Ch. 28

Ginger sat behind the ornate desk with her feet propped up on it. “Well honey, that was fun but it did get a lil’ dicey at the end. Ah wasn’t sure Uncle Albus could pull it off without somebody getting hurt.”

Her brother was pacing about pretending to read the spines on the books. He wasn’t fooling anybody as the alphabets as well as the languages were long dead. “It did get a bit ticklish at that. But it had all the more effect on the enemy. If anybody had any guess where he’s off to, that exit distracted them from any clues he may have left behind. Oh, and how are Draco and Pansy?”

“Ah heard they recovered after a while.” (Giggle) “That was a nice touch you had, rolling them down the stairs. Probably the most exercise Draco’s had since Young Crouch turned him into a ferret and bounced him about last year.”

He stopped prowling as he came upon a book that looked like it was marked in the Roman alphabet. In fact the words were English. He mussed. “The Innocents Beyond or The Third Pilgrim’s Progress Being an Account of a Pleasure Excursion Aboard the Starship Quaker City.. Son of a bleep, he wasn’t stuffing me. He really did read it.”

She looked serious. “You want to keep a close eye on Ashley from here on. The lil’ worm is afraid of you and me, with good reason. So he’s likely to take it out on her, especially since his best efforts came back on him while attacking her.”

Tex growled in agreement. An unprovoked attack on any woman was anathema to him. But he was now undeniably in love with this little bit of Britton and he would be likely to act swiftly and surely on any thing that threatened her. “What is it with Snape that he stopped giving Harry mind-block lessons? Ah know his fondest wish is to see all Potters wiped from the face of the earth, but he’s never directly defied Uncle Albus. He still treasures the hope of some day teaching DADA.”

“You’ll need divination of an order higher than Trelawney teaches. Both of them are as tight lipped as clams about the whole thing. It must be something humiliating to Snape. But for Harry not to run about telling it, he must have come by the knowledge in some dishonorable way. What’s the status with our new head?”

He gave a grin that said somebody was not in as comfortable position as they thought. “She’s sitting in the DADA office looking important with a name plate that says, ‘HEADMISTRESS’. Filch is toadying like a champ and in payment she’s promised him the right to whip students and hang them by their thumbs, literally.”

“He tries any of that with me he’ll draw back a bloody stump.”

“With no body attached if Ah get wind of it.” If there was one thing surer to turn softhearted Tex to violence than threats to himself, it was threats to those he loved. “Everything she does, ever since she got here, seems designed to antagonize everybody, students and faculty alike. We’re all as nervous as long tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs. And Ah’m not sure Ah want to know what the twins are up to.”

“Fred and George planning something?”

“They’re as mum as Harry and Snape, but they have that barely concealed excitement of the true trickster just before he pulls off the coupe de grass.” Just then Ginger’s tiny midriff gave a most unladylike growl, as if she had swallowed the house mascot without bothering to kill it first. Tex checked his watch. “Getting on to noon. Ah could set mah watch by your digestive track, baby.”

She got up and gave him a playful punch in the breadbasket. “So let’s see about resetting mah alarm.” Over the book case opposite the door was a wooden duck decoy. “Open up, Daffy.” The mouth of the duck opened and closed three times with the sound, “WACK, WACK, WACK!” A section slid back and the sibs exited.

*******

It was more than a month before O.W.L.s when Hermione told Harry and Ron to meet her in a long unused classroom. When they were all there and sure they were alone she brought up the “people saving thing.” Harry wasn’t the least bit impressed with the reference to Fleur’s sister Gabriel. “I got bonus points for saving her, remember? Dumbledore called it ‘moral fiber’.”

“Well at least you get results, not like Tex. I swear he got in the way more than he helped.”

“Yea.” Ron added. “In first year we probably could have gotten thru the giant chess set faster by playing the game like I said instead of him fighting them. And he got himself knocked out in the bargain.”

“And second year while you were fighting Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets he was stuck in the castle waste system and blown into the lake.”

“He WHAT?” Harry exploded.

“Yes, I didn’t tell anybody because it was all over and you had beaten Riddle and were sitting down to the feast in your honor, but just after I was released from hospital I went down to Hagrid’s hut and Tex was there trying to wash off the stench. He was ‘such a great hero’ and ended up in the sewer.”

Harry wanted to sneer at Tex’s part in rescuing Sirius and Buckbeak during third year but Ron wasn’t supposed to know about the time-turner. Harry was sure that given enough time he could have gotten the recalcitrant Hippogriff to cooperate.

Ron added, “And don’t forget just last year when he vanished all together for most of the school year and left Hermione and me to be your only support in the Tri-Wizard tournament.

“Yes, Harry. You do have a saving-people thing but you’re sane and stable compared to that ‘hero’ Tex.” The three left for lunch.

After they were gone more than a minute a potted palm tree in the corner shimmered and turned into Ginger. She looked over at a large bulky file cabinet. She could feel the heat coming off of it. It shook and writhed and turned into Tex. Flames danced in his eyes. He ground out, “The WORD is Messiah Complex.” He looked so furious even Ginger was afraid to get near him. He stalked out not so closely followed.

In the Great Hall he nearly walked right past Ashley, he was so mad. “Mickey, where’re you going? Aren’t you going to talk to me?” When he turned to look at her the furry in his eyes made her jump back. “Eeek! Mickey, what’s wrong?”

He told her just what the trio had said. He added, “IN THE WAY? WITHOUT MAH HELP IN FIRST AND SECOND YEAR HARRY WOULDN’T HAVE HAD A CHANCE.” Like Harry and Hermione he wasn’t to mention the time-turner to anybody. Also he and Ginger had sworn to Dumbledore not to tell anybody about his little trip across the interdimensional barrier to investigate the murder of his other self in fourth year.

She was trying to calm him. “Well, Mickey, maybe there is something to what Hermione says. I mean, you said your self they weren’t your crises.”

“AH’M STILL NOT THE ONE WITH THE MESSIAH COMPLEX! AH’M THE REAL HERO HERE! HARRY STUMBLES INTO CRISSISE LIKE A BLIND GIANT AND GETS OUT OF THEM BY DUMB LUCK! AH’M TRAINED IN HEROISM! AH CAN FIGHT WITH ANY WHEAPON, OR NONE! AH CAN SURVIVE ANY ENVIRONMENT! AH CAN OPERATE AND MAINTAIN ANY MACHINE THE MIND OF MAN CAN DEVISE! AH CAN…”

“MICKEY SHULTZ, DON’T YOU DARE RAISE YOUR VOICE TO ME!”

He was shocked! Her reprimand just made him angrier! “DON’T TELL ME NOT TO RAISE MAH VOICE! AH’LL RAISE ANYTHING AH WANNA RAISE!” He pounded his fist on the table for emphasis! “AH’LL RAISE MAH VOICE!” (Thump) “AH’LL RAISE SHEEP!” (Thump) “AH’LL RAISE THE NATIONAL DEBT!” (Thump) “SO DON’T TELL ME NOT TO RAISE MAH VOICE!”

She yanked the chain from around her neck and threw the ring at him. “That’s fine with me, Michael Barabus Shultz. You just go and do what ever you want. But leave me out of it!” He caught the ring in mid air and stormed out.

Harry saw the end of this and thought now was the perfect time to try and make sure Ashley and Tex never got back together. “Ashley.” he said gently. “You did the right thing. You shouldn’t have anything to do with Tex, or his sister.”

She turned to face him. Her eyes were red and puffy and her nose was runny. Harry had an idea she wasn’t having an allergy attack. She shouted at him, “OH HARRY! DON’T BE AN IDIOT! CAN’T YOU SEE MICKEY AND I LOVE EACH OTHER?” She ran all the way back to Hufflepuff tower crying.

*******

That night a Slytherin girl named Dawn Bloom brought her sick owl to Hagrid. While he was assuring her that it would be fine in a few days there came from outside the sound of a thousand cats begin skinned alive. He opened the door to be confronted with the most appalling sight of his life, and he’d seen some doozies. There framed in the door jab was Tex with a jug over his shoulder, staggering about and shrieking at the top of his lungs.

“Shweeeeeet… Addddddddd… Ohhhhhh… Linnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne”

Hagrid dragged him into the hut. “Here now, what’s all this about?” Look at you, Tex. You’re a positive sight. What’s gotten inter ya?” The answer to that question seemed to lie in the jug. He guided the sorry specimen to the great chair by the table.

Tex dropped and buried his face in his arms. He emitted a wail that would have given the castle ghosts the willies. “AH’VE LOST HER!!! SHE’S GONE!” He settled into wordless sobbing.

“Lost her? Lost who? Ya mean that cute lil’ Hufflepuff girl? What was her name, Ashley?”

Tex wailed in the affirmative. “Ah’ve lost her. Ah yelled at her when Ah should have been yelling at Harry and now Ah’ve lost her. Ah can’t face tomorrow.” (Sob, sob, sob)

Hagrid looked dubiously at the jug. “What in all creation have ya been drinking?” He pulled the cork from the jug and a bolt of pale energy sprang forth barely missing his head. He replaced the cork. “What in heaven’s name is this?”

“White Lightnin’.” Tex said with a trace of pride. “From an ancient family recipe.”

Mah pappy he made whisky
Mah grand pappy did too.
And we aint paid no whisky tax
Since seventeen ninety-two.

He resumed wailing. Hagrid said, “Now listen, Tex. I know what you’re going thru and I know it’s just awful, but drinking isn’t going to help. In fact, if some of the other teachers had seen you, you’d have been expelled.”

Dawn, though a Slytherin, couldn’t help being touched by this strange fellow’s plight. “Don’t carry on so. It may not be over. Go to this Ashley and tell her how you feel.”

“Now Tex, what you need to do is go up to your room, get right into bed and stay there till you’re good and rested up. Tomorrow’s Saturday, you can stay in bed as long as you like. Then if you like, you can come down here and we’ll have a talk.”

Tex got to his feet (not without effort) and turned to go. He then stopped and turned back to Hagrid, reaching for the jug. “Oh, no you don’t. You’ve had enough of that. Your first sip was too much. Now go.”

He managed to get across the lawn and into the castle. Going up the stairs several of the paintings made disparaging remarks. In front of a long dead head of Slytherin house he paused to get his bearings. “So, this is the magnificent American. How powerful, how mighty, how stunning, at least your breath.”

He continued into the common room and collapsed into a chair facing the portrait of Godric Gryffindor over the fireplace. As he stared up bleary eyed it said, “I’m ashamed of you lad. A Gryffindor faces disappointment bravely, not by trying to crawl into a bottle.” Tex spent the rest the night in unhappy sleep.

For two weeks Tex seemed less alive than some of the ghosts. He no longer came to the Great Hall for meals but snuck down to the kitchen to cage food from the elves. Classes Gryffindor shared with Hufflepuff he skipped until the teachers threatened to fail him, then did his best seem invisible. His class participation dropped to nil. The trio didn’t mind seeing him like this, figuring such a debilitated state made him less of a threat.

A week before O.W.L.s Umbrage began to worry that maybe she should lighten up just a bit. She’d heard some students talking about a dance and, Mr. Filch’s views to the contrary, gave her consent. Hermione thought it a meaningless distraction but the vast majority was delighted. Everybody was going, including Tex. He just didn’t know it. “Get off your lazy butt and get into your formal!” roared Ginger.

Tex made a waving gesture as if trying to brush her away. “Naw, dances are for couples.” He had stopped crying, but he still had little interest in life.

She grabbed his chin and stared him in the eye. “Then you’ll wait in the stag line like all the other slobs who couldn’t get a date. But you ARE going!”

There’s nothing like fear for one’s life to give one an interest in it. Tex dressed in record time and escorted his golden goddess to the Great Hall. When they got there just about every boy in the place swarmed Ginger, as usual. Tex tried to drift off to the side in the hopes of slipping out while she was distracted. The magic music box was playing the great classics of the mid twentieth century. One of the all time greatest started.*

She loves you yea yea yea,
She loves you yea yea yea,
She loves you yea yea yea yea.

Tex looked up. There, not twenty feet away stood Ashley looking just as stunned as he felt. Without knowing how or when, he had started moving toward her. He still felt scared; she still looked scared, but neither backed off.

You thought you lost your love
Well I saw her yesterday-yay
It’s you she’s thinking of
She told me what to say-yay.

His left arm went around her waist. His right hand met her left. They held each other at a formal distance, but kept eye contact.

She said you hurt her so
She almost lost her mi-yind
Now she says she knows
You’re not the hurting ki-yind

They were slowly swaying about the room. He saw her chin quiver. He felt a tire start down his cheek.

She says she loves you
And you know that can’t be bad
She loves you
And you know you should be glad

She loves you yea yea yea,
She loves you yea yea yea,
With a love like that, you know you should be glad.

After four years in this never-never land of Hogwarts Tex’s notion of “real” had been stretched beyond recognition. Still this had a decidedly “unreal” feeling to it. His beloved Ashley, the only girl in the world for him, was in his arms, giving him another chance.

You know it’s up to you
I think it’s only fair-er
Pride can hurt you too
Apologize to her-er

Because she loves you
And you know that can’t be bad
She loves you
And you know you should be glad

She loves you yea yea yea,
She loves you yea yea yea,
With a love like that, you know you should be glad.

The song ended. “Let’s step out into the garden,” he said nervously.

She smiled. “I’d like that.”

The night air was heavy with the smell of flowers. Tex was terrified that something he might say or do could shatter this fragile moment. But he knew what he had to do, what Godric Gryffindor would do when he had wronged somebody. “Ashley mah darling, Ah cannot begin to tell you how ashamed Ah am of mah self. Ah was furious with the gang and Ah took it out on you. Ah can only beg you most humbly to forgive me.”

“No Mickey. I should be the one to apologies. I could see you were hurting, pretty bad in fact. I should have tried to comfort you instead of joining your accusers. You’ve never tried to pretend you’re something you’re not. I should have known you’d get over it in a while if I just waited.”

He gently pulled her to him and kissed her lips as he stroked her hair.

*She Loves You John Lennon, Paul McCartney