Harry Potter: Stuck

Chapter 33

'Bloody hell,' Harry thought, exasperated.

He would probably do just anything to get out of the room. It was unsettling how time flies so fast.

At one point, they were in Hog's Head with Abe- or otherwise known as Aberforth Dumbledore, Professor Dumbledore's brother- and now, they were in the Room of Requirement. It turned out that there was a secret passage behind the portrait of the youngest- and deceased- Dumbledore, Arianna, right there in Hog's Head leading to the Room of Requirement. It was a joyful surprise to see Neville Longbottom who had come to collect them via Arianna Dumbledore while they were still conversing with Abe.

It turned out that before Harry called for Dobby at Malfoy Mansion, the elf had been staying with Abe, helping the Hogwarts students- feeding them and taking care of the wounds they received from the twins Alecto and Amycus Carrow who took great pleasure in "reforming" the students who revolted against the current Headmaster, Severus Snape. Obviously, these students come from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. The number of Slytherin students who suffered from the Death Eater twins could only be counted with a single hand.

Now here he was, in the middle of the Room of Requirement, in the arms of someone who is most certainly not his girlfriend. The redhead's grip around his neck was rather suffocating. He couldn't get out of the embrace. It was like being stuck in the clutches of a nightmare with no way of waking up. She felt like a serpent with her coils around him, trapping him.

And that's not even the worst part.

He could see his girlfriend a few feet across them, nostrils flared, fists clenched and eyes narrowed dangerously, sporting a death glare towards the redhead who had her arms around him although he wasn't entirely sure who she was mad at- him for not resisting or the youngest Weasley who, out of nowhere, lunged at him and wrapped her limbs around him. Jokingly, he thought that if his witch glared any harder, they would both spontaneously combust into flames. She was actually poised to stomp towards them, probably to break them up, but she was stopped by Ron who whispered something in her ear and she replied through gritted teeth. Throughout the exchange, her eyes never strayed from the pair at the center of the room.

Finally, as if eternity had passed, they broke away from each other- or more specifically, Ginny had let go of him.

"I'm so glad you're back, Harry," she said cheerfully. She looked like she had gone through hell and back... all of the students in the room were. Harry's gut clenched guiltily at the thought of them suffering for his sake. Nevertheless, Ginny's wounds didn't deter her from happiness at the sight of him.

He gave her a wry grin. "Er... I'm glad to be back, too."

At this point, she had leaned in towards him, clearly intending to kiss him, and he could see Hermione from the corner of his eye making her way towards them regardless of Ron's pleas to not cause a scene. But as Ginny's lips were about to reach his, he dodged and they landed on his cheek instead. Meanwhile, Hermione had caught up to them and grabbed his arm, pulling him a few inches away from Ginny and towards her, shielding him with her body from the redhead in front of them.

The redhead noticed this, of course, and scowled at the older witch. "Do you mind? Harry and I were in the middle of something," she said icily.

Hermione glared back and stepped forward but was stopped by Harry's arm around her waist. She deflated a little at this although her glare towards Ginny didn't waver. Ginny took note of this as well and her scowl deepened.

"Ginny..." Ron warned from behind them, his hand on his sister's arm.

Ginny reared away from him furiously. "Don't touch me, Ron!"