[HP] Complex Touch

"You guys know how dangerous it is to walk around without a professor supervising you?"

Rosmerta's sharp tone startled Ginny, James and Sirius.They came out of the tunnel and went straight to the Three Broomsticks, hoping for a mug of warm butterbeer.It was cold outside and the streets were empty.Ginny saw the dark street with a strange sense of dread. She had never been to Hogsmeade at night before, and she rushed into the bar.Before they entered the bar, James and Sirius assured Ginny that Rosmerta would not mind their presence, but it turned out that they were wrong.

Ginny could hardly believe that this beautiful twenty-something witch was Rosmerta, and she led them almost immediately to the farthest corner of the bar as if they were misbehaving children - which, in fact, they were.Sirius and James looked shocked, while Ginny was curious.

"We've never followed the norm—" James said, with a flirtatious tone in his voice that Ginny had never heard.

"Yes, now is not the time for trouble!" Rosmerta said with his hands on his hips.

"We're not making trouble, Rosmerta dear," said Sirius charmingly.

Rosmerta's stern face did not waver.

"How many times have you two said that?" she asked them.

Rosmerta frowned disapprovingly at the boys, seemingly unaware that Ginny was here too.After a while, Rosmerta took a deep breath, looked around the bar, and ushered them to an empty table nearby and sat them down.After they took their order, she turned away to get her butterbeer.Halfway through, she stopped.

"I have a bad feeling about the three of you coming out tonight..."

James laughed.

"We can protect ourselves," he told her.

"But if Dumbledore finds out that I know you three are hanging out in Hogsmeade, and I don't tell him, I'm sure I'll be blamed by him, and what if something happens to you?"

Rosmerta turned and walked away without waiting for an answer.When they turned their attention to Ginny, she raised an eyebrow at James and Sirius.

"I think she's right," said Ginny. "Maybe we should leave."

"Leave? We just arrived!" Sirius grinned. "Don't take her words to heart."

"I don't know," murmured Ginny, recalling her horror at seeing a dark Hogsmeade. "I have a bad feeling too—"

"Merlin!" Sirius called. "You really think the bloody Death Eaters would attack Hogsmeade at ten o'clock at night when nobody's out?"

"We're out now, and so are the other wizards and witches here!" replied Ginny, waving to the packed tables. "How do you know what the Death Eaters are going to do?"

James, who was watching the quarrel, tried to stop Sirius from answering, but his friend turned away from him, and his burning eyes were only on Ginny.Ginny frowned and narrowed her eyes.Who made Sirius think he could ignore Rosmerta's warning?One day, that might lead to his death--indeed, it did lead to his death.He disobeyed Dumbledore's orders to stay safely at 12 Grimmauld Place, but ran out.

"What does that mean?" Sirius asked, almost growling.

"Exactly what you think," Ginny hissed. "Death Eaters are crazy, they do things we never thought they would do!"

After hearing her words, Sirius began to laugh.Ginny took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"Ginny, Padfoot, that's enough!" James said, trying to stop the quarrel from continuing. "Everyone can hear the two of you arguing."

Sirius frowned, then nodded, agreeing to end the quarrel.Ginny sat back in her chair, feeling uncomfortable.Maybe she was overacting, but she knew how much damage Voldemort's lackeys were going to and had done.Ginny could tell from Sirius' indifference to the Death Eaters that they didn't understand.But after a while, they will understand.

James sighed as Rosmerta appeared and placed a bottle of Butterbeer in front of each student.Her expression relaxed a little, revealing a little guilt.Apparently, she had been listening to the argument between Sirius and Ginny.Ginny grabbed her drink and took a sip, letting the warmth spread through her body.She relaxed slightly, then looked at Rosmerta.

"How's your beer?" asked the elder witch.

Sirius smiled, as if he hadn't had an argument at all.But his eyes were still a little clouded with anger.Ginny frowned and looked away.

"Delicious, my dear," Sirius said, taking one of her hands. "Just like you."

Sirius kissed her knuckles, and Rosmerta began to laugh.

"Forgive me, eh?" James asked, his voice teasing, his eyes twinkling.

"Of course." Rosmerta laughed. "How can I be mad at my two favorite boys... oh! Where's my manners? Don't hurry to see you're three... My name is Rosmerta."

Ginny introduced herself to the woman she had known since coming to Hogsmeade as a child.

"It's good to see you. These boys need a girl to discipline them."

"Discipline!" Sirius yelled in mock anger, but it didn't sound the same as it did a few minutes ago. "Dear Rosmerta, you must not be serious. I thought you loved us—"

"I am," she replied. "But I believe that you are all Hogwarts girl killers, especially as far as I recall..."

Both Sirius and James laughed happily.

"Hogwarts misses you so much," Sirius told her.

Rosmerta smiled and shook his head at them.Then she looked away from their table and stopped laughing, a look of shock on her face.Ginny turned her head to see what had caught Rosmerta's eye, and gasped when she saw the person who had just walked through the door.Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Slughorn and Professor Sprout have walked into the Three Broomsticks.

Ginny turned to look at Sirius and James, only to find that they had disappeared.Something suddenly pulled her off the chair and dragged her under the table, and she gasped.She tried to straighten her back but hit her head on the table and cursed.Ginny paused, rolling her eyes at the smiling faces of James and Sirius.

"That's impossible," she said softly. "The deans of the four colleges came with three brooms at the same time as us. What is the chance?"

Ginny's words made Sirius laugh out loud.James nudged his friend hastily, and pointed to a pile of feet coming towards the table.Undoubtedly the professors, Ginny felt a strange burning sensation in her stomach.While Professor Dumbledore graciously allowed her to stay at his school, she was about to be caught leaving Hogwarts without permission.

"My God, that laugh sounds so familiar." It was Sprout.

Stopping in front of their desk, James grabbed Ginny's shoulders and pulled her towards him and Sirius, who were further away from the professors.

"Very familiar," McGonagall snapped. "Like Sirius Black."

Rosmerta's shiny heels approached the four pairs of feet.

"Come on, come on," Rosmerta said, sounding out of breath and anxious. "I've arranged a table for you in the back."

Feet started to leave the table, then disappeared from sight and went to the other side of the bar.Sirius wasted no time, grabbing Ginny by the waist and dragging her out from under the table.James followed, and they ran out of the three broomsticks, waving goodbye to Rosmerta, who was looking at them.

They rushed into the shadows of a building, and Ginny reached out, grabbed James by the sleeve, and pulled him toward her.After making sure no one could see them, Sirius let Ginny go, and Ginny let James go.They stood silent for a moment in the shadows, and then Ginny covered her mouth and laughed.She leaned her back against the building and continued to laugh.It didn't take long for Ginny's infectious laugh to reach out to Sirius and James, who joined her.

"Maybe we should leave," Ginny suggested to the boys again when they had stopped laughing.

"Never!" James replied. "You haven't played well yet."