A/N: And now it's time for... (drum roll please)...the last story of my 500 Ways series! I know you've all been waiting for Harry's point of view, so I hope I like it. For those of you that are new to my stories, it would probably make more sense if you read the previous three, but you could always just try this one and see how it goes since it's about the same events as the others ;) I can't wait to hear what all of you think!
Ron told me once that Ginny never stops talking. I didn't believe him then. She'd been a little girl making a fool of herself over me, of all people, and hardly speaking a word in my presence.
Now I know that he was right. And it's one of the things I love about her. The way she goes on about things for hours and waves her arms intensely when trying to prove a point. The way her eyes flash and her speech sharpens when she's angry. The way her mouth sets firm when she's determined to get her way. And the way she tends to babble when she gets nervous and isn't quite sure what to do.
I love that I know that she does these things. It means I'm paying attention to something, someone, outside of myself and outside of the thoughts of death and horror that plague me. It gives me hope. She gives me hope.
I don't know exactly when I started fancying Ginny. I think it had all started, innocently enough, when we'd become friends my sixth year. We'd stay out on the pitch after Quidditch practice and look at the stars. I'd try to find the one that Sirius was named after and she'd lay down next to me and help. She told me the stories Bill had told her at night about the constellations. Her favorite was the tale of Perseus killing a giant sea monster to save the princess Andromeda. I don't think she realized the parallels. In fact, I didn't even think about it until one day it finally hit me that not only did I save Ginny from a giant serpent as well, but that at the end of the story Perseus and Andromeda fell in love and got married. I was shocked to realize how much I liked that ending.
I avoided Ginny for a week after I realized that I fancied her, until she cornered me in the common room with her wand poised and ready to force me to tell her what was wrong. I lied of course and told Ginny I'd just been having some nightmares and didn't feel like being around anyone at the moment.
Voldemort can be a dead useful excuse. I'd never admit it out loud though or else I'd see some article in the Daily Prophet: Boy-Who-Lived made up Dark Lord in order to get out of awkward situation with girl he fancies. That'd be just brilliant.
Anyway, Ginny hugged me and muttered something about being there if I ever need to talk. I didn't catch the exact wording because I was too busy trying not to touch her hair.
A few months later, I'd almost figured out how to tell her that I fancied her. The only problem was that it seemed more difficult now that I'd gotten to know her so well. No wonder Ron had such problems with Hermione. If I told her straight out, it could be awful if she didn't like me back. I just wish I knew what she felt first. I couldn't exactly ask her. Although we'd become friends, she still bristled when people brought up the crush she used to have on me. I didn't take that as a good sign.
As Ginny ran upstairs to get her books for her History of Magic essay, I started wondering what my plan could be to figure out if Ginny still fancied me at all. Maybe I could use some extendable ears and get Hermione to ask Ginny how she felt about me.
No, that would involve telling Hermione how I feel about Ginny. Hmm.
Ginny looked frazzled as she ran back downstairs. Her ponytail had come undone and her unbuttoned robe was hanging off one shoulder. Ron stopped tapping his foot and glared at Ginny. I shook my head and gave Ginny a sympathetic look. It wasn't her fault that Ron and I were already late meeting Hermione. We should've been there twenty minutes ago and Ginny's dash upstairs had only taken three.
"Let's go," Ron clipped as he was already half out the portrait hole.
"I think the tension with Hermione is getting to him," I whispered apologetically to Ginny as we walked a good ten feet behind Ron. They'd gotten into a fight earlier, and Ron had been unbearable ever since.
Ginny laughed and it made me smile. I loved making her laugh. Her eyes lit up and for a brief second, I completely forgot what I'd said and where we were going.
"So what are the plans for the team this year, Harry?" Ginny said lightly as she started walking a bit faster so we could catch up with Ron. "Mr. Captain." She grinned as if it were an inside joke.
Right. Quidditch. I was the captain of the Quidditch team.
"Well, my star chaser," I nodded at her, "Ron and I have come up with a few new plays that should work pretty well. We'll have to try them out. They're a little tricky." I couldn't wait until Quidditch started up again. I missed flying.
"Oh, I think I can handle tricky, Potter," Ginny said with a smirk. There was something about the way she said it. It was almost -
"Ginny, will you quit it! We have to go meet Hermione at the library and I'm sick of listening to you try and flirt with Harry, leave him alone, will ya? A brother shouldn't be subjected to watching that."-
Flirtatious.
Was Ginny flirting with me?
I looked over at her. She didn't look flirty. She looked furious. She stole a glance at me and then glared back at Ron. Ron, who'd completely messed with our perfectly good conversation. I decided to glare at him too.
"You think it's awful watching me "flirt"," I heard Ginny say from my left while I was glaring at Ron, "well how do you think I feel watching your attempts?"
What was she talking about? I looked over at Ron, but he looked as confused as I did. Ginny seemed to find the need to clarify, because she spoke up again.
"I'm tired of watching you botch it up." She gestured between Ron and the library doors.
Oh. Ron and Hermione.
"But it's okay," Ginny continued with a glint in her eyes that reminded me of Fred and George. "I can fix that."
Ginny smiled at Ron before turning and walking away. I had no doubt that whatever Ginny decided to pull would be worth watching. I still couldn't believe that Ron had accused her of flirting...with me. Had she been?
Did it even matter?
Ginny probably wouldn't talk to me for days now. Like she had to prove she didn't fancy me, even though it was obvious to everyone except Ron. I let out a frustrated sigh and glanced at Ron, who was looking at me hopefully. It was all his fault.
"You shouldn't have said that," I said firmly.
Hoping that I could get to Ginny and fix this somehow before she decided to start ignoring me, I walked the way she'd headed only moments before. It wasn't until I turned the corner and saw her robe drift through the open door that I realized I had to pick up my pace if I wanted to catch up with her.
I'd finally reached her when she tripped and landed hard on the grass. I winced when I saw her wipe tears from her eyes. I hate to deal with crying people. Especially crying girls.
"You know, you're really hard to catch up with."
I was still a little out of breath from running to catch up with her and I didn't know what to do next. Ginny was the one that knew how to deal with people when they were upset. Not me.
She put her face in her hands and I hoped she wasn't crying more.
"Listen," I finally said, "Are you okay? Ron really shouldn't have…said what he said, and well, I wanted to make sure that you were-"
Ginny cut me off. "I'm fine." She looked up and I could see that her face was a bit blotchy and her nose was red, but at least she wasn't crying anymore. She gave a choked sort of laugh and continued. "Humiliation is nothing new in the life of Ginny Weasley. You almost get used to it after a while."
I hated that humiliation was something she'd had to get used to, and I hated that years ago her infatuation with me had probably been part of the problem. Frowning slightly, I pulled Ginny up and held onto her hand a bit longer than I probably should've.
"Still," I said as I quickly dropped her hand, "It wasn't right. I think he's just so caught up in his feelings for-"
Oops. It's so obvious that I keep forgetting that I'm not supposed to tell anyone.
"Hermione?"
"Yeah," I admitted with a laugh. "Ron made me promise not to tell anyone, but seeing as you already know I don't think it's a problem."
"The whole school knows," Ginny said lightly.
"Well, he's just so caught up in trying to hide his feelings from her and trying to tell if she feels the same, that he just isn't thinking straight lately..." I trailed off.
How come I had never realized quite how much I had in common with my best mate?
"He still doesn't need to take it out on me," Ginny said petulantly.
I put my arm around her shoulder in what I hoped was a brotherly sort of fashion and said, "Sorry Ron's a git".
"Thanks Harry," Ginny said as she smiled up at me. "Now I have a plan to get back at him..."
As Ginny started talking, I let my arm drop and tried to look for any reaction on her face. I didn't see any.
I'd never realized that Ron and I were in very similar situations, hiding our feelings and hoping for the best.
Sorry I'm a git too, I added silently as we started to walk back towards the castle.
"Maybe we can get Victor Krum to come visit!" Ginny exclaimed from the seat beside me. Her eyes lit up. I had to laugh.
"We can't get Viktor Krum to come here, Ginny."
She turned towards me and leaned on the wooden library table with her chin in her hand. "I don't see why not."
"He wouldn't come here, not for some matchmaking plot."
I knew I didn't sound very convincing and I had a very good reason for it. I knew that if Ginny put her mind to it, she was surely persuasive enough to get Krum to come to Hogwarts.
"We could get him a job as a teacher here as a professor and then it would work out perfectly!" Ginny spouted excitedly.
I was praying that Ginny didn't go through with this particular plan. I didn't think Ron could handle it and then I wouldn't be able to handle being in the same room as him.
Ginny took in the look on my face and sighed.
"Okay," she admitted, "It might not be the best idea. You live with him and I wouldn't want to put you through that. But we need some more ideas than getting him to sing in the great hall and having to dance with Hermione in the corridors."
She was deep in thought. We'd been going at it for hours. At brainstorming, I mean. Stupid hormones twisting words around.
"How about we head to the Great Hall and take a break to eat?" I suggested.
"Sure," Ginny replied absently, "I'm famished."
We collected our things and set off towards the Great Hall. I couldn't really believe what I'd gotten myself into, planning revenge on my best mate. And with Ginny, who probably had far more cheerful friends to hang around with than me.
Choose someone a bit more cheerful next time.
Ron's words from the train after fifth year suddenly came back to me. Ginny was definitely more cheerful than Cho had been. What would she want with someone as sullen as me?
"I've got it!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly as she grabbed my arm and forced me to stop. She paused for a second for dramatic effect and then stretched out the words, "Partner Bind".
"A Partner Bind?"
"Yes, it'll be perfect! You know that they never stand close to each other anymore because they're worried they'll give something away. If we bind them for the entire day, one of them has got to break down."
Ginny bit her lip and started pacing back and forth, mumbling about needing to modify the spell with triggers in case one of the two had to go to the bathroom and I wondered how far she was actually going to go with this plan. Was she going to really go until Ron broke down and was that the best thing? I wouldn't want somebody using magic to force me to tell Ginny how I feel about her. Of course, I didn't like this grey area either. Maybe it would be best to get it over with quickly, like ripping off a band aid. A giant one, around your heart.
I cringed at the mental image and saw that that Ginny was still pacing. I wondered if I could ditch my potions homework for another few hours to hang out with her tonight.
"Now what should we do if that plan doesn't work either? Knowing Ron, we'd need one more, one grand one, to push him over the edge and really expose his feelings for her...hmmm."
"How 'bout you just charm his robes so Hermione sees what he thinks about her? That would get it out in the open," I joked.
Ginny stopped her pacing immediately and turned to face me. I was about to tell her I'd just been joking when she launched herself into my arms and said, "That's the best one yet Harry!" Her breath tickled my ear and I probably held on a bit longer than necessary. I couldn't help it.
Ginny stepped back and cleared her throat.
"Harry, I just wanted to thank you for helping me. I really appreciate it."
Her hands were folded together and she was looking at the ground more than me. I don't know what had happened. Was a thank you that hard to say?
I tried to remember the last time I'd truly thanked anyone. I couldn't. Maybe Mrs. Weasley for letting me stay with them over the summer.
"No problem Ginny. I'd do...I mean, I don't mind."
I'd been about to tell Ginny that I'd do anything for her. I don't think it was something either of us was ready to hear aloud yet.
"Let's get something to eat," I said to break the tension. "If we're working on these spells all night it might take a lot out of us."
Ginny smiled and nodded. Her hand swung by mine briefly as if she was going to grab it, but thought better of that idea at the last minute. I wish she hadn't thought better of it. After those brief moments of contact I'd had with Ginny lately, I found myself missing her touch and noticing the almost touches more and more often.
It was going to drive me slowly insane.
A/N: Thank you all for reading. Please review because I love to hear what you think!
P.S. - Thank you to mt-threat, eckles, cmpbtdudethe, FreckledIrishMaiden, xonlyx3xashesx, eedoe, Mrs. Norris, Withered Quill, JKRobsessed for your reviews on 500 Ways to Lose A Friend. Your compliments are so amazing and I'm really grateful for them.