The Daughter of Sirius Black

Chapter 72

"Did you see the way Harry was eyeing Chang?" George exclaimed.

"And how he pressed up against her as he was 'teaching'," Fred laughed as they recalled how Harry had positioned himself quite close to Cho as he adjusted her stance slightly, but he'd broken her concentration and Nigel, whom she was levitating, had fallen to the floor.

"Shut up! Shut up! He's here!" Leona exclaimed as she shushed them, peeking around the corner as they watched Filch approach his chair. He'd been sitting in front of the same wall for quite some time trying to catch them coming and going from the Room of Requirement, but so far had been unsuccessful.

So, as he turned up for his shift tonight, the twins and Leona had taken to leaving him a little something wrapped in a pink bow.

They watched with glee as Filch opened the heart-shaped box and lifted an 'I love you', chocolate to his mouth.

And he yelled out in horror, startling his cat as his entire body, his entire body, erupted in boils.

He ran off in the direction of Umbridge's office as the trio laughed, high fiving each other in triumph.

******************************************************************

Ginny was powerful.

They'd been doing a group exercise where they stood in a circle, a wooden dummy on a wheel rolling around as everyone fired a spell at it, offensive or defensive, and when Ginny cast her spell she ended up reducing the dummy to ashes, leaving everyone surprised.

Harry was walking around the room, adjusting people slightly and monitoring them as he gave a motivational speech while Leona worked with Neville who had his want pointed at Parvati Patil.

He was struggling to grasp the defensive spells, and even though that wasn't her domain, Leona had agreed to help the kind boy.

"Ok, so first up, relax," she said as she forced his shoulders to slump, exhaling the tension from his body. "Feet apart slightly, balance your weight and when you cast then lean forward on your dominant leg. Now, arm out and elbow slightly bent."

"Like this?" he asked as he held out his arm, wand gripped tightly.

"Yeah, but loosen your grip slightly. You hold it too tight, and you'll get the flourish wrong. Now Neville, just breathe, take your time and cast the spell when you're ready."

He nodded as he looked at Parvati, taking a deep breath.

"Expelliarmus!"

And Neville executed the spell flawlessly as Parvati's wand was forced from her hand.

"That was perfect! Well done, Neville!" Leona congratulated as she patted his arm as the Patil twins, and several others surrounded him and showered him with praise.

"How come you never praise me like that?" Fred asked as he slung an arm over Leona's shoulders, her arm going instinctively around his waist as she chuckled.

"Freddy, I give you praise in a way that I give no one else," she whispered lowly as he felt the tips of her fingers slide beneath the waistband of his pants.

He grinned smugly before she continued and said, "But I can give that praise to others if that's what you really want?"

His face fell as he squeezed her closer to his side.

"Like hell."

She only laughed at him before stretching up on her tiptoes to kiss his soft lips.

"You're too easy to rile up," she smiled as she pulled away and then grabbed his hand, tugging him to the other side of the room. "Come on," she whispered. "Let's see if you can get inside my head and see exactly just what kind of thoughts I have about you."