The Best Laid Plans... by deemarie
Summary: Sometimes the best laid plans "gang aft aglee".
Rating: PG
Categories: Post-OotP
Characters: None
Genres: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Published: 2004.01.03
Updated: 2004.01.06
The Best Laid Plans... by deemarie
Chapter 1: Little Sister
Author's Notes: The Best Laid Plans
By deemarie
Little Sister
3 March
Dear Harry,
How are you? I know that it’s been a while since I’ve written, and I am truly sorry about that. But you remember what NEWTs were like. I have hardly any time to myself. Between the mounds of homework and Quidditch practice (By the way, we’re so far ahead in points we don’t even have to play our last game, Hurrah Gryffindor!), well, you know how it is.
I hope you are enjoying Quidditch. Say hello to Oliver for me. Did he just die when you showed up for practice the first day? I know you’re just a reserve right now but I have every confidence you’ll prove yourself.
Merlin, I just read what I wrote. I hope you haven’t crumpled this up! I sound awful. Sorry about that.
Look, the real reason I wanted to write was I’m in a bit of a bind. Ron is driving me crazy! At least once a week he sends Pig with a letter warning me about the sex crazed perverts here at Hogwarts. He questions everything I do. I’m afraid he’s going to show up and start following me around!
When Mum and Dad asked him to keep an eye on me after that awful Michael Corner incident, I never thought he would take it to heart like he has. First Hogsmeade weekend, last October, he showed up and totally spoiled the day for me. Colin and I wanted to have some fun (No, he is NOT my boyfriend) but Ron scared him off. Since then, no boy has even come close to asking me out.
It’s not that I’m interested in anyone at the moment. I really haven’t like anyone since Michael and I broke up. Even you know I made that remark about Dean Thomas just to get back at Ron. Dean is still in love with Padma Patil. Hermione wrote to tell me that they’re getting married in a couple of years.
I need to get Ron off my back. So I’m asking you and Hermione to help me. She’s already agreed. She’s trying to keep him distracted, but I don’t think it’s working anymore. I mean she practically threw herself at him (UGH! Just the thought of Ron snogging…). It worked for a while. You should have been at the Burrow at Christmas! But I suppose Ron’s told you all about that.
I had an idea. I hope you can help. Next Hogsmeade weekend is 16th March. Can you meet me at The Three Broomsticks? ‘Mione is going to keep Ron out of the way. I just want to talk. I’ll understand if you’re too busy or if you don’t want to get involved. Thanks anyway.
Your “Little Sister”,
Ginny
5 March
Dear Little Sister,
I’m fine. No worries! Jackman, our seeker took two bludgers to the back in our last match. He’ll be out for two months. So, I’m not a reserve anymore. I’ll send the family tickets, although we are playing the Cannons. Don’t think Ron will like that.
Oliver nearly fell off his broom when I walked out onto the pitch. But then he got this brilliant smile and flew down to welcome me. We’ve become really good friends. He’s not so bad now that he’s not Captain. I can actually talk to him without ending up talking about Quidditch for at least 10 minutes. (Oh, and he says Hi to you too.)
Ron did tell me about Christmas. Hermione has really gotten under his skin. I mean more than she did at school. (And I agree, Ron snogging…ugh…and with Hermione no less…double UGH.) I mean I always knew they liked each other, and I always wanted them to be together, but somehow to me it’s like watching brother and sister kiss! Don’t worry; I’ll pull myself together. They really do belong together.
I’ll be there on the 16th. I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to help, but it will be good to see you again. I know we haven’t talked much, but I think it will be good to get to know you better. And anything I can do to help (shudder) bring Ron and Hermione together should be fun.
Till the 16th,
Harry
Ginny was late. Harry would be very angry she just knew it. That is if he was still there. She hoped he was still there. She hoped he would accept her apology and explanation. She had been up too late last night. The transfiguration essay had taken far longer than she planned for. She had been so tired from Quidditch practice that she’d fallen asleep. It was after 11 when she woke and she had to finish. She was going to meet Harry the next day and Sloper had scheduled a long practice on Sunday so there would be no time to do this otherwise. It was after 1 when she finally got to bed.
She was so tired she forgot to set her alarm. Cordellia Vanderjack had beaten her to the bathroom. So she had to wait. Why did it always take her so long in there? She had wanted to look just right for Harry. After all she was about to ask him to do something and she figured he would agree if she tried to look a bit more sophisticated. In the end, she hadn’t the time so she put her hair in its usual flyaway ponytail and worn her black jeans and red turtleneck sweater. She was more comfortable in Muggle clothes, anyway.
She was bolting down breakfast when Jack Sloper, the current Quidditch captain, and supreme dictator, she thought with annoyance, had come to her announcing that he’d managed to secure the pitch and she was expected to show for practice. She tried to put him off, but he had gotten angry. And that had set her temper flaring. He asked what was so important and she told him it wasn’t his business. Oh yes it was he had insisted. It was already late so instead of staying and risking a row, she just got up and left the Great Hall.
He wouldn’t give up. He followed her out. Grabbing her arm and spinning her about he had insisted on knowing what was so important. She told him she was meeting someone in Hogsmeade, it was a long-standing appointment that she just had to keep. He called her a vile name. She was dumbfounded. Her mouth just hung open. Then he grabbed her and kissed her. Right there. In front of everyone! She slapped him.
McGonnagal had been coming down the stairs at that precise moment. She was furious. Ginny and Sloper had been given detention and lost five points each. Well there went her perfect record. This year she had managed to say out of trouble and now it was ruined. Of course the only reason she had been in trouble the last three years was because of Harry, Ron and Hermione. But they had finished school and life had returned to normal since Harry had gotten rid of Voldemort.
Ginny counted herself lucky to have gotten only detention. At first, McGonnagal had wanted to keep her from going to Hogsmeade. But Ginny had pleaded with her. It wasn’t until she had to explain that she was meeting Harry that the professor had relented. Jack had turned beet red at that. Well she couldn’t help it if he liked her she had never encouraged him. He would just have to deal with it.
Ginny ran all the way to Hogsmeade. When she reached the High Street she had slowed to a walk. She needed to catch her breath and relax. This meeting with Harry was too important. Catching a view of herself in Gladrag’s window, she sighed. She would never look like more than a child, ever. Well there’s no help for it now. Best get to The Three Broomsticks and hope Harry was still there.
Harry Potter was sitting patiently in a back booth of The Three Broomsticks. Ginny was late. He wasn’t annoyed. He figured that she probably was delayed by something important. He knew what NEWT year was like. Even without the threat of Voldemort the pressures of preparing for exams and getting time for homework was difficult.
He was enjoying his time here anyway. Madame Rosemerta must have said something to her patrons as she moved among them. No one had come over to his table or bothered him in any way at all. It had been a long time since he had been able to spend time in a public place and not be bothered. He made a mental note to send a thank you to the proprietor.
He was absentmindedly staring out the front window when a flash of red darted past his line of sight. Good, she was finally here. He hadn’t seen her since the train ride home from Hogwarts. His last glimpse of her had been her waving good-bye when he had left with Remus Lupin and Bill Weasley instead of the Dursley’s.
Bill had stayed in England after Voldemort’s defeat. Gringott's had found him invaluable at their headquarters and enticed him to stay. So he and Remus had taken up residence in Grimmauld Place at Harry’s insistence and the three of them shared.
The Order had become a part of the Ministry and the new Minister of Magic, Amelia Bones, had asked Remus to head the Department. He gladly accepted and had settled into the job nicely. The Department of Mysteries was working on a cure for his lycanthropy and the potion they had developed for him kept his transformation to one night only. It was only a matter of time before they would find the cure.
Harry had settled in. It was what he had needed. Bill and Remus had sensed that Harry was going to need their particular brand of friendship and sense of family. They had kept him from sinking into depression and anger. He was starting to feel himself again. He was happy. And now he was going to see Ginny again. Ginny who had always been able to make him smile. Ginny who had come to be his little sister.
The door opened and she walked in, her face was red from the brisk March wind. Her hair was coming loose from its ponytail. She had lost that baby girl look. Harry was surprised. She looked around, and then spotted him. Her face lit up with a bright smile. Harry smiled back and stood up when she approached the table.
“Harry, I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said as she hugged him tightly. “There’s just so much going on at school. Forgive me?” She stepped back.
“Nothing to forgive, Gin,” he said. “I had nothing to do today. I cleared my schedule for my little sister.” He motioned for her to take a seat and caught Rosemerta’s eye holding up his bottle of butterbeer. “You do want one, don’t you?”
“Thanks, I’m parched.” They made small talk as they waited for their drinks. Harry had matured since she last saw him. His face had filled out; when she had hugged him she felt the muscles under his black shirt. Those shoulders were not padded and he had gotten taller. Well he was eating regularly and well. Ginny had read about the training regimens for professional Quidditch players. While she realized Harry would never be taller than he was now, she estimated 5’ 11”, that was good for a Seeker. He was still thin but well proportioned. She had always noticed his physical appearance, which was a leftover from all those years she had a crush on him. She finally got over him a long time ago. She hadn’t really felt anything for any boy since she broke up with Michael. The boys her age were so immature and Ron was certainly making sure she didn’t get the chance to meet anyone else.
This was certainly a surprise for Harry. Ginny had grown up. She had gotten taller, shot up in fact. Harry wasn’t tall himself, he barely made 5’ 11”, but Ginny surely hit 5’ 7”. When they had hugged he felt her slim but shapely body beneath the baggy red turtleneck. If she got that wild hair of hers under control and wore a little make-up she’d be a real heart breaker. Maybe Ron was right. If he could see her potential then surely the boys at school would see it. In a couple of years she would really turn out to be quite a beauty.
Rosemerta had brought their drinks. Ginny was reaching into her pocket for a sickle or two. Harry held up his hand.
“I’ll get it, Ginny.”
“No, Harry. I’ve got the blunt. After all, I invited you.”
“It’s okay, Gin. I want to do this.”
“Never look a gift horse in the mouth, I always say,” she replied. “The next round is on me, though.”
“Sure.” Harry paid for the drinks and Rosemerta walked away. “Now why don’t you tell me this idea you have to get Ron to leave you alone.”
Well this was it! Ginny took a deep breath. What she was about to ask Harry to do was shocking enough for her, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
“Okay, but promise to hear me out before you make any decision.”
“Alright. This had better be good, Ginny.”
“As I said in my letter, Ron is driving me crazy. For some reason he thinks every boy in school is out to…to…well, get me in bed.” Ginny began to blush furiously. Harry smiled. “Now I ask you, Harry, who would want me? I’m not really pretty. I’m scrawny and if I could ever get my hair to lie flat, it would be a miracle. Most of the time I’m in school robes, which aren’t very flattering or Quidditch robes, which you certainly know are clean and neat for about 10 minutes. So I’m either in hand-me-down robes or desperately in need of a shower. Not exactly a pretty picture.
“Yet Ron thinks I’m some sort of temptress. He keeps sending me very graphic owl posts about the evils of sex. Or he shows up at the most unwanted times. I just want him to leave me alone.”
“Have you told this to Ron?”
“A million times, Harry. He just won’t listen. I never should have made that remark about Dean. I guess this is really my own fault.”
“You know Ron’s only doing this because he loves you.”
“I know. But it’s suffocating.”
“So you asked Hermione to keep him distracted.”
“Well I knew she liked him. I was really just giving her a reason to go after him. Believe me, I wasn’t asking her to do something she wasn’t already contemplating.”
“And it worked.”
“To a point. But after they…well, you know,” she blushed again. “You do know, don’t you?” Harry smiled again.
“Yes I do.”
“That set him off even worse. So I thought, what could I do to get Ron out of my hair and back to Hermione, where he belongs. That’s when it hit me.”
“What?”
“Well, if I were seeing someone who he approved of…”
“Me?”
“Now, Harry, hear me out. I got over you a long time ago. And you never saw me that way. You know Ron wants us to get together. He trusts you. All we need to do is kind of spend a little time together, you know, just a couple of Hogsmeade weekends, maybe you could show Ron a couple of letters I could write. He might relax and later we could tell him we broke up. We won’t stage a big scene; we could just say it didn’t work because of your Quidditch schedule and my schoolwork. We could still remain friends. It would only be for about 3 months or so.
“I know it’s asking a lot, and you don’t have to. I mean if you already have a girl friend I’ll understand. I’ll just have to find another way. But I’d be eternally grateful if you could do this for me. It wouldn’t be that hard to do really. I mean we do like each other, and sometimes I clean up pretty well. We could just pull this off.
“Will you do this for me, Harry? For your little sister?”
A/N - Well, here's my attempt at fluff. I hope that you enjoy this little bit of fun. It's also not very consisten with canon. I can't decide if this is Post OoP or AU. That may change along the way. I just hope to keep the characters true to themselves. That being said read, enjoy and review! Please review! Your feedback is extremely gratifying.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
This story archived at http://www.siye.co.uk/siye/viewstory.php?sid=1316