “Ever since <I>I </I>came along?  You've hardly been my good-luck charm yourself!  I was already infamous enough before all of this…”  I began to shiver.</div> <div>      He threw his hands up in the air in exasperation, and let out a great angry sigh.  “Go ahead, Lilia, turn on the tears.  Turn on the charm.  That's all you're good for, is it?  Pretend to be helpless, and unsuspecting Harry will be there!”</div> <div>      It was at this point that my pain turned into anger.  “Ugh!  I love you so much I hate you sometimes, Harry!  I never wanted your help in the first place, if you remember correctly.  I could have gotten through it on my own, so don't you dare heap all of the blame on me, <I>Mr.</I> Potter!”  I stormed out of the classroom, and as he followed me, determined to have the last word, I gave him a sharp whack in the chest with my fist for good measure.</div> <div>      </div> <div>      It was strange though, how parts of what he said were right…<I>but I can't help that I'm a jinx!</I></div> <div>      The weight had greatly increased.  I had lost it all, everything, and no one, not even Ginny, knew about it.  But I had resolved to fight this time, a resolution that set off a chain reaction.</div> <div>      About two weeks after the argument with Harry, my grades were picking up.  School was all I had left; it wasn't anything loved, so it wasn't anything I could lose.  I never spoke to anyone, but took diligent notes and hardly did anything but study.  There was nothing else <I>to </I>do.</div> <div>      I had not been late in ages, but Peeves had been unusually harassing that day, and I dashed to class, my eyes looking nowhere but forward.</div> <div>      And then I ran headlong into Ginny from behind.  She fell to the floor with a smack, and simply sat there for a moment, glaring at me amongst giggles from passers-by.  I glared stonily back.  I was prepared to retaliate.</div> <div>      Ginny stood and pulled out her wand, leaving her books on the floor.  I let my own fall and retrieved my wand as well.  People began crowding around us, and someone suddenly shouted, “Girl fight!”</div> <div>      And all hell broke loose, as the circle of people tightened around us, and Ginny yelled, “Dentalos lengthium!”  </div> <div>      I began, “Exp-“ as a jet of light shot out of her wand.  Someone grabbed my hand and pulled me aside through the throng of people, and I stumbled and fell, knocking them to the floor.</div> <div>      “Harry!” I choked, confused as I saw whom it was.  Then, to my complete surprise, Harry's feet left the ground, and everything began to swirl as I was pulled after him.  Our hands were jerked apart, jolting me with electricity, and thoughts ran briefly in my head.</div> <div>      I landed heavily on gravel, and heard a thud as Harry landed a few feet away.  I wanted to say something, but all was driven from my mind when I heard the voice.</div> <div>      “So nice to see you,” it whispered, and I shivered.  I opened my eyes and looked around; Harry was sitting up and putting his glasses on, and an old, decaying wooden sign hung from one rusted chain.  It read “Godric's Hollow”.</div> <div>      Then the both of us saw the owner of the voice, and Harry and I gasped.</div> <div>      “Welcome home, Harry,” Voldemort said softly.  “And you, Lilia.”</div> <div>      <I>He knew my name!  </I></div> <div> The dark around us obscured the overgrown forest, the ruins, everything but Voldemort.  I trembled as I looked at him, his scarlet eyes but slits in his bloodless, snake-like face.  He caressed his wand lovingly, and said, “I've long-awaited this moment, Harry.  You escaped me last time, but there is nowhere for you to go now.”</div> <div> Harry's entire countenance screamed defiance at the Dark Lord.  I began to stand.  If Harry was going to die, then I was going to die next to him…no matter how angry I was at him, I still loved him…but I suddenly could not move; I was bound hand and foot by thick black cords.</div> <div> “An appropriate place for you to end it all, isn't Harry?  Just like your parents.”</div> <div> Harry stood steadfast.  “I'm not afraid of you.”</div> <div> Voldemort paced back and forth, watching us.  “Have you learned nothing Harry?  Even mere <I>remnants </I>of me can cause you pain.”  </div> <div> He shifted his glance to me.  “What luck that you would come as well, Lilia.  I've been waiting to meet you.”</div> <div> <I>What does he mean?  He can't know who I am…I'm Muggle-born!</I></div> <div>             He glanced falsely piteously upon me as I wrestled with the cords and my thoughts, and turned his attention back to Harry.  He chuckled a high, cold laugh.  “Surely you don't intend to fight again?”  He clicked his tongue.  “Some roaches just won't die, will they?”</div> <div> Harry didn't budge, and his eyes burned with hatred.  </div> <div> “Must we do this the hard way, then?” Voldemort sighed and aimed at Harry.</div> <div> In spite of all Harry and I had said to each other, anger and panic like I had never felt before flared up inside me.  “Don't you touch him,” I spat at Voldemort from the ground.</div> <div> “No, Lilia!” whispered Harry desperately.</div> <div> Voldemort turned his eyes on me.  “I killed your mother as easily as his, and I can <I>kill you too</I>.”  He aimed at me and shouted, “Crucio!”</div> <div> I felt as though I was burning alive…I could hear vague yelling as I writhed on the gravel, still bound tightly.  And then it was over.</div> <div> Tears were running down my face, and my head spun.  I had never been strong or brave enough for anything, and I never would be…I retched horribly on the ground.  “Don't feel sorry for me because I'm crying,” I choked out at Harry.</div> <div> Harry took one look at me and shouted, “Coward!” at Voldemort, who was smiling with satisfaction.  “Attacking a girl who is in no position to defend herself.”</div> <div> Voldemort's eyes glimmered.  “How history has repeated itself.  Very well, boy,” he said, lifting his hand, and I was released.</div> <div> I stood slowly, shaking, and dashed the tears from my eyes.  </div> <div> Harry opened his mouth to speak, and I saw someone coming up behind him.  I tried to yell, but a hand pressed tightly over my mouth, and Harry stood stock-still, as the person behind him held a dagger to his throat.</div> <div> My heart sinking with fear, I made no sound as my head began to cloud.  Then I bit the hand obstructing my breathing - hard.  </div> <div> The person howled with pain, and Lord Voldemort grabbed me by the collar, and held me up about six inches off the ground.  I trembled as he brought his translucent, red-eyed face closer to mine, and twisted the collar around so that I was choking.</div> <div> “You're meddling in things you don't, understand, sweet Lilia,” he said softly, then pressed the tip of his wand to my forehead and whispered, “<I>Avada Kedavra!</I>”</div> <div> A flash of green light hit me blindingly, and I heard a vague yell…and I knew no more.</div> <bR> <div> “Lilia, I don't know if you can hear me, but…” I heard someone saying.  My limbs ached, and I felt awfully cold.  I shivered violently, and tried to open my eyes.</div> <div> “She's awake,” the same voice whispered.</div> <div> “What?” someone else said loudly.  I groaned.  The noise made my head hurt.</div> <div> “Shh!” a third person said.</div> <div> “Ow,” I croaked, trying to move, and tears ran involuntarily from my half-open eyes.</div> <div> “Lilia,” said the first voice again.  It sounded tired.</div> <div> I shivered again, and someone held my hand.  It was so warm and comforting.</div> <div> “Noooo,” whispered a fourth voice, and pulled my hand away from the other's grasp, and I was cold again.  I was completely disoriented.</div> <div> When I was finally able to get my eyes open, the voice belonged to Harry, Ginny, Madam Pomfrey, and Dumbledore, respectively.  Their images swam blurrily.</div> <div> “Oh, Lilia, I thought I'd killed you,” said Ginny worriedly, hugging me, though speaking no quieter than before.  I groaned again.</div> <div> “Lower your voice, Ginny, please,” Madam Pomfrey said, standing in the doorway.</div> <div> I turned and looked at Harry, who was sitting up on the bed next to mine.  “What happened?” I asked.  “All I remember is green light.”</div> <div> “Voldemort tried to kill you,” he said quietly.  “But it didn't work.”  His eyes looked somewhat sunken, and he was very pale.  There was a small, curved cut on his neck, and a single drop of blood trickling from it.  I started to breath very quickly.</div> <div> “But…why didn't I die?”  My head began to spin again.</div> <div> Dumbledore cleared his throat.  “Miss Weasley, perhaps you could excuse us?  I need to talk to Lilia and Harry alone.”  Ginny stood, and looked at me again before leaving quickly.</div> <div> “Wh - how?”</div> <div> Harry somehow understood, and he spoke slowly and in almost a monotone.  “When <I>Avada Kedavra </I>didn't work, Voldemort was hit very badly with the spell.  The man with the knife became distracted, and I got the dagger away from him, and threatened to kill him…he let me go.  Somehow, Dumbledore found us.”</div> <div> I blinked and tried desperately to understand.  I looked at Professor Dumbledore for help.</div> <div> Dumbledore sighed and looked at the two of us, and sat down on the edge of my bed.  “Lilia, please be sure you can handle whatever I tell you.  You and Harry have both been through quite an ordeal.”</div> <div> I was so confused, but I wanted to know why it had happened, what Voldemort meant when he said he'd killed my mother.  My mother! I sat bolt upright.</div> <div> “Professor, what about my mother?  Is she alright?  He said he'd killed her, Voldemort said -“ and I fell back upon the cold hospital pillows, shaking away the fog around my head.</div> <div> “Please, Lilia, be calm.  You'll hurt yourself.”  Dumbledore sighed again.</div> <div>      “Miss Aura Watt is fine.  You mother, however, is, I'm afraid, no longer with us.”</div> <div>      I opened my mouth to speak, but Dumbledore said, “Please.  Let me tell you everything before you say anything.</div> <div>      Aura Watt is not your mother.  Amelia is, and Voldemort is responsible for her death, though indirectly.  We wanted to keep everything quiet from you, until you should find out for yourself.”</div> <div>      He paused, and I interrupted, “And what of my father?”</div> <div>      “Voldemort found you <I>because</I> of your father.  The glowing you and Harry experience makes you both easier to locate and more vulnerable.”</div> <div>      I was becoming muddled and impatient.  “How exactly is this because of my father?”</div> <div>      Dumbledore took a deep breath.  “Because, Lilia, Voldemort <I>is </I>your father.”</div> <div>      I took in a sharp breath.  No, no!  It couldn't be, it just couldn't!</div> <div>      Dumbledore didn't speak for a few moments as I just lay there in shock and wrestled with my thoughts.</div> <div>      “Your mother did not love him, if that's what you're thinking.  She was raped.  She wanted to ensure that you would be born pure, and had spells performed.  After your birth, the drained evil was left in her body, and she died.  And still, a little part of him was left in you, which is why he could not kill you.  Like Harry's mother's love, it lives in your very skin.”</div> <div>      I just stared, aghast. </div> <div>      “I'm so sorry you had to find out this way, Lilia,” Dumbledore said solemnly, and he left the room, knowing I needed a moment alone.</div> <div>      I began to cry silently, my aching body shaking with tears.</div> <div>      “Oh, Lilia,” Harry whispered again.  He sat down beside me, and wrapped his arms around me, his robe still covered in gravel dust.  I cried, my sobs muffled against Harry's neck as he held me, and my tears mingling with his blood.</div> <div>      I don't know how long I wept.  I even cried myself to sleep that night.  I shed tears until there were no more left.</div> <div>      </div> <div> Ginny and Ariana did not know, and I was not going to tell them.  I didn't need the whole of Hogwarts to know I was You-Know-Who's daughter…oh to even bear the thought!  The idea tormented me, perhaps made worse by my feelings for Harry.  On the other hand, Ginny and I seemed to have reached a kind of unspoken agreement: I tried not to be with Harry when I was around her, and she'd be nice.</div> <div> It hardly mattered anyway.  I felt drained and empty.  Even the teachers were being nicer; McGonagall's voice became a bit croaky whenever she spoke to me, and Snape didn't yell as much as usual.</div> <div> The days and weeks slipped by, and I tried so hard to forget…but even my health was slowly deteriorating.</div> <div> “You know, Lilia, you've been getting awfully pale lately.  Are you ill?”</div> <div> “No, Ariana, I'm fine, really, I am.”</div> <div> But I wasn't.  And Harry was ill as well; he looked worse than I felt.  Funny that it was only the two of us…</div> <div> “Lilia?” asked Harry one evening, leaning over his Divination homework on the table.</div> <div> “Hm?” I answered from the floor in front of the fireplace.</div> <div> “Have you been feeling a bit…off-colour?”</div> <div> “How d'you mean?”</div> <div> He put down his quill and leaned back in the chair.  “You know, weak, tired.  Just sick.”</div> <div> I looked sharply at him.  “Have you?”</div> <div> The firelight illuminated the shadows under his eyes.  “Yeah.”</div> <div> “Me too,” I said, raising my eyebrows.  “I've been thinking about that.  Isn't it rather odd that it's only you and I?  I mean, it can't be the flu.”</div> <div> He looked thoughtful.  “D'you…”  He paused.  “D'you reckon this has anything to do with the…erm, the glowing?”</div> <div>             It was as though a light had been turned on my head.  “That seems to make sense, a bit like the electric shock phenomenon.” </div> <div> “Perhaps there is a way to purify you, you know, eliminate it completely.”</div> <div> “Harry, you don't think they tried it all already?  I'm a hopeless case.”</div> <div> He sat down on the floor next to me, and put his arm around me.  “That was fifteen years ago.  I'm sure they must know more by now.  And now they can tell you, since you already know about Vol…yeah.”  He stumbled over his words.  “It's endangering both of us.”</div> <div> I looked up at him, unconvinced.</div> <div> “Please, just ask Dumbledore at least,” he wheedled.  “Tomorrow, before lunch.”</div> <div> I sighed.  “Well…okay.  But only if you come with me.”</div> <bR> <div> And so, the next day, there we stood by the gargoyle outside Dumbledore's office.</div> <div> “Too bad we don't know the password,” I shrugged, turning to go.</div> <div> He grabbed my shoulder with a thin, unusually pale hand.  “Wait a moment.”  He walked around the gargoyle, looking thoughtful.  Then he suddenly shouted, “Licorice Wand!”</div> <div> The gargoyle sprang to life and leapt aside to reveal a sort of escalator.</div> <div> “Wow, first try!” Harry said smugly, pulling me onto the stairs.</div> <div> When we reached the door, I knocked hard.  Silence issued from within, and then the door creaked open.</div> <div> “Lilia, Harry.  Come in.”  Dumbledore smiled mysteriously and returned to his desk.  We sat down in two old chairs.</div> <div> “I expect this is to do with your father?” he said, nodding at me.</div> <div> “Well, yes and no.  This…glowing...what is it?”</div> <div> He stared at us for a moment.  “It seems that because of the connection each of you shares with Voldemort, the aura around you reacts.”</div> <div> Harry looked confused.  “Which means?”</div> <div> Dumbledore smiled and simply said, “Destiny.”</div> <div> Harry opened his mouth to speak, but I interrupted.  “Then why does it make us ill?”</div> <div> He shrugged.  “Not sure really.”</div> <div> “Well…,” I continued, glancing at Harry, “How do we get rid of it?”</div> <div> Dumbledore's eye twitched, and he looked rather reluctant to answer.  “Er, well, there are two ways…neither of them is very plausible…I suggest you forget about them, but here goes…</div> <div> The first way is to destroy Voldemort completely…”</div> <div> “And the second way?” prompted Harry.  “We're up for anything to keep Voldemort from tracking us down.”</div> <div> Dumbledore took a deep breath. (I had never seen him look so embarrassed.)  “Erm…well, Mr. Potter, unfortunately it involves you as well…ahem, yes, well…”</div> <div> He leaned over and whispered something in Harry's ear.  Harry's eyes grew the widest I had ever seen them, and he flushed a brilliant shade of scarlet.  “You've got to be kidding,” he managed to say in a strangled sort of voice.  (A/N: You decide what it is.)</div> <div> “It's not certain, but I speculate that something like that would work.”</div> <div> I sat confused, and Dumbledore coughed to restore order.  Harry seemed to have found his voice again, because he said (squeakily, might I add), “There must be another way.”</div> <div> Dumbledore shook his head.  “I'm afraid not.”</div> <div> Harry looked horrified.  “Guess that's not an option, then.”</div> <div> I was completely bewildered.  </div> <div> “Sorry…sorry to bother you, Professor,” stuttered Harry, dragging me from the circular room.</div> <div> He looked edgily at me on the way to lunch, his fingers twitching and his face still rather red.</div> <div> “Well, Harry?  What did he say?”</div> <div> He laughed nervously.  “Nothing we can do.”</div> <div> “Oh, come on, I know he told you something.”</div> <div> We reached the doors of the Great Hall.  “Oh, I'm starving, Lilia, aren't you?” he said loudly, making people stare.</div> <div> I raised my eyebrows.  “You don't have to shout, Harry.  And what did he tell you?”</div> <div> “Look, Lilia,” Harry said, looking at me pleadingly.  “Just don't ask me, please.  If you trust me, you'll believe that it's a not a reasonable choice.”</div> <div>               “Well…alright.”</div> <bR> <div> If he wouldn't tell me, something had to be done.  Unsure of exactly what that “something” could be, Harry and I settled for being at least two feet away from each other (weird as that may be).</div> <div> But weird things were going on everywhere.  Ginny was now dating...Colin Creevey?  I assumed this was an attempt at getting over Harry, and I tried to be as sympathetic as possible.  And indeed, she did seem to be happier.  Anyway, there would be a visit to Hogsmeade soon, and perhaps it could ease the pain of both my bloodline and my boyfriend.</div> <div> It was a sort of quadruple date: Hermione and Ron, Ginny and Colin, Dean and Ariana, and Harry and I (walking two feet apart).  The snow was nearly completely melted, and the ground in the village was soggy with dew.  Dean, Harry, and Ron dragged everyone else to Zonko's enthusiastically.  God knows we needed it.</div> <div> “Oh, boy, too bad they don't sell Ton-Tongue Toffees, those were a riot,” laughed Harry, sifting through a barrel of trick candy.</div> <div> “Look at this!” said Ron, beckoning the other boys forward, holding an alarm clock in his hand.</div> <div> What it did, we didn't bother to find out.  “Boys,” I muttered.</div> <div> Hermione, Ariana, and Ginny laughed in agreement.</div> <div> After they had had their fill of Zonko's, the eight of us headed to the Three Broomsticks.  We sat comfortably around a circular table, as Harry went to order the drinks.</div> <div> He came back with eight butterbeers, and set them down, then sat around the table, a few feet away.</div> <div> Ron had his arm rather awkwardly around Hermione's shoulder, and the other two couples at our table seemed deep in conversation.  Harry and I just looked at each other, sipping our butterbeers.  It was strange, I mused, lapsing into thought...Words didn't seem right anymore, somehow...I didn't mind, it wasn't as though it wasn't nice to just look at him...Hm.</div> <div> I was aware of a sudden silence at our table.  And then Ariana broke into giggles.</div> <div> “What?” said Harry and I at the same time.</div> <div> Ron answered it for her.  “Are you going to kiss her, Harry, or are you just gonna look at her?”</div> <div> Harry and I both flushed.  “I don't appreciate the insinuation,” said Harry, smirking.  “The thought actually hadn't even crossed my mind; snogging isn't the most important thing in a relationship.”</div> <div> Ron looked astonished.  “It's not?”</div> <div> Hermione hit him playfully on the arm.  “No, it isn't, Ron Weasley.  Some couples date for years before they ever kiss.”</div> <div> “Not funny, Granger,” said Ron.  “Besides, we know they've snogged before, I mean -“</div> <div> “That's enough, Ron,” said Harry firmly.</div> <div> Even I laughed.</div> <div> Hermione seemed to have thought of something.  “Hey guys,” she said, addressing everyone but me and Harry, “Didn't we say we were going to...erm...er...go to Honeydukes after we finished our butterbeers?”  She winked at them.  All six of their glasses were empty.</div> <div> “Hang on a tick, I've just got a drop left,” I said, lifting my glass.</div> <div> “No, no,” interrupted Hermione.</div> <div> “You guys can catch up with us, okay?” said Ginny.</div> <div> I raised my eyebrows at them.  They were all looking rather uncomfortable; it was a mass plot.</div> <div> “Oh...oh, go on then,” I said, and they left with an audible sigh of relief from Hermione.</div> <div> I turned to Harry.  “Okay, out with it.  What's this all about?”</div> <div> “Well,” he began.  “I told Hermione and Ron about it...I suppose they passed it on.”  He put his hand in his pocket, and pulled something small out.</div> <div> “I received this, the other day,” he said, handing it to me.  It was a small gold ring, with a tiny emerald on it.  “It was my mother's.  I don't know what's going to happen to us in the future, but I wanted you to have this.  To remember me, I suppose.”</div> <div> Slipping it on my left hand, I gasped, “Oh!  Thank you.”  Then I looked up at him.  “Why'd you have to clear them all out to do that?”</div> <div> He shrugged.  “I don't know.  It felt too...personal somehow.”</div> <div> I smiled and looked at the ring again, the light glinting off it.  “It's lovely.”</div> <div>            He smiled too.  “Shall we find the others, then?”  And he led the way, I walking two feet behind him.</div> <bR> <div> It was strange how he almost seemed to know what was coming.</div> <div> So things weren't as bad as they could be.  Sure, the Dark Lord was my father and I couldn't get anywhere near my boyfriend…but I didn't know that things were going to change.</div> <div> I got the letter about halfway through April, and it still pains me to remember the words.  I was sitting in the common room late that night (everyone else had gone to bed) when the owl came, dropping the envelope into my lap.  It was from my mother…well, Aura anyway.  My brows furrowed, I opened the letter with great concern; she didn't often send mail.  It read:</div> <bR> <div> <I>Dear Lilia,</I></div> <div> <I>     Professor Dumbledore has given me a bit of advice, and I agree with him.  However, I thought it best if you heard it from me.</I></div> <div> <I>     At the end of the term, we must go back to America.  It will be less dangerous for all, especially you.  I thought I should tell you now so you have time to…set things in order, so to speak.  I am very sorry about all the secrets and unpleasant surprises, but there is nothing we can do.</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>Love always,</I></div> <div> <I>Aura</I></div> <bR> <div>      I was too upset to cry; but I knew she was right.  No matter how much I had grown to love Hogwarts, things had changed over the past year, and I was no longer safe here.</div> <div>      I kept the news inside as the last few weeks of term sped by.  I couldn't look at Ginny, Ariana, or Harry without a jolt of the heart and a sad smile.</div> <div>      Ginny and I got along quite well then, which made me even more reluctant to leave.  Worse still what tat I couldn't, wouldn't, and didn't tell anyone.</div> <div>      But sadly, all things come to an end.  As the train pulled into Platform Nine and Three Quarters, and we unloaded all our things, I wondered if this would be the last time I saw any of them.</div> <div>      Just as Harry was about to walk through the barrier, I grabbed his hand.  He turned around and looked at me curiously, and smiled.  Oh, that sweet smile.  This was going to be painful.</div> <div>      “I…have something to tell you,” I said hesitantly.  “Well, I would've told you sooner…but…”  I broke off.</div> <div>      He was still holding my hand, and nodded for me to continue.</div> <div>      “I can't do this,” I said, tears pricking my eyes.  “I can't do this to you…”</div> <div>      “Lilia,” he said gently, hugging me.  I pulled away slightly, and took a deep breath.</div> <div>      “And besides that, Harry…this was my last year at Hogwarts.  We have to move back to America,” I whispered, and bit my lip, but the tears were now pouring down my face.</div> <div>      He stood back and stares, aghast.     </div> <div> “No, Lilia…but…but we can make this work, right?”  He sounded almost pleading, as if he himself didn't believe his words.</div> <div> “No we can't.  I endanger you.”'</div> <div> “But…Lilia, it's not your fault…”</div> <div> “I'm sorry,” I gasped, shaking with tears.  But as I turned to go, he stopped me.  He looked for a moment at me, and then kissed me, one last time.  As we both began to glow brilliantly, I broke down.</div> <div> “Oh, Harry, don't leave…”  I hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go, but finally we broke apart.</div> <div> “Good bye, Lilia.”  It shocked me to hear the sorrow in his voice.</div> <div> “Good bye, Harry.”</div> <div> I let his hand go very reluctantly and he turned away, blinking his eyes furiously.  I sat helplessly on the ground and cried, staring after hi as he disappeared through the barrier.</div> <div> Perhaps I was not so famous or special as Harry Potter.  But at least I was worth a year of his time.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Epilogue</div> <div> I stepped out of the horseless carriage onto the familiar gravelly path.  I shivered in the chilly late autumn wind, and began to walk up the path to the castle.  The gates were open, and my shoes made a soft clicking noise on the ancient stone steps as I walked hesitantly up to the door.  I took a deep breath and knocked three times.</div> <div>      The heavy wooden doors creaked loudly and slowly open.  A small, old face peeked out.</div> <div>      “I'd like to see the Headmaster, please,” I said to the short witch.</div> <div>      She nodded, and without a word, swept off down the corridor.  She led me up several flights of stairs, and stopped at the same old stone gargoyle.</div> <div>      “Chocolate Frogs,” croaked the gnarled old witch.  The gargoyle sprang aside as the wall opened to the golden staircase.</div> <div>      I answered uneasily, “Thank you,” as I stepped onto the stairs.  My mind ran nervously as I waited for the staircase to reach the door at the top.</div> <div>      <I>What will I say?  What will he say?  How can I explain…</I></div> <div>      The door seemed to unexpectedly appear in front of my face.  I bit back my anxiety and knocked.</div> <div>      “Come in,” came the deep-voiced reply from within the room.</div> <div>      I opened the door.  A tall, beautiful young wizard with dark hair stood looking out the high, curtained windows.  He turned around and looked straight at me, and his green eyes grew wide behind his glasses.</div> <div>      “Lilia,” he breathed.</div> <div>      “Hello, Harry,” I said softly.</div> <div>      He stared at me for a few moments, then shook his head and said, “C - Come in, sit down.”</div> <div>      I unwrapped my scarf and placed it on one of the chairs, but I remained standing.</div> <div>      “How are you?  What are you doing here?”  I thought I saw his eyes searching for my left hand, where the ring was…but perhaps I was imagining it…I quickly hid my hand.</div> <div>      “I've been offered a job at the Ministry,” I answered quietly.</div> <div>      “That's great!” he said.  “Are you…are you going to take it?”</div> <div>      “I…I don't know yet.”</div> <div>      He walked around me.  “You look wonderful.  How long has it been?”</div> <div>      “Three years,” I said.</div> <div>      He just leaned on the old desk, watching me, his eyes dancing.  There was a picture on his desk…a girl…<I>How could I have thought he'd wait for me?  </I>I drew nearer…the girl in the picture…was me!</div> <div>      “Well?” Harry asked.</div> <div>      “Well what?”</div> <div>      “Are you going to kiss me or not?”</div> <div>      Startled, I started to say, “Harry, I-“</div> <div>      “Shh…” he whispered as he pulled me closer and leaned in to kiss me...the most passionate kiss…he gently ran his hands through my hair, and warmth flooded through me, a different sort, as he kissed me again…</div> <div>      “Ahem!” someone said from across the room.</div> <div>      Harry and I jumped apart, faces burning, and I nearly fainted when I looked over at the speaker.</div> <div>      It was Professor McGonagall.</div> <div>      “Er, sorry Professor, didn't hear you knock,” Harry said awkwardly.</div> <div>      “Apparently not,” she replied, eyebrows raised, as she looked at me, and I could've sworn she almost smirked.  Then she squinted at me as though not quite sure she was seeing correctly…”Miss Watt?”</div> <div>      I smiled sheepishly.  “Hi, Professor.”</div> <div>      To my great surprise, she smiled back.  “I hear you're going to be an…er…Unspeakable,” she said to me.</div> <div>      “Department of Mysteries, that's right.”</div> <div>      “So you're going to stay?” Harry interrupted.</div> <div>      “Looks like it,” I said casually.</div> <div>      Professor McGonagall cleared her throat again.  “I rather have some business to attend to, Headmaster, if you don't mind.”</div> <div>      “Oh,” said Harry distractedly.  “Right.  Sit down, please.”  He gestured to the old chairs in front of the desk.</div> <div>      “I'll just wait outside,” I said nervously, and left the room.</div> <div>      I watched the children passing in the corridors, on their way to lunch, it seemed.  They gave me funny looks, some of them, but continued on their way.</div> <div>      Professor McGonagall and Harry soon came down from the circular room.</div> <div>      “It was nice to see you again, Miss Watt.  I expect I haven't seen the last of you,” she added, looking at Harry again, and she too went to the Great Hall for lunch.</div> <div>      The corridors were now empty, and a dull roar of noise issued from the Great Hall.</div> <div>      “I've got to go, Harry, the Ministry will be expecting me.  I have to go all the way to Hogsmeade before I can Apparate.  I'm staying in the village inn until I can find a home.”</div> <div>      “I'll come visit tonight then, shall I?”</div> <div>      I smiled.  “Okay.”</div> <div>      Harry looked around secretively, then said “One more time,” and kissed me again.  “I love doing that,” he said as we broke apart.  Then we looked around.</div> <div>      A crowd of first years was standing in the corridor, staring at us and snickering occasionally.  Can't get any privacy in this school.</div> <div>      “OooOooOooOoo,” they chorused.</div> <div>      “I didn't know Headmasters were allowed to snog in the corridors,” piped up one boy.</div> <div>      “Er..”  Harry let go of me.  “Finnigan, why is your class so late?” he said to the boy, trying to change the subject.</div> <div>      “Professor Snape kept us back.”</div> <div>      “Oh he did, did he?  Off to lunch with all of you, I'll sort this out,” Harry replied, shooing them away.</div> <div>      “Bye, Mrs. Potter!” called several of the students as they left.</div> <div>       I giggled in spite of myself, and Harry grinned and shrugged.  “I'll see you tonight,” he said, and then he turned and strode off in the direction of the dungeons, his robes billowing behind him.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="0f812e00.gif" border=0 width="274" height="224" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">original pencil drawing (copyright me!)</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="0fa0be00.gif" border=0 width="267" height="224" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Wow, that's really bad picture quality.....I'll put a large one in the <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#3300FF" FACE="Garamond" ><A HREF="id12.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fan Gallery"><U>Fan Gallery</U></A></FONT>.....</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="News Gothic MT" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#3300FF" FACE="News Gothic MT" > </FONT><A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Updates"><U>Updates</U></A>   <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#3300FF" FACE="News Gothic MT" >       </FONT> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fan Additions"><U>Fan Additions</U></A>  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#3300FF" FACE="News Gothic MT" >           </FONT><A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About the Author (Me!)"><U>About the Author (Me!)</U></A><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#3300FF" FACE="News Gothic MT" >         </FONT><A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome!"><U>Welcome!</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>