A New Beginning (Sequel to A Different Beginning)

Chapter Six - First Week of School

Harry headed into Potions' class, Ginny's hand in his, the next morning. He had been dreading this class since the beginning of the year. He wasn't even sure how he was supposed to act. Then, there was the fact that he kept getting disturbing images in his head of Snape and his Aunt Petunia - of all the random couples. He pushed his thoughts aside again as it really was just way too weird to think about and he took a seat next to Ginny; letting Ron and Hermione sit together.

"Harry, it's not going to be that bad. You know how Snape is," Ginny replied.

Ron snorted from the table in front of them. "Crazy, yeah we know."

Harry grinned. "I'm just waiting for him to pull some type of crap. He never changes."

"Did you really expect him to?" Ginny asked. "I mean, how would you react if he suddenly started to give out candy?"

"I'd be running in another direction. Merlin knows what kind of poison would be inside of it." Ron replied.

Hermione turned to look at them now. "Ron running away from food is definitely an issue."

Harry snorted as they took out their supplies just as Snape came into the room, his robes billowing out behind him.

His eyes immediately fell upon Delilah and he managed a small smile of satisfaction. "It is nice to see that Miss Knight was given the privilege of rising above her classmates. Her work is quite extraordinary so she will be joining us here in N.E.W.T. classes."

Delilah blushed a bit and Draco grinned at her, his hand seeking hers beneath the table.

Here it comes, Harry thought as he watched Snape's eyes turn darker as they fell upon Ginny.

"On the other hand, Dumbledore seems to be a bit senile when it comes to other students. How Miss Weasley managed to get into this class is beyond me. But then again, the Headmaster did allow Potter in yet again even though his Potions marks have just been atrocious for the last six years." He let out a huff of breath before he continued, pointing his wand at the wall. "Today we will be doing the Wolfsbane Potion - ingredients and instructions are on the board. No talking."

Shuffling was heard about the room as people got ready to start. Harry was ready to hear more snide remarks but instead he was greeted with silence and a steely glare from Snape. He grinned to himself, that he could handle. With the thought of this class possibly being actually enjoyable for once, Harry continued to work on his potion and ignored Snape all together.

********

Later on that evening, Colin sat curled up in his chair with Demelza on his lap. He was holding her close and wondering again how it was that he had gone for so long not realizing how great she was. He had always been friends with her but he guessed that he must have subconsciously pushed her into the category of off-limits. The one where Ginny had been his whole life. Of course, he had never thought about Ginny the way Demelza had crept into his thoughts. He kissed the nape of her neck and grinned down at the book she was reading.

"Interesting?"

Demelza shrugged and leaned back against him. "Not really. Theories of Charms ... it could be better."

He laughed. "Yeah."

"Why aren't you doing homework anyway? It's very unlike you to sit around here and do nothing."

Colin shrugged. "No particular reason." His eyes traveled across the room to where Ginny was curled up on Harry's lap, they were snogging quietly. Books were strewn about the room beneath them as if they had just decided to ignore whatever work they had attempted to do.

Demelza nodded in understanding. "Were you really that shocked that she skipped a year? We've always known that she was smart. Then we found out last year about all of that power she had."

He sighed and ran his hand over his chin. "I know, it's just ... she's my best friend, Dee. I know I was annoying and peppy my first couple of years here. She was always nice to me and ... she's special."

Demelza smiled at him. "I know she is. Ginny just has this openness about her. You can tell her anything and you know that she will accept it because she loves you, and nothing will ever change that. She's my best friend too. She found me crying my first week of school. I was lost and I was so scared. I didn't know anyone here and I was muggleborn obviously so that was a bit of a problem too. She found me there and she just pulled me into her arms and told me not to cry. She was so comforting and nice to me that I ended up pouring out all of fears and worries. All she did was grin at me and tell me that I had her to watch out for me and her best friends Colin and Luna. Then she took my hand and marched me down to the library to meet you two. I'll never forget it."

Colin nodded. "I remember that day. She just pushed you into a chair and said: 'Guys, this is Demelza Robbins, guard her with your life.' Then she just started rambling on about her summer. You looked so out of place, and then you slowly began to relax as we all rambled on and you joined in."

"Yeah, I did. You were a lot of fun. Though, to this day, I'm still a little shy around Luna. She really only shows her face to certain people and sometimes, not at all. She can definitely get a bit ..."

"Loony Luna? Yeah I know. It's one of the reasons we love her."

Demelza laughed. "I suppose. I'm happy for her and Neville, even though Luna had to make the move on him."

"Me too. They are surprisingly quite cute together. Not as good though as Harry and Ginny. Just look at those two, makes you wonder if they ever come up for air."

"Of course they do. They're so in love. It's wonderful. I've never seen anyone so happy. I mean, they don't argue very often either."

Colin snorted. "Sure they do, when Harry's a prat. But other then that yeah they agree on most things and Harry always seems to calm Gin's temper down. We all know how dangerous that can be."

She grinned. "Well, don't get on her bad side then. Besides, temper is nothing; we both know that Ginny has a wonderful heart."

"Yeah, she does have a wonderful heart," Colin murmured. "I never really spoke to Ginny until the second day of school. I found out that her brother Ron was Harry's best friend and well I was in awe of Harry Potter obviously. I started pestering her with questions of what Harry was like and stuff like that. She told me he was a normal person and to get over it. We talked about all sorts of things and ended up hanging out a lot to do our homework and stuff and then one day I asked her for Harry's autograph." He winced slightly at the memory. "She bat-bogeyed me. Been best friends ever since."

Demelza laughed. "That's one of the things I admire most about her, her power. She's very powerful and has a wicked temper, but she keeps it in check pretty well. But she's a great listener. She was the one I ran to when I started having all of those sexy dreams about you."

Colin's eyebrow rose in surprise. "Sexy dreams? You know, we never really had a chance to talk about those dreams of yours. I mean, just what was I doing in these dreams?"

She laughed and kissed his cheek. "You're never going to find out, Mr. Creevey, but you were great in them."

He grinned and turned her head so that he could kiss her deeply. Demelza sighed into him at the kiss. She still couldn't believe that he had finally noticed her as more then a friend. Her book slid off her lap and hit the floor with a clunk as she curled into him, moving closer and losing herself in the kiss. She moaned against his mouth and his arms came around her.

Both were lost.

**********

Ginny curled closer to Harry in his lap, her lips trailing along his neck and earlobe. She knew that they should be working on their homework and that this wasn't going to solve anything, except, of course, to get them all worked up and no time to play, but Merlin she had no desire to stop. The first two days of school had just flown by and even with her workload already being as big as it was, she didn't care much. She just wanted Harry.

He moaned against her mouth and pulled back a bit to grin at her. "Want to go somewhere more private, Gin?"

She laughed at the rough sexy drawl that came out of his mouth. His voice always sounded so good as it flowed over her skin when he was worked up. She grinned to herself, taking secret pride in knowing that she had done that to him. "I want to, yes, but we have so much work to do."

Harry shook his head no and pulled her closer. "Uh-uh, no work, just play." His hands slid up her sides and she sighed.

"Harry," she murmured. "We should work."

He sighed and then moved his lips into a pout.

She leaned forward to nip at his lip. "I love you too. Maybe later."

He took a deep breath and watched her as she bent down to pick up her books. She had the cutest little bum. He grinned to himself at the turn of his thoughts and when she leaned back against him he began to nuzzle her neck.

"Harry," she murmured. "Come on, I have a lot of work to do."

He shook his head and wrapped his arms around her. "Do not; you just want to torture me."

"Well, no, that's just a bonus. Seriously though, come on. I have a lot of work to do and catching up with seventh year work. I don't have time for games at the moment."

He grinned and kissed her ear. "Liar. So what am I supposed to do just sit here and watch you look beautiful or maybe I should attempt at stopping Da again?"

"Harry James Potter!" She hissed angrily. "You better not get into another fight with your father or you're going to find yourself covered in bat bogeys in some very unpleasant places! I don't care what your reasoning is either! He's your father and no matter whether his decision is right or wrong it's his decision; now get over it! You don't have to be a complete prat over everything!"

She climbed off his lap and stomped angrily up the stairs to her dorm. Harry watched her go wondering what on earth had set her off.

Ginny threw herself down onto her bed, tears falling from her eyes. What was wrong with her? She had just flipped out on Harry for no reason at all. She could feel him probing into her mind, asking her what was wrong and to come back downstairs but she shut the gate between them.

She couldn't explain the feelings that were running through her; all she knew was that she was suddenly incredibly angry with him. Harry could be so stupid about some things. Between him and James, she had no idea who she was going to end up killing first. Harry was always getting mad at him over something and then James was asking her to play peacemaker.

On one hand, Ginny understood why Harry didn't want to drudge up the past as it could cause more problems in the long-run. He was right about that. But on the other hand, James had more then a right to go after Vernon. Okay, so Lily didn't want him to either, as it had happened years ago and she didn't want to remember it. James felt he had to do something, that was obvious. Not to mention, another punishment towards them for the horrible things that they had done to Harry as a child.

The entire situation was getting her worked up again. She remembered how her fist had plowed into Petunia Dursley's face with satisfaction. She sighed and pulled out some parchment. When she needed advice there was only one person she had ever asked for it. She dipped her quill into her ink and began to write.

Dear Bill,