SIYE Time:18:22 on 17th April 2024 SIYE Login: no | | |
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Category: Alternate Universe
Characters:Harry/Ginny
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Fluff, General, Romance
Warnings: Extreme Language, Sexual Situations
Story is Complete
Rating: R
Reviews: 725
Summary: Their nightmares and demons bound them together. Their love helped them to survive. Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley knew they needed each other; the trouble was in admitting it.
Hitcount: Story Total: 277246; Chapter Total: 15416
Awards: View Trophy Room
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Chapter 9
“Ginny, you’ve got to come to the Yule Ball with me,” Harry said urgently. He’d finally managed to corner her in the library and was trying to convey his sense of desperation without raising his voice.
Ginny narrowed her eyes at him. “Cho Chang turn you down, did she? Never mind, I know the answer to that. She’s going with Cedric Diggory, I heard it from Gabrielle Monyahan today in Potions.” She laid down her quill and sat back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m the last resort aren’t I? Can’t find a date so turn to best friend, Ginny. She won’t care if it’s only because she’s the last woman on earth.”
Harry had the grace to look sheepish. “Um…well, yes, Cho DID turn me down but believe me, you’re not a last resort. Several girls have um…made what I’m pretty sure are hints that I should ask them but I’m rubbish with girls and well…you’re my friend. I’d have fun with you.”
“So if you can’t go with the Scottish goddess, might as well go with a good ole buddy? No thanks, I’ve had better offers from Neville’s toad.” She picked up her quill and began scratching it across the parchment.
“Please, Ginny,” Harry begged. “I’ll grovel, is that what you want? On my knees begging, I swear.”
“Tempting but no,” she said idly. “Try again.”
Harry sat back in his chair, the wheels turning in his brain. What could he say to convince her? He had to have something she wanted…
“And don’t try offering me free rides on your Firebolt,” she warned, still writing her essay. “I can ride that any time I want to, as you well know.”
Harry huffed, remembering the many times she’d nicked his broom, and he’d run out to the pitch in a panic only to find her leisurely flying. They sat in silence for a few more moments, Harry’s fingers tapping rhythmically on the library table as he wracked his brain.
“Aha!” He snapped his fingers and earned a disapproving glance from Madam Pince. “I’ve got it!”
Ginny put down her quill and folded her hands across her stomach. “Go on,” she said, raising her eyebrows. “I’m listening.”
Harry leaned forward on his elbows, a smug look on his face. “You’re a third year, so if you don’t go with me, you won’t get to go at all,” he drawled. “And I know you want to go.”
Ginny lifted her chin and regarded him shrewdly. “I don’t have anything suitable to wear,” she said finally. “You’ll have to buy me dress robes. Tomorrow, at Hogsmeade.”
“Done,” Harry agreed instantly.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Potter.” Ginny smiled at him and picked her quill back up to begin working on her essay.
Harry stood up, relief evident on his face. He leaned over and impulsively kissed the top of her head. “You’re brilliant,” he said fiercely. He grabbed his bag from the table and hurried out of the library before Madame Pince threw him out for public displays of affection.
Ginny didn’t watch him go but she smiled softly to herself…even after he was gone.
******
“Ron, just come on,” Harry said impatiently to his friend. He’d had to practically drag Ron and his pretty horrific dress robes out of Gryffindor Tower all the way down to the Great Hall. They were going to be late at this rate, and Ginny would have his head.
To his relief, Ron picked up the pace. They arrived in the Great Hall with ten minutes to spare. Harry searched the crowd for Ginny, but he had no idea what she was wearing. He spotted Cho Chang looking very pretty, but she was talking to Cedric Diggory. He forced himself to ignore the swooping motion in his stomach.
He turned around to ask Ron if he’d seen Ginny and was shocked to feel all the air in his lungs leave his chest when he realised the girl in question was standing right beside him.
Ginny looked… amazing. Harry couldn’t help himself, and he let his eyes travel down her slim figure and back up to where the evidence that she was indeed a growing girl was very apparent. She was wearing tight-fitting gold dress robes embroidered with a darker golden thread. The robes were cut to expose her shoulders and then swooped down to show a little cleavage. Her hair was pinned up on her head, and Harry found himself drawn to her neck; he’d never realised before how graceful it was.
“See something you like, Potter?” Ginny was grinning mischievously at him. Her eyes were sparkling as she rested one hand on a silk-covered hip.
Harry opened his mouth to say “YES” but he found that all speech had left him. For some reason, Ginny found this highly amusing. He flushed when she laughed at him.
“Water,” he finally managed to croak. “I need water.”
She laughed again and stepped closer to him, reaching up to kiss his cheek lightly. “I’m glad you approve,” she said gaily, moving back. “Your galleons well spent then?”
Harry could only nod, and he slipped an arm around her tiny waist to pull her back. She looked startled, but relaxed against him, one hand splayed against his chest. Harry really had no idea what he was doing, but he couldn’t stop himself from bending his head to press a nose against her neck and inhale deeply. She smelled amazing.
“Is that my galleons too then?” he murmured into her skin.
“Ah no,” Ginny sounded breathless. “That’s just me.”
Harry lifted his head and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. “Thank you for coming with me,” he said. He pulled back to see a blush travel up to her cheeks. “Why, Ginny Weasley, are you blushing?”
She thumped his chest with a closed fist, and he let her go to rub the spot with the palm of his hand. “You haven’t blushed for me since your first year,” he said, grinning at her. “It’s kind of nice.”
She threatened him again with her fist, but Ron reappeared then with his date, Padma Patil in tow. “Easy there, slugger,” he said, grabbing her by the wrist. “You don’t want to ruin Harry’s hair. He spent hours getting it just so.”
Ginny raised an eyebrow at her brother. “He spent hours getting it messy?”
Ron grinned. “Well, it’s artfully messy wouldn’t you say?”
Ginny’s eyes travelled, up and down Ron’s outfit. “Er…nice dress robes, Ron. You look very… original.”
Ron scowled at her while Harry had to hold back a smirk. Ron probably would have said something nasty, but Hermione showed up by then; she looked so fabulous that Ron was too busy staring at her out of the corner of his eye.
“Mr. Potter!” Professor McGonagall hurried over and clutched his arm. “The champions are all lining up by the door. You and Miss Weasley, oh don’t you look lovely dear, need to come this way.”
“Why?” Harry asked blankly.
“Oh, didn’t I mention?” McGonagall said distractedly. “The Tri-Wizard Champions are expected to open the ball. They must lead off the dancing.”
“What?” Harry blanched. He wasn’t the best of dancers, and now the whole school would be watching them? He turned to Ginny and saw by the stricken look on her face that she wasn’t too happy with the idea either.
“Harry,” she said under her breath as McGonagall led them over to where the rest of the champions were standing. “I am going to kill you. You realise the whole school will be watching us dance?”
“I know,” he said nervously. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I’m a horrible dancer.”
“Well I’m not the best either,” she snapped. “And you’re going to have to lead so make it look convincing. Do you know the steps?”
Harry nodded but he wasn’t confident that he knew ALL of the steps. His stomach gave another unpleasant swooping motion as the doors to the Great Hall opened and they followed the procession into the Hall. The Great Hall looked nothing short of spectacular. When Harry reached the dance floor, he turned to place his arm around Ginny’s waist and, he was struck at how fiery and golden she looked surrounded by all the silver and ice.
He must have looked really nervous because Ginny’s eyes softened, and she took pity on him. “Hey,” she said softly. She reached up and tugged on his chin gently, forcing him to look at her. “We’ll be fine, yeah? No one’s even going to notice if we mess up a bit.”
He nodded but didn’t feel much better until she hissed softly to him in parseltongue: “We’ll do it together.”
Confidence washed over him. She was right. They’d been through worse before; they could handle one silly dance at this ridiculous ball. “Yeah,” he hissed back. “What’s this compared to Tom Riddle?”
She smiled at him before placing one hand on his shoulder and one in his outstretched palm. Harry was struck with how small her hand seemed in his but he barely had time to consider this further because the music began, and they had to move. He fumbled the first few steps, but then his eyes met Ginny’s and something innate seemed to take over. Soon, he was twirling her around the dance floor, and she was smiling widely. Other dancers joined them but he scarcely noticed. He was lost in Ginny and the way she felt in his arms.
Harry had never denied to himself that he was mildly attracted to Ginny. Even though he had a serious crush on Cho, he recognised that there was something about Ginny that drew him. She was tough, and if he ever tried to make a move on her she’d probably lay him out; but for some reason this only attracted him more. He never had to work at being Harry around her; she made things so easy for him. It was only because of their friendship and shared history that he’d never pressed her for something more. Sure they flirted and exchanged a few friendly hugs and kisses on the cheek, but it had always been part of the package. They were more themselves around each other than they could be with anyone else.
But tonight, Harry wondered -- not for the first time -- if he shouldn’t make a move towards something more. It wasn’t just her dress or her hair or the way she…sparkled. It was the way she made him feel. The way she calmed him and inspired him at the same time. The way that he only had to look in her eyes to feel confident. The way she believed in him…
The music slowed to a stop ,and Harry let go of Ginny’s hand to slide his other arm around her waist. He pulled her closer and rested his forehead against hers. “Another dance?” he asked hopefully.
Ginny’s arms came up slowly to wrap around his neck in reply. “All right,” she sighed. “If you insist.”
“Oh, I insist,” Harry said. “I don’t want my galleons to go to waste. That dress deserves to be seen.”
“You make it sound like I’m some sort of paid escort,” Ginny complained.
“Sorry,” Harry said instantly. “Even though I had to beg and bribe you to come with me, you are definitely not just an escort.”
“Glad to hear it,” she grumped. But she pressed tighter to him and rested her head on his shoulder with a small sigh.
Harry felt something very dangerous and very scary awake inside of him. It lifted its head, sniffed the air and stretched as if it’d been asleep a long time. And when Ginny moved her hips against him, it roared to life. Harry felt his heartbeat leap, and his palms instantly became sweaty. Yeah, he was a goner.
They danced several more dances together. Ginny even convinced him to dance some of the fast dances, and he laughed freely at some of the moves she showed him. Eventually, one of the twins came to claim Ginny and Harry left her in the arms of her brother who’d decided she was much too short for him, and they danced with Ginny’s feet several inches off the ground.
Harry noticed Ron sulking at one of the tables, his eyes following Hermione around the dance floor while Padma sat next to him, an equally sulky look on her face. He decided to avoid that can of worms and headed for the drinks table instead.
After Fred was done with Ginny, he passed her off onto George who eventually brought her back to Harry for another slow dance. “Don’t let this one out of your sight, Harry,” he advised. “Several blokes tried to cut in but I managed to scare them off.”
“Oh,” Ginny exclaimed, and threw her arms around Harry’s neck, “no one would dare approach me with over-protective Potter around.”
Harry laughed, acknowledging that perhaps he did have a bit of over-protectiveness streak in him when it came to Ginny. Funny though, he’d never bothered to examine it much until this evening. He wrapped his arms around her waist again and tugged her to him.
“Dance with me,” he murmured in her ear.
“Always, Harry,” Ginny breathed. “I’ll always dance with you.”
He pulled back to see her eyes suspiciously bright. “Have you been in the Firewhisky?”
“Never touch the stuff,” Ginny proclaimed. “Although what Fred and George put in that red punch over there, I cannot say. I had two glasses but George wouldn’t let me have anymore.”
She giggled at him, and he rolled his eyes. “You’re a bit tipsy,” he accused.
She shrugged. “Maybe. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll settle down.”
She did seem to settle down after two more dances, and they were sitting with Ron at his table when a dark-haired Ravenclaw with blue eyes came over and leaned down to speak to Ginny.
“Hi, my name is Michael Corner, and I don’t believe we’ve met.” He spoke in a low voice that Harry instantly mistrusted. “I wonder if I might have this dance.”
Ginny glanced at him admiringly, and then looked uncertainly towards Harry. “Harry-” she began.
“Oh, right,” he said, startled. “No, of course, Ginny, go ahead. We’re just here as friends after all. You can dance with whomever you like.” He said the words, but he didn’t really mean them.
An odd expression came over Ginny’s face, and she nodded sharply before turning back to Michael Corner and placing her hand in his outstretched one. The Ravenclaw led her to the dance floor and spun her around expertly before settling a hand at her waist and twining her fingers with his. Harry had to admit Corner seemed to be a much better dancer, but he heartily disapproved of how close he and Ginny were standing.
Harry watched Ginny and Michael Corner dance the next five dances with a growing sense of doom. He knew he’d said she could dance with whomever she chose but she was his date after all. He expected a little more attention than this. Soon he had joined Ron in sulking at the table, his eyes following Ginny around the dance floor as she laughed and chatted animatedly with the Corner bloke. He thought about getting up to cut in, but he reminded himself that Ginny had wanted to dance with Corner. She seemed perfectly content and was successfully ignoring the death glares her older brothers were sending Corner’s way.
At midnight, Harry decided he’d had enough. He stood up and looked for Ginny to tell her goodbye, but when he saw her dancing very close to Corner, both arms wrapped around his neck and staring into his eyes, a chill came over his heart. Fine. Let her dance the night away with a perfect stranger. He stomped out of the Great Hall and right into an altercation between Ron and Hermione who sent them both on their way, tears in her eyes.
He sighed and kicked a nearby wall in frustration. What a horrible night.
******
Harry successfully avoided Ginny for most of the next day. He was furious with her, especially when he overheard Pavarti and Lavender giggling about “that dishy fellow” who had kissed Ginny underneath the mistletoe at the Yule Ball. He couldn’t say exactly why he was so angry with her, except that he thought it was pretty crummy of her to go off with another bloke when she’d been Harry’s date.
Ginny managed to track Harry down in the common room just before dinner. He’d been avoiding her all day, even though he thought he was being clever about it, and she was determined to find out why.
“Harry,” she said firmly. “We need to talk.”
He looked up at her with angry green eyes, and she was surprised at the intensity in them. “Why?”
“Because you’re avoiding me,” she spluttered. “And I’d like to know why.”
Harry shrugged. “Why do you care anyway? Go hang out with Corner. He’ll probably pay you loads of attention.”
Ginny’s eyes narrowed. “I care because you’re my friend. If you’re upset with me, I’d like to know why.”
Harry scoffed. “You didn’t care much last night.”
Ginny felt her fists clench. “What ARE you talking about?”
“I heard about your little snogging show with Michael Corner,” Harry said viciously. He threw aside his textbook and stood up. “Why’d you do it? Just tell me that.”
“I don’t owe you any explanations about anything,” Ginny said sharply. “Michael asked me to dance, you said you didn’t care. We danced, he kissed me. He’s a nice bloke, and we’re going to Hogsmeade in a few weeks. I would think you’d be happy for me.”
“So you think it’s perfectly all right to just pick up guys when we’re on a date together?” Harry’s eyes were flashing dangerously.
“Oh!” Ginny gasped. “We were NOT on a date together. You made it perfectly clear that you preferred Cho Bloody Chang over me. The only reason you even asked me was because she turned you down. You said we were there as friends!”
The thing was, Harry thought angrily, that she was right. They had been there as friends, and she had every right to dance with other blokes. He didn’t own her. But the jealousy inside of him burned and demanded to be released. It was equally upsetting that, despite his conviction that something important had happened between them while they were dancing, she obviously hadn’t felt it.
“That’s not the point, Ginny!” he exploded at her. “The point is that you can’t go around just picking up strange blokes! Do you even know this Corner git? You know what happened the last time you trusted someone you didn’t know!”
Hermione, who was sitting nearby, gasped; her eyes went wide with even further shock when Ginny hauled back her fist and punched Harry in the jaw. Harry’s head snapped back, and he reacted instantly, his hand coming up to hit her back. He caught her across the mouth, and she stumbled back, catching herself on a nearby table.
Ginny ignored the stares and gasps around her and pushed herself upright. Harry’s mouth was open, a large red mark already forming on his jaw. He was staring at her in shock, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just done. Ginny touched her lip gently and wasn’t surprised to find a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth. She instantly decided she wouldn’t be mad that he’d hit her back. She never wanted to be the type of girl who could dish it out but not take it. The fact that Harry had hit her only meant they were equal in some sense.
What she was angry about was the fact that he was upset with her for going out with Michael Corner. Harry was the one, after all, who’d made it clear they were only friends, and he’d had every chance to say that he didn’t want her to dance with Michael Corner. She would have turned Michael down gladly if it meant Harry would rather be with her. But he’d sent her away, and so she’d danced with Michael and found him to be a charming, intelligent person. And when he kissed her, well, who was she to deny her first kiss? At a ball no less?
“Ginny,” Harry croaked. “I’m so-“
“Save it, Potter,” Ginny said in a low voice. “I hit you first, it’s fair. What isn’t fair is this conversation. I will date who I want, when I want, and it is none of your damn business.” She stepped forward and punched him again in the stomach. He doubled over, wheezing.
“That was for that last comment. How dare you?”
She turned around and walked slowly to the stairs, ignoring the stares of their housemates. When she reached the steps, she broke into a run and streaked up them without looking back.
Harry stared after her bleakly, wondering how he was ever going to fix this.
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