Ch. 24
The First Morning

Harry and Ginny sat in the Great Hall, hands intwined, the sound of bickering and laughing around them. It was pretty normal for Hogwarts, but there was the ever-present nervous atmosphere as students prepared to tackle their first day.

Cain and the twins were sitting a few seats away, talking about who-knows-what. It didn't seem that they might have a lot in common, but quite the contrary, the boys hit it off quickly. They were all three graduating this year, and they spoke of how undeterred of that fact they were.

"If rather be working on the shop, y'know?" Fred shrugged, drowning his bacon in syrup. George swallowed and nodded, reaching for his glass of Pumpkin Juice.

"Yeah. If we could get enough money for it." He added. They were quite short on funds at the moment, no way to start a business. Harry felt bad for them. If he had won the Triwizard Tournament last year, perhaps he would have given them some money. But no one won, not after finding out how the Triwizard Cup was actually a Portkey.

"What kind of shop?" Cain asked, leaning his arm against the table, looking truly interested. Ginny tuned out then, having heard enough of her brothers's future plans. She was excited for them, but it was getting a bit old.

Katrin was at the Hufflepuff table, pushing her food around on her plate. Hannah was a few seats beside her, chatting away with her friends. And even if her housemates continually tried to bring her into the conversation, she was slightly distracted. Distracted by a person sitting at the Gryffindor table.

Fiona was sitting with the Ravenclaws, looking up at Luna, who was softly talking to the girl, with slight apprehension. But hey, if she was Ginny's friend, she must be nice.

"First class with the Toad." Harry remarked, chewing thoughtfully. Ginny looked up to where he sat. He, again, hadn't bothered to comb his hair or tie his tie. His black locks were turned brown in the morning sun, and his green eyes were focused on a point in the distance. She knew he was imagining what the class would be like.

"She has to be a nutter." Ginny said quietly, looking away and towards her plate. She took a drink before continuing, "You don't just interrupt Dumbledore's speech like that. Someone is liable to kill you."

Harry laughed slightly, nodding in agreement. Hermione glanced up from her book and looked towards Ron who was chewing a large mouthful of food.

"Well, there are certainly plenty of nutters in Hogwarts already." Ron didn't seem to notice the jab, instead just nodded, "Might as well have another. Maybe she'll be interesting?" But even she was unsure, still disturbed by the speech about how important it was to keep the magical bloodlines pure.

"No, I don't think so." Ginny shook her head and Harry looked over, watching as she talked to Hermione, her brown eyes sparkling, "Maybe she's more cuckoo than Trelawney. Perhaps we'll all end up sitting in a circle on the floor and sharing our feelings." She shrugged, "No one knows."

Ginny was right, no one knew exactly what to think of Umbridge. Whether she'd be a better teacher than last year, if she was insane or not. But, of course, they would soon find out.

Breakfast droned on, Angelina Johnson walking up to the table and informing them of Quidditch Tryouts. She looked straight at Harry and Ginny with stern gazes. After she left, there wasn't much else to do but wait. Harry found himself staring at Ginny, still as star-struck as he was the day of his eleventh birthday party. She really was beautiful, and Harry counted himself lucky that he hadn't had to beat anyone up for trying to go after her. He certainly knew there were many people who liked her, some more than others. There were many that liked him. But it seemed stupid. He was just Harry, he wasn't that impressive.

Soon, McGonagall started passing out timetables. Of course, Harry and Ginny had the same breaks and classes, except when Harry had Muggle Studies and that took up a break period on Wednesday (His mother had insisted.)

Their first class was Potions, and Harry silently hoped that Snape would be less of a git this year, but knew it was pointless. He swung his bag into his shoulder, giving Ginny a smile, which she returned, and taking her hand.

The walk to Potions Class was short, but they were stopped by Cho, who talked about Cedric and how he was trying to get into being an Auror.

Eventually, they hurried off, class starting in less than ten minutes since they had left the Great Hall early. They made it to the dungeons with minutes to spare, and they sat beside each other with their hands intwined under the table, casting golden light onto the dark stone walls.

Ginny turned to him suddenly, a smile dancing across her lips. There was a flood of happiness in him, like always, when she was close. They were close enough so he could smell a hint of flowers, but cursed the herbal aroma that resided in the dungeons. It dampened the scent.

The people around them were chattering about, and the two were sitting in the back row, so he figured a quick kiss wouldn't hurt. He dipped down and pressed his lips to hers, feeling her smile.

"PDA much?" Ginny smirked when she pulled away, "I'm surprised no one noticed that."

"No one is looking." Harry shrugged, feeling the need to defend his action. Well, he says that but he was actually meaning to give reason for it being okay to kiss her again.

"Someone is always looking," She raised her eyebrows, nodding over to where Harry saw a group of Slytherin boys snickering and making obscene gestures. Heat rose to his face, and he felt like standing up and giving them a burst of Bond energy to the face, but Ginny laid a hand on his arm and gave him a warning look.

"Class is starting." And it was, since two seconds later Snape walked through the doors and everything went quiet as he walked towards the front of the room, his robes billowing behind him.

Harry already knew how to make the potion Snape was describing to him, and instead decided to doodle on the corners of his textbook and ogle at his girlfriend. She stared off at a corner of the room, and once or twice Harry was tempted to peek through the Bond and see what she was thinking, but knew it'd be a invasion of privacy.

What she was really thinking of was the school year, and how she hoped Umbridge wouldn't be a toad. Yet, every year she seemed to think this. Hoping that whatever professor they got would end up being nice and practical, but every time it ended up that they were horrible, spineless gits. Besides Remus, he was fine, and she wished he'd stayed as a professor.

Harry nodded off beside her, and before she knew it, she was pulled into a different world. She felt the wind and smelled Treacle Tart, she tasted butterbeer and something sweet that reminded her of the little candies she kept in her trunk, and she saw herself, laughing and kissing Harry's cheek, eyes alight. She felt hope and the feeling of love.

Then a book slammed onto the table.