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After All
By Emmeline Vance

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Category: Muggle Picnic Challenge (2005-2)
Characters:None
Genres: Action/Adventure, Fluff, General, Humor
Warnings: None
Story is Complete
Rating: PG
Reviews: 25
Summary: ** Winner of Best Adventure in the Muggle Picnic Challenge **
The Muggle picnic planned for the Hogwarts students is anticipated by all--except for Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley. They both have the same problem, and when one event leads to another...how will such a simple thing turn their whole day around?
Hitcount: Story Total: 4717



Disclaimer: Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions in this story are my own and in no way represent the owners of this site. This story subject to copyright law under transformative use. No compensation is made for this work.





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After All

The common room was bursting with excitement. A steady stream of people were entering from their dormitories, towels draped over their shoulders and sunglasses perched on top of their heads. The chattering grew louder and louder.

Colin Creevy’s voice could be heard over the din, “I even got my dad to send me a picnic basket.”

His brother, Dennis, nodded eagerly. “An authentic Muggle picnic basket!”

One person was less excited than everyone else appeared to be. “But, Hermione, it’s horrible!”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Ginny, how bad can your swimsuit be?”

“Extremely,” Ginny reassured her. “It’s old and faded and the most horrendous colors.”

“Well, fine, but then you aren’t going to swim at all?”

“I don’t think so.”

Hermione looked at Ginny sympathetically. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Sorry, but I have to go finish setting up.” She rushed out of the portrait hole. Ginny sighed. She admitted that it was nice to have a break from all the OWL studying, but she desperately wished she had a better swimsuit to wear.

On the other side of the common room Harry was having a similar problem. He lifted his shorts pant and looked in disgust at the faded olive green swim trunks.

“Tell me, Ron, which one of your brothers had to wear these ugly things?”

Ron looked as if he was trying to hold back laughter. “Er, Charlie, actually. He hated them too. But it was only swimsuit Mum could find in the house.”

Harry wrinkled his nose and let go of his shorts to cover the olive material. When he heard about the Muggle Picnic he had asked Ron if he had a swimsuit he could borrow, seeing as the Dursley’s had never given him one. These too short, untastefully colored swim trunks were the only things Mrs. Weasley had found in the house. Even though he was grateful she had given him something to wear, these weren’t his first choice.

Hermione re-entered the common room and announced excitedly, “Everyone can go down to the lake!”

***

Ginny sat on a lawn chair alongside many others, facing the lake. She felt rather overdressed in her shorts and t-shirt, since everyone else had stripped down to their swimsuits as it neared noon. She squinted to look all around the lake at the many large groups of housemates. Sure enough, it seemed no one else still had real clothes on. But she was stubborn. She would not let anyone see her swimsuit.

Wait. She noticed one other person still had shorts and a t-shirt on–Harry. But apparently that was about to change.

Pavarti, Lavender, and Ginny’s roommates stared at Harry as he took off his shirt. Ginny felt her eyes wandering to look at him, too, and immediately snapped her head away.

Pavarti gave a sly grin. “Quidditch playing is definitely doing him some good.”

The other girls nodded in approval. Ginny, however, looked at them in disgust.

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake, you all have boyfriends!”

Lavender smirked. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t look. Besides, you don’t have a boyfriend, and I’ve seen the way you look at him.”

Ginny’s mouth fell open. “I-I don’t look at Harry!”

Kelly, Ginny’s roommate, gave her a skeptical look. “Sure, Gin, whatever you say.” The other girls nodded in agreement.

What’s with all this bloody nodding?! Ginny thought. “You’re all crazy!”

Ginny stood up and walked as quickly as she could over to Hermione and Ron. She did not look at Harry like that. Right?

She approached Hermione and Ron, who were around a contraption with flames coming out of it and bars along the top. What did Hermione call that? Oh, yeah. A grill. Apparently Ron was trying to grill a hamburger.

“Hermione, this is stupid, I can’t get it to cook the right way!” He looked enviously at Justin Finch-Fletchley, who was in the Hufflepuff area, easily flipping burgers.

“You have to be patient, Ronald,” Hermione said exasperatedly.

Ron put the flipper in his hand under the burger, and just as he did so the meat burst into flames. He flung it over his shoulder in panic. “Hermione! What happened? What did I do?”

Ginny laughed. Hermione grinned at her and put her hand on Ron’s shoulder to comfort him. “It’s all right, Ron.”

“You know, this grill stuff is too complicated,” Ron looked disgruntled. His face lit up. “Hey, Hermione, do you want to go to the futon over there with me? It’s chocolate!”

Ginny watched, entertained, as a hint of a blush swept over Hermione’s cheeks.

“Er, Ron, its fondue, not futon,” Hermione explained.

“Futon, fondue, what’s the difference?” Ron shrugged.

“It…doesn’t matter. Sure, I’ll come with you.” Hermione decided it was worthless to try to explain it to Ron. “Ginny, do you want to come?”

Before she had a chance to answer, Seamus Finnegan stood on a stump and shouted over the crowd. “Um, we’ll be having a sack race”–he grinned at Dean, who stood below him–“Over there”–he pointed–“So if you want to go, head on over. And it’s a doubles sack race. There’s horseshoes, too, if anyone wants to play it.”

Next thing Ginny knew, she saw Ron and Hermione timidly walking over to the sack race. So much for “futon”. It seemed the doubles sack race was much more popular. Only a trickle of people wandered over to the horseshoes. Actually, the only people really starting to play were Colin Creevy and a girl Ginny recognized as a fourth year, but didn’t know her name. They kept missing, though, and looked bored after a while.

She noticed Harry was sitting on a blanket by himself, and walked over to him.

“Mind if I join you?”

Harry looked up, startled. “Oh, sure.”

“Didn’t want to be in the sack race?”

Harry looked and her and laughed. “Not especially. You?”

“Me neither. Why else would I be here?”

“Because I looked so pathetic by myself you had to save me from my misery?” Harry suggested.

Ginny smiled. “That sounds about right.” She reached across him and picked up a strawberry off a plate. She bit into it and felt its sweetness fill her mouth. “So, what do you think of all this Muggle stuff? I mean, I suppose you’re used to it…” She faded off, realizing that she had probably made a mistake by mentioning anything associated to his life with the Dursley’s.

Harry seemed to understand. “Oh, kind of. But I haven’t had much experience with grills. Although, judging by Ron’s attempt, I don’t think I want to try.”

“Oh, well that’s Ron, you know,” Ginny replied.

“I guess you have a point,” Harry said with a grin.

There it was again. That smile. His smile. He didn’t smile as much these days, but now she could get him to. In fact, now that she thought about it, he always seemed to smile or laugh more when he was with her. Maybe she was just imagining it, though. Did that mean she looked at him? But she didn’t look at him that way. Never that way. They were just friends.

She tried to get her mind on something else. “So, um, nice weather for spring, huh?”

Harry tilted his head slightly in a nod. They were silent for a moment, just looking at the reflection of the sky in the deep lake.

A whoop came from the sack race. They turned their heads to see what the commotion was. Hermione and Ron where still in one sack together, and Ron was punching his fist in the air. They caught Harry and Ginny’s eyes and went “We won!” The two on the blanket laughed at their friends’ rejoicing.

“Well, it seems they’ve finally come around,” Harry commented.

“Oh, yeah. Finally,” Ginny answered. She couldn’t help but think, And what about you, when I still liked you years ago? Why didn’t you come around? But she pushed all thoughts of it out of her head.

The group from the sack race came back to their blankets and folding chairs. Pavarti stepped on the stump Seamus had been on and clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, we’re going to have a swimsuit contest now, with the best boy and best girl. Everyone has to participate! Line up and I’ll judge.”

Everyone did as they were told and formed a line. Except, of course, Ginny and Harry, who gave each other dubious looks.

“My swimsuit’s hideous,” Ginny stated.

“So’s mine.”

“You have Charlie’s old one, don’t you?”

Harry grimaced. “Yeah.”

“The olive green one? I don’t blame you. Mine’s an ugly pink and orange checkered one-piece that clashes with my hair.”

Harry didn’t quite know what to say. “Yeah, so we both have horrible swimsuits.”

“That’s for sure. I don’t care what she says, I’m not entering!”

“Me neither.”

They sat and watched everyone line up; hoping Pavarti wouldn’t come over and make them enter. Amazingly, she didn’t. She did, however, walk up and down the line of people and study their swimsuits.

“Okay!” Pavarti announced. “I’ve made my decision, you can sit down and I’ll announce the winners.”

Everyone settled down in their seats and watched Pavarti eagerly.

“The winners are…” She waited as many eyes stared anxiously at her. “Lavender Brown and Dean Thomas!” There were a few mutters at that announcement, many including ‘They’re her friends, that’s stupid!’, although most people clapped and cheered for them. Pavarti started talking again, and everyone was quiet. “However, there were also two people who didn’t participate-”

Ginny and Harry looked at each other with wide eyes. “Oh no,” Harry whispered.

“-So I think they should be declared the losers, and have to jump off that”–she pointed to a tree limb a bit away from them and extending far over the lake–“tree. Harry has to throw Ginny in and then jump in after her. And they have to show us their swimsuits!”

Harry and Ginny looked at each other worriedly, but smiles involuntarily went across their faces when they heard Ron whistle and others go “Yeah!”

Pavarti ran over to the two, giggling, and pulled each of them up by a hand and dragged them over to the tree. Everyone else turned to face the oak.

“I,” Pavarti told them, “will leave you two here, so I can get a good view.” She hurried away.

“What have we gotten ourselves into?” Ginny asked.

“I have no idea…well actually, I do. That’s the problem,” Harry replied with a sarcastic grin.

“Come on!” Dean Thomas shouted to them.

“Well, I suppose we had better get this over with,” Ginny said. She began to take off her t-shirt and shorts. Harry, although not happy about it, followed suit.

Ginny climbed the tree first. It was quite a way up to the top, and once she got up there she was almost afraid to look below. Harry was right behind her. They grabbed the branch above them and shuffled out towards the edge of the limb. It was thick enough to support them, but there wasn’t much room for their feet. Ginny risked a glance down and saw that the entire school, even the professors, were now watching them from various points around the lake.

Harry carefully turned his head towards Ginny. “So I’m supposed to throw you in?”

“I guess so.”

“How exactly do I do that?”

“I suppose you could let go, pick me up a little and push me in, then fall in after.”

“Fall in after. That sounds fun.”

“Yeah, well, at least you’re not getting thrown in,” Ginny said sardonically. “But I think I’m going to fall off anyway, so just get this over with.”

Their eyes met for a moment and they were frozen.

“But, Ginny, I don’t want to throw you in.”

Ginny resisted snorting, because she knew the look he gave her was completely serious. “Just do it. You’re not going to hurt me.”

“All right. Here goes.”

Harry let go of the tree with one hand and wrapped it around her waist. He lifted her up with one arm and she felt herself falling through the air. The wind rushed in her ears, and just as soon as she realized she was falling, she hit the water. She sunk down and saw a splash above her as Harry entered the water. She kicked her legs to come back up, but a sudden pinch pierced her leg. She tried to pull her leg away, but more pinches came. Grindylows! There were now ten on her legs and they seemed to be pulling her down. She was running out air, she had to get them off of her, but she didn’t have her wand or anything…

A hand reached down, grabbed hers, and pulled her up fiercely. The grindylows were so shocked by the sudden force that they let go.

She broke the surface and breathed heavily. Harry held her by her back and her legs and swum with her back towards shore. Her legs burned from the attack. When they reached the grass Harry swung her up to lay upon it and climbed up next. He picked her up again and rushed towards the group.

Hermione and Ron were running towards them. “What happened?”

“Grindylows. I have to get her to the hospital wing.” He ignored other comments people said and hurried towards the steps to the castle. Once inside, Ginny spoke up.

“I can walk, Harry, its okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

He let her down but grabbed her arm and kept it around his neck. Her leg still throbbed but she was determined to walk on her own. After only a few feet, though, she tripped and fell to the ground.

“Here, Gin, I’ll-”

“No, its okay, Harry, I’ll just rest for a moment.” She crawled over to the wall and leaned up against it. Harry sat down next to her.

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure, Harry.”

They were quiet before Ginny broke the silence. “All this because we had bad swimsuits, huh?”

Harry laughed grimly.

“Oh, Harry, lighten up, I’ll be fine.”

“You told me to just throw you in; that I wouldn’t hurt you.” Harry whispered, not quite meeting her eye.

“That’s not your fault, Harry, it was the grindylows. Don’t worry about it.” She was touched by his concern for her. Why did he care so much, though, unless…

“I’m afraid I’ll do something else to hurt you.”

“What are you talking about? Of course you won’t.”

“It’s just…I have to tell you something, but I’m afraid you’ll be hurt by it, maybe even years from now.”

Ginny’s voice caught in her throat. He didn’t mean what she thought he meant, did he? “Wh-what, Harry. You can tell me.”

“Ginny, I…I’d like to be more than just good friends.” Harry blushed.

She took his chin in her hand and turned his head so their eyes met. “Don’t worry about hurting me in the future. Do something about it before you hurt me now.”

“What…?”

“Figure it out,” Ginny said with a grin on the edge of her lips.

Harry was thoughtful for a split second, but then his eyes widened and he returned her grin.

And then he kissed her. It was the kiss she had waited years for, especially the last hour for, whether she had realized it or not.

They pulled away from each other and simply stared into each others eyes for a moment.

“Strawberry,” Harry announced softly.

“Strawberry?”

“You taste like strawberry.”

That statement sounded so silly, yet so romantic, to Ginny that she started giggling. She leaned in and kissed him lightly.

A shoe click came from around the corner. Hermione appeared just as they broke the kiss.

“Well,” Hermione said with a knowing smile. “I came to see if you were all right, but I think you have everything handled.” She turned on her heel and walked away with a spring in her step.

Both Harry and Ginny laughed out loud. Ginny noticed the pain in her leg had seemed to disappear. She thought one last thing before their lips met again.

Maybe Grindylows and horrendous swimsuits aren’t all that bad after all. No, not nearly that bad at all.

Reviews 25
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