Summary: Slughorn's slug club was not how Ginny wanted to spend her train ride to Hogwarts .It was giving her too much time to wander back to this 'Chosen One' business.
This is just a short one-shot I wrote a while ago that I'm finally getting the courage to post.
"Ah, you know Bertie and Rufus too?" beamed Slughorn as he passed around a small tray of pies. When Slughorn continued his questioning of McLaggen Ginny couldn't stop her attention from slipping.
She couldn't quite understand why she was here. With the small amount of attention she was giving Slughorn she could tell that everyone else seemed to be related to some famous person. Well except Harry. He was a famous person. But then, as he so often was, Harry was a special case. Maybe she was a special case and that was why Slughorn had invited her to this rather boring lunch. Or more likely she just happened to have a talent for Bat-Bogey hexes. That had to be it.
Ginny's thoughts were interrupted when she heard Slughorn shifting in his seat. He seemed to be very excited and had the air of someone finally reaching the thing they'd been looking for. "And now Harry Potter! Where to begin? I feel I barely scratched the surface when we met over the summer!"
Feeling rather annoyed Ginny wondered why he hadn't gotten a drumroll and spotlights. Slughorn was looking at Harry like he was a prize that he just had to win. Why did it always have to be like this for Harry? Didn't he get enough attention?
" 'The Chosen One,' they're calling you now!" Slughorn went on. As if on cue, the heads of Belby, McLaggen, and Zabini all turned toward Harry. Somehow the look on Harry's face as he sat there not saying a word just broke Ginny's heart. She couldn't say how she understood him at the moment. She just did. And she knew, almost as if he had told her, that he hated all of the attention and the questions.
As Ginny registered her own feelings of great pity her thoughts turned again to an area she'd been trying not to dwell on. This 'Chosen One' business. And the look in Harry's eyes just now when Slughorn had mentioned it. Of course with the Daily Prophet calling Harry the 'Chosen One', it seemed to be an area that she couldn't help walking back into. And Ginny didn't like it. Whenever she wandered in she was filled with feelings of fear and protest. Not fear for her, but for Harry.
If it was just the Daily Prophet articles, Ginny would have had no qualms about dismissing the idea as rubbish. She had very little trust in the Prophet and would have been very glad to discard the theory that Harry was The 'Chosen One' destined to defeat Voldemort.
There was just something in Harry's eyes that she couldn't quite forget. It had been there just after the events at the Ministry, and right now when Slughorn had mentioned the "Chosen One.' Ginny couldn't say what Harry's eyes were telling her, or put it into words. But she did have a notion that she couldn't quite explain. It was just a vague notion that Harry's eyes were telling her that there was some truth to it. And Ginny did not want there to be any truth to it.
Shaking herself, Ginny realized that Slughorn was in the middle of saying something. He was staring at Harry and saying, "that terrible night-Lily-James-and you survived-and the word was that you must have powers beyond the ordinary." Ginny was watching Harry's look of embarrassment grow when something made her snap. Zabini's tiny little cough and smirk were just radiating his skepticism over this.
Feeling murderous Ginny said the first thing that came to her mind "Yeah, Zabini, because you're so talented…at posing…" She wanted to go on but Slughorn interrupted her.
"Oh dear!" he chuckled annoyingly as he turned to look at her. Ginny didn't say anything; she was too busy trying to burn holes through Zabini. She was sure that she had read somewhere that if you stared at someone long enough…But Slughorn was going on in his irritating amused fashion, "You want to be careful, Blaise! I saw this young lady perform the most marvelous Bat-Bogey Hex as I was passing her carriage! I wouldn't cross her!"
Ginny continued to fume as she watched Zabini give an ugly look that plainly said he wasn't worried. She wasn't ready yet to accept what Harry's eyes were saying, but she had no doubt that Harry could defeat Voldemort. It wasn't something she knew logically, but it was something she just didn't doubt. And Zabini doubting that and adding to Harry's problems made her want to strangle him. She wished Slughorn wasn't here so she could hex Zabini.
And she wished that Slughorn would leave Harry alone. He was going on, trying to get information out of Harry. "The Prophet has been known to print inaccuracies, make mistakes- but there seems little doubt, given the number of witnesses, that there was quite a disturbance at the Ministry and that you were there in the thick of it all!"
Harry looked like he didn't know what to say at this point. He finally just nodded, which caused Slughorn to beam at him. Ginny wished that she could think of a way to divert Slughorn's attention from Harry, but before she could come up with something Slughorn was going on. He probed, "So modest, so modest, no wonder Dumbledore is so fond- you were there, then? But the rest of the stories- so sensational, of course, one doesn't know quite what to believe- this fabled prophecy, for instance"
To this Neville piped "We never heard a prophecy." Ginny felt like she could have kissed him. Neville was looking quite embarrassed but he had still tried to do what he could to help Harry. Perhaps she and Neville could get Slughorn talking to them and then they could change the subject. At this thought, Ginny immediately tried to do her part.
Resolutely she said, "That's right, Neville and I were both there too, and all this ' Chosen One' rubbish is just the Prophet making things up as usual." Ginny had a small hope that if she said it strong enough, then it would be rubbish. It just couldn't be true, right? How could Fate just drop a burden like that on Harry's lap? Never mind that he could do it. It just wouldn't be fair. Anyhow, calling it rubbish would hopefully divert Slughorn.
Looking interestedly at Ginny and Neville Slughorn asked, "You were both there too, were you?" But Ginny just sat there, not saying a word. She knew without looking at him that Neville would do the same. If Slughorn didn't get any answers, would he get tired of the subject?
It seemed that he would. For after a long moment of silence with Slughorn smiling at them, his smile faded. He had an air about him of just having lost an exciting prize. In a disappointed voice he said, "Yes…well… it is true that the Prophet often exaggerates, of course… I remember dear Gwenog telling me…"
It was with a feeling of satisfaction that Ginny promptly Slughorn tuned out. She was glad that she'd been able to help Harry. Ginny quickly set about trying to forget all that she had read about the 'Chosen One' in the Prophet. She was somewhat successful, but she only wished that she could forget what Harry's eyes kept telling her.