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If You Can Help Her | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley Genres: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fluff, Humor Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 570 Summary: This story starts with an alternative ending to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets where Harry helps Ginny recover from her experience, unknowingly initiating a bond that affects the rest of their lives. Rating is for violence in the later chapters. **A French translation called "Si tu peux l'aider" is being written by the author Sined. It's posted on Fanfiction.Net. Hitcount: Story Total: 296425; Chapter Total: 10121 |
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Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. If You Can Help Her — Chapter 12 — Happy Birthday, Harry Starts in between… …The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Goblet of Fire Harry woke up suddenly, realizing he was under attack. He opened his eyes to find three owls loaded down with cards and gifts pecking at his hands to get his attention. The first one he examined was Hedwig, and she was carrying a birthday present from Hermione. This surprised him since he’d last sent her to the Weasleys with a letter for Ginny. Another he recognized as the Weasley family’s owl, Errol. He looked at the package that owl was carrying, but was disappointed that it only contained presents from Mr. & Mrs. Weasley and Ron. The third owl was from Hogwarts, and by the messy writing he immediately recognized that it was from Hagrid. He was almost afraid to open that package, considering that the present he’d gotten from Hagrid last year tried to eat his hand. He didn’t even bother opening the presents. He was disappointed. He had been looking for the present his girlfriend Ginny had sent him, but apparently she hadn’t sent him anything. He briefly thought she might have forgotten, but quickly dismissed that notion. Her whole family was sending him gifts. He was sure they’d have mentioned it to her if somehow she had forgotten. Then he remembered her birthday last year. He hadn’t remembered it at all. In fact, it was several months later that he found out about it. She’d said she forgave him, but apparently she still wanted him to know how it felt to be ignored by your significant other on your birthday. He lay back down on his bed miserably. He knew he deserved this. After a few minutes of brooding, he decided that he might as well get up and face the day. He quickly showered in the five minutes allotted him by the Dursleys before Dudley took his forty-five minutes. He then dressed and walked downstairs to start making breakfast. He was greeted by Uncle Vernon shouting, “Boy, what took you so long? Get started making breakfast, and because of how late you were getting down here, you’ll go back up to your room without eating anything! I mean it. If I catch you putting one crumb of toast in your mouth…” At that moment the doorbell rang. Uncle Vernon walked toward the door while Harry made his way toward the kitchen. Before he made it there however, he heard his uncle scream, “You! What are you doing here? If you think you’re going to see that freak…” “Harry’s godfather Sirius Black sent me to make sure he enjoys his birthday!” came Ginny’s voice from the doorway. Harry’s heart skipped a beat. She wasn’t punishing him. He started walking slowly toward the door. “His, his godfather sent you, did he?” said Vernon as his face started changing color. “Yes,” said Ginny firmly, “He sent me to fetch him. He’ll be with us for the rest of the day. He would have picked Harry up himself, but…” “Harry, er, Harry has chores he’s got to do. He doesn’t have time to celebrate his bloody birthday,” Vernon said, acting confident, even though his face was now a shade of purple. At this moment Harry had gotten to the door so that he could see Ginny, although her attention was focused on his Uncle. She was wearing blue jeans and a green T-shirt, yet somehow looked more intimidating than the werewolf he’d seen Lupin change into weeks before. “So, you won’t let him come? Fine, I’ll just go tell Sirius. He’ll stop by later to express how he fells about it.” Ginny turned around as if to leave when Vernon Dursley yelled out, “Fine! He can go, but just today! Since it’s his birthday! You tell his godfather I, I let him go celebrate it with you,” he said, sounding defeated. “I can!” said Harry, startling his uncle, who thought Harry was in the kitchen. Vernon turned to face his nephew and said, “Yes, boy. Just make sure you’re downstairs on time tomorrow morning!” “Yes sir, bye!” said Harry excitedly, as he made his way toward Ginny. “Just one more thing, Mr. Dursley,” said Ginny with a mean look in her eyes. “Mr. Black asked me to make sure you wished him a happy birthday.” Harry fought back his laughter as he watched his uncle stare into Ginny’s eyes for a full thirty seconds before he muttered, “Happy birthday, Harry,” and closed the door. Ginny then threw her arms around Harry, kissed him, and said, “Happy birthday, Harry!” “It is now,” he responded, looking toward the street where he saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, along with Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione. They were all dressed in muggle clothes. Upon seeing Ginny’s parents, Harry got a bit self-conscious about the kiss and turned slightly pink. He smiled broadly anyway and said, “Wow! Thanks for coming here! It’s great to see all of you.” He took a deep breath as he walked toward them, Ginny holding his hand. “It really is.” “You can thank Ginny and Sirius,” said Mr. Weasley, shaking Harry’s free hand. It was her idea, and she wrote Sirius about it. He wanted to make sure you enjoyed your birthday, so he sent us the money to take you to one of those muggle amazement perks!” “Amusement parks, Mr. Weasley,” corrected Hermione. She then walked up to Harry and hugged him. “Happy birthday, Harry.” The rest of them wished him a happy birthday as well, but Mrs. Weasley was the only other person to hug him. Harry then turned back to Ginny and said, “I thought you were punishing me for last year when I didn’t get anything from you. This is the best present you could give me!” She blushed a little. “Actually, I do have a present for you, but I’m not giving it until we get back.” Mr. Weasley then walked to the curb and stuck out his wand, causing the Knight Bus to appear. After being thrown around the bus several times, Harry felt the vehicle stop. He then heard Stan Shunpike say, “Here we are, The Enchanted Earth. Isn’t that some sort of Muggle fun place?” Harry nodded affirmatively at Stan, found Ginny on the floor near him, and helped her up. They joined the rest of their party and left the bus. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley told the children to stay put while they figured out how to get inside the park. Harry briefly considered kissing the ground after that bus ride. Ron did, causing both Hermione and Ginny to laugh. “What?” asked Ron, “That ride was awful!” “Actually,” said Hermione, with a smile on her face, “It’s not very different from the rides we’re about to go on.” “That’s right,” said Fred and George together, joining in the conversation. “We have a bet going…” said Fred. “…As to whether or not you’ll actually get on a roller coaster,” said George. “Hermione and I think you will get on one, but George and Ginny think you won’t,” said Fred as Ron gave a dirty look to his sister, who stuck her tongue out at him. “We haven’t had the chance to ask Harry what he thinks yet,” said George. Harry smiled, looking between Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. He decided that he feared Ginny’s wrath more than any of the others, so he said, “A galleon says Ron won’t get on any roller coaster…” causing Ron to turn red, Fred and Ginny to laugh, and Hermione and George to glare at him. He then felt inspiration to add a stipulation. “…unless Hermione is sitting next to him.” This caused Ron and Hermione both to blush while everyone else started laughing uncontrollably. “That’s ridiculous!” shouted an indignant Ron, whose face was now purple. “I’ll ride anything you want! Alone!” “Ok Ron,” said Ginny with a mischievous look on her face. “The first one we’ll go on is called, ‘The Spider.’” Ron’s purple complexion suddenly turned white. “The, the Sp,Spider? Why’s it called that?” Before she could answer him, the Weasley adults had returned, and told them to follow. The kids were all quiet as Mr. Weasley had Hermione handle the muggle money transaction. They each were handed their tickets (and implored not to lose them) and they walked into the Enchanted Earth amusement park. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley told the kids to meet them at noon for lunch, and then headed off in their own direction, leaving the kids to their own devices. Near the entrance, there was a merry-go-round with muggle representations of magical creatures to ride. It had unicorns and centaurs that Harry thought looked alright, but it also had mermaids and hippogriffs that in Harry’s opinion looked completely wrong. After watching it for a few minutes, Ron said confidently, “I can ride that rolly coister.” Fred chuckled. “That’s not a roller coaster bro. That’s called a merry-go-round. It’s a ride for little children. Of course, if you’d like to ride it, that’s fine. The rest of us will go to the grown-up rides.” “Maybe Hermione will stay here with you, Ron,” said Ginny with a smirk on her face. “Mum and dad might even pay her for babysitting,” said George, causing Ron’s face to turn Gryffindor red while everyone else, even Hermione, began laughing loudly. “I, I’ve just never seen these rides before. Er, now that I’m, y’know, watching it more closely, I, well I can see that it’s boring. Where are the roller coasters?” Ginny pointed at a particularly scary one that had a train with several rows with two seats side by side that looked like brooms (except for the safety device that strapped you in. It was called ‘The Broomstick.’ They walked over to the ride and got in line. Harry said, “It’ll be just like a game of Quidditch! It even looks like they have a few Wronski feints on the track, along with a lot of loops. It looks like they’re moving faster than my firebolt!” Ron, who loved quidditch but preferred the position of Keeper, where you didn’t have to do loops or dives, began getting visibly nervous. His siblings seemed to notice this even before Harry. Fred casually remarked, “I sure hope those muggles built it right. I’d hate to be in one of those accidents.” “Ac, Accidents?” questioned the now sweating Ron. “They’re very rare,” said George, with a serious expression on his face. “But, they do sometimes happen.” Ron was getting pale. “But if you’ve got to go,” said Ginny, “that’s the way to do it!” “In a blaze of glory!” said Harry, joining in on the fun. Ron appeared to be trembling slightly as he listened to the screams coming from the ride. “Guys!” said Hermione, “You’re making Ron nervous. Honestly Ron, accidents on roller coasters are extremely rare. They just want to scare you.” “You’re only saying that to win the bet, Hermione!” said Ginny, successfully stopping Ron from calming down at the brunette’s words and causing the others to chuckle. Hermione glared at the other girl. “I’m sure you won’t be as nervous if Hermione sits by you,” said Harry, winking at Ron. Ron turned red again. “I, I can ride it and I don’t need anybody next to me,” he said nervously. “I’m not afraid!” he shouted, convincing no one, especially not himself. They waited in relative silence, except for exaggerated gasps from Ron’s siblings, apparently surprised the ride hadn’t crashed yet, for a few minutes while moving toward the front of the line. All of the sudden, Ron exclaimed, “Weren’t we gonna ride ‘The Spider’ first? Maybe we should leave the line and come back to this later.” “You can leave if you want to,” said Harry, Ginny, and George said together.” “I’m sure there’s room on the merry-go-round,” said Ginny. “No, no,” said Ron. “I’m getting on the bloody Broomstick!” “Language, Ronald,” scolded Hermione. “And you don’t have to go alone. I’d prefer to have someone accompany me on rides, and since Harry is with Ginny, and Fred is with George, I’d appreciate it if you’d sit next to me, no matter what Harry bet.” “Well,” said Ron, glaring at Harry, “Since she asked me, it would be rude to say no. I’m getting on the ride, and I’m sitting next to Hermione. That means Fred, Hermione, and Harry I guess, will win the bet.” “You’re still not on the ride, little bro,” said George, still hoping to win the bet. Ginny however looked resigned to losing. She whispered to Harry, “As soon as you made your bet, I knew that I should have changed my bet to match. I guess I’m out ten sickles.” Harry whispered back, “I could…” “No you don’t. I should’ve taken the Hermione effect into account like you. I deserve to lose the bet.” Harry whispered, “I wonder if they’ll ever figure out that they like each other.” Ginny whispered, “I don’t know. Maybe we should start a betting pool about when, where, and how. Or get the twins to start one. Let them do all the work.” “I like how you think.” “Will you two stop whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears?” said Ron. “Everybody’s watching you!” “They’re probably jealous they don’t have anyone to whisper to,” said Ginny defiantly. “Why don’t you whisper your complaints about us into Hermione’s ear? She might actually care what you have to say.” Ron turned red again. “I don’t! I’m not!” What he wasn’t, they never found out, because at that moment, it was time for them to get on the ride. Ron got into the seat next to Hermione, and was actually trembling slightly. He paled when the safety harness came down on him. Very shortly after the ride began, he grabbed Hermione’s hand and didn’t let go of it until the ride was over. He could be heard screaming louder than anyone else on the ride; even louder than Hermione, who was screaming more out of pain than anything else. She was literally afraid that Ron was going to break her hand. After the ride, Ron looked like a ghost. He was pale and his hair was partially standing up. Hermione pealed his fingers back while he sat there, apparently in shock. The twins got him out of his seat and walked him away from the ride toward another. They took Ron through several rides, him sitting next to Hermione for every one of them. After about five, he began enjoying himself. ‘The Spider’ was nothing more than an octopus ride, and Ron realized that it wasn’t nearly as frightening as the roller coasters. After riding that, they joined Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for lunch at a pizza place inside the park, where they told the waiter that it was his birthday. This resulted in public humiliation in the form of several waiter and waitresses singing to him, and a free piece of chocolate cake. After lunch, they separated again and went back to the rides. At about five o’clock, they met up again, and all of them went on the bumper cars, even Mrs. Weasley. They had such a good time on them that they went a second time. After that, they left the park and took the Knight Bus, which didn’t seem nearly as frightening to Ron, back to Harry’s house. While they were on the Knight Bus, Ginny handed him a small bag that said the name of the amusement part they’d visited on it. Ginny said, “I asked Mum and Dad to pick it up for me when we met them at lunch. He looked into the bag and found a green T-shirt that said, ‘I rode The Broomstick at Enchanted Earth!’ He chuckled at this and gave her a quick kiss at the exact moment the bus made a stop. Mouths still together, they fell off their seats and landed with Ginny on top of Harry in a very compromising position right in front of Ron. As they were getting up, Harry noticed the look of disgust on Ron’s face and said, “What? I was just thanking Ginny for her gift,” and walked off with a smiling Ginny back to their seats. Eventually the bus got to Harry’s home and they all got off. Before he went into the house to face his relatives, he kissed Ginny and said to all of them, “Thank you all for giving me the best birthday I’ve ever had!” - Please review. |
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