Hey guys! I know it has been literal years since I updated this story, and I'm really sorry. Life just happens, and I just now have found the inspiration and the time to revisit this story again. After reading reviews and such, I am going back and rewriting some parts of the story to make a little more sense in terms of character personalities and such. I felt like beforehand it was not very true to Harry's character in particular, and I felt like the story line was rushed. With that being said, I will admit I have not actually read the books in a while, so if any of the characters seem not true to character, please send a kind review my way and I will do my best to revise and fix it for future chapters. Also, please please give me some inspiration for future chapters, I have no real idea where I am taking this story! Let me know what you guys want from me. Thanks!
Ginny Weasley was lying on her bed, doing her best not to scream out in anger. She couldn't believe how horrible her twin brothers were being. They had made countless innuendos about her crush on Harry ever since he arrived at Grimmauld Place two nights ago. She was currently sitting in her room, cursing them about the incident at breakfast.
"Hey, Sleeping Beauty decided to join us," Fred had joked as soon as Ginny had entered the kitchen for breakfast. She had glared at him as she plopped herself next to Hermione, who was reading that morning's edition of The Daily Prophet.
"Or should you say Sleeping Beast," George snorted.
"Boys," Mrs. Weasley warned. The twins shut up and continued eating. The conversation remained civil as Ginny ate silently, wishing that the three fifteen year olds currently residing there would notice her. Harry and Ron stumbled into the kitchen ten minutes later, their hair sticking up every other way. Ginny had blushed as she remembered the morning that her brothers flew their father's car to rescue Harry from the Dursley's. It had been her who had walked down to breakfast in her pajamas with her hair a mess that morning.
"Ah, and here's Prince Charming," George quipped, finishing off the sausages.
"Looking not so charming," Fred added, elbowing his twin. George smirked.
"What?" Harry mumbled, sitting beside George and pouring himself some juice.
"Nothing, Harry, nothing," George said in a sing song tone of voice, wiggling his eyebrows at a tomato red Ginny. She had quickly finished the muffin she had been nibbling on and left the kitchen. She hadn't wanted to be in the same room as Harry much longer, lest her twin brothers make another joke about her. As she had started up the stairs, she heard Fred say, "Fiery temper that girl's got. You'd better watch out, Harry. She'll be going after you next."
Why did her brothers do that? Everybody already knew that she fancied Harry, they didn't need to make it more obvious.
After about a half hour of imagining all the things she could do to the twins, Ginny heard her mother calling her from the foot of the stairs. She swung her legs off the bed and made her way down to the kitchen. Everybody was seated at the table facing Mrs. Weasley, who stood with her palms resting on the surface of the table, her back to the rest of the kitchen. She smiled warmly when she saw Ginny enter the room.
"There you are, dear," her mother said. "Now that everybody is here, we can get to work. There are still rooms we haven't had a chance to inspect, so pair up and pick a room. I suggest you head up to the third floor, lots of rooms to choose from up there." With that said and done, Mrs. Weasley turned to the counter behind her, enchanting knives to start cutting up vegetables for lunch. Fred and George immediately paired up (Ginny was expecting that) and Ron had just turned to Harry and opened his mouth when Hermione spoke up.
"Ron, could you be my partner? I was thinking about school, and how I knew about nearly every subject Hogwarts teaches except Quidditch, and since you knew so much about it..."
Ron's face lit up. "Okay. Harry, do you mind going with Ginny?"
Ginny's felt like her blood was boiling. Ron made it sound like Harry was going to babysit her!
"It's alright, Harry, you don't have to," she said quickly, her face turning pink. Harry furrowed his eyebrows.
"Why would I mind? It's fine, Ginny, I'd like to," he said shrugging. Ginny's heart leapt in her chest. Maybe he didn't think of her as 'Ron's little sister' anymore.
"Alright, now shoo, I can't have the kitchen full of kids while I cook," Mrs. Weasley scolded, ushering them out of the kitchen. Ginny tried to look neutral while she led the group up the stairs, but inside she was rejoicing. Harry had agreed to be her partner while they cleaned! Okay, she admitted to herself, it does sound a bit lame when you put it that way. But still. It wasn't every day that she got to hang out with Harry Potter.
"Where do you want to start?" Harry asked, interrupting her thoughts. "The twins are cleaning the west wing, and Ron and Hermione took all the rooms on the north side."
"Oh, um, we could do the bedrooms on the east side," Ginny said, trying to get her thoughts in order.
"Okay," Harry agreed. He was so easy going, no wonder she was head over heels for him like a lovesick puppy.
They trooped over to the rooms and stopped at the first black ornamental door. Ginny reached forward and grasped the knob, pushing it open. It gave away to a dark musty smelling spare room, dusty from years of neglect. She went in, leaving footprints on the dusty floor behind her.
"Seems like the Blacks haven't had anybody over for a while," Harry mused behind her, amusement in his voice. Ginny turned around with a purposefully disgusted look on her face before breaking into a grin. Harry laughed.
"As if they would have visitors," she said. She reached into her back pocket for her wand.
"Wait Ginny, we can't use magic like we do at school to clean," Harry said, his hand reaching out to rest on her arm in an attempt to stop her. "Trust me, you do not want to go through what I did with the ministry and underage magic a few weeks ago."
Ginny felt the heat creep into her cheeks when he touched her arm, but shook the feeling off along this his hand. "Relax, Harry, you can't use magic while at Privet Drive because you're the only wizard in the vicinity, the Trace shows that. Here at Grimmauld Place, there are several of age wizards, so the ministry would not be able to pinpoint exactly who did what magic. Besides, I don't even know if the Trace is, well, traceable through a Fidelius charm." Harry relaxed his rigid frame and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank Merlin, I could not clean all of these rooms by hand, I do enough of that at the Dursley's," he said. Ginny laughed, and they got to work casting cleaning charms.
By the time lunchtime had rolled around, Ginny and Harry had had quite the fun time. Ginny had tried to open a wardrobe in one room, and when she finally succeeded a swarm of bats had attacked her. After trying many spells to get rid of them, Harry eventually banished them, leaving a very ruffled looking Ginny sitting on the floor.
"Did you have as hard a time as we did?" Harry asked as all the Hogwarts attendees sat in the kitchen for lunch. Ron was about to say something, but seeing his mouth full, Hermione answered for him.
"Well, there was a window in one of the drawing rooms that trapped Ron's arm in it," she began. Ron swallowed.
"I was trying to open the bloody thing to let the room air out, and it shut on my arm!" he said defensively. Everyone laughed.
"Well, in one of the bedrooms we were cleaning, the bed liked to move every time we walked by," Ginny said, spooning up some stew.
"I swear I was on the ground more than I was cleaning," Harry added.
Fred cleared his throat. "The only trouble we had was a run in with a nest of Cornish pixies."
"Nasty little buggers," George remarked. "I was thankful Mum had made me take a pair of gloves with me. Got bitten by nearly all of 'em."
The meal continued like such until one o'clock.
"Alright, clear out, all of you," Mrs. Weasley chided. "You've had an hour to eat and have a break, and I need to clean the kitchen." After a few grumblings, the teenagers went back to their various stations.
"Can we start on another room?" Ginny said tiredly after a few hours of cleaning. "I don't think Scourgify is going to work anymore on this mirror."
Harry straightened up from his crouched position on the floor. "Yeah, I don't think I'm going to retrieve this trunk. It's probably got a sticking charm on it."
"Why don't we take a break?" Ginny suggested. "We should find the others and ask them if they want to." Harry agreed, so the two of them went around the upper floors finding the Weasley boys and Hermione. They all agreed to meet in the third floor sitting room after the twins retrieved bottles of butterbeer from the kitchen.
"What rooms have you guys finished?" Hermione asked as they sat down in the elaborate room, butterbeers in hand.
"Well, George and I got through all the rooms on the left side of the second floor," Fred said, sipping his drink. Hermione grimaced.
"You're lucky, Ronald and I did about half of the rooms on this floor until he found an original Chudley Cannons cap. I had to drag him out to keep him from tearing apart the whole room looking for more stuff." Ron turned red as everybody laughed.
"You would have done the same and you know it," he muttered. After the laughter died down, there was a few moments of awkward silence. As usual, George was the one to break the silence, as he was not known to stay quiet for long periods of time, unless it came to his pranks.
"Why don't we play truth or dare?" he said. Fred grinned.
"You, my brother, are genius!" he exclaimed. Hermione blanched.
"I'm not playing," she stated firmly, shaking her head as she stood up to leave.
"Yes, you are," Ron told her, grabbing her arm and dragging her back.
Ginny was slightly worried, but grinned in order to hide her hesitation. The twins could smell fear, and she did not want to make this any worse than it already was unfolding to be. Yes, everybody already knew she liked Harry, but what if they dared her to do something embarrassing?
Ginny was just about to edge out of the room when George waved his wand and locked the door. She gulped.
"I don't think so, Ginevra," he said, smiling like the Cheshire cat. "It wouldn't be any fun without you."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Fine, but I refuse to answer any horrible ones that you two conniving rogues come up with."
Fred sighed heavily. "Alright, fine, but you only get to duck out three times. When you use those up, you have to answer all. And, if you refuse one after that… you have to go to the Sorting feast stark naked."
Ginny gaped. There was no way she was doing that. She would need every ounce of Gryffindor strength in her body to take on every dare and answer every truth in order to avoid that punishment. Once she thought about it though, there wasn't much of a way out, and she supposed it could be fun. She relaxed her posture. Besides, Hermione was here in case it got out of hand.
"Who's starting?" Ginny asked, defeated.
"I will!" Ron exclaimed. "Fred, truth or dare?"
"I'll start out slow," Fred said. "Truth."
"Was it you who stole McGonagall's knickers and hung them in the Great Hall a couple of months ago?" Ron asked, smirking. Both twins grinned triumphantly and nodded.
"Of course it was, who else would have the bravery?" Hermione said, rolling her eyes.
"Harry, truth or dare?" Fred asked. Harry paused before saying, "Dare."
"You're a Gryffindor, alright," Ron said, a bewildered look on his face. "You just agreed to a dare by Fred Weasley."
"I dare you to serenade the Hogwarts song to Mrs. Black's portrait," the twin said, his eyes twinkling. Harry's eyes widened.
"Fred, your mum and Sirius will kill me. Hell, all of the adults will kill me."
Fred shook his head sadly. "Well, there goes one of your free passes... Only two more left, and the dares get worse as we go."
"Ugh, fine," Harry surrendered. Hermione shook her head as the posse got up and exited the sitting room and made their way to the entry hall. George placed a silencing charm around the entry way and motioned for Harry to start.
All in all, Harry wasn't a bad singer, Ginny thought, except for when his voice cracked on the high parts.
"We will never speak of this again, alright?" Harry said, blushing, as they went back to the sitting room.
"Of course not, Harry," George promised, winking at Fred. Ginny rolled her eyes.
The game continued for a while, the dares getting more and more interesting as the game progressed. By the time George's turn came around, Ron had to recite a love poem that the twins made up to Hermione, Fred had (to everyone's amazement and amusement) attempted to flirt with McGonagall, who had dropped in to have tea with Mrs. Weasley and which did not turn out well, and Ginny had to kiss a Cornish pixie, which proved nearly impossible to catch.
"Ginny, truth or dare?" her brother said.
She debated whether or not to chose truth. On the plus side, her brother couldn't make her do anything embarrassing, but on the other hand, he might make her admit she liked Harry, or something of the like.
"Dare." George smirked evilly.
"I dare you to pretend date Harry for this upcoming school year, and not tell anybody outside of this room."
Ginny was sure she lost consciousness for a few seconds.
"W-what?" she stuttered, looking over at Harry. He was paler than Nearly Headless Nick.
"Mum would kill her!" Ron shouted, red in the face as he jumped to his feet.
"No, Mum would be ecstatic, after she gets over the initial shock," Fred said. "And you can't back out, you've already used your duck outs."
"Unless you'd like to bare it all for the feast," George said, running his hands up his body suggestively while he smirked.
Ginny gulped and turned to Harry.
"I really don't want to be in detention for a month and be humiliated by the school for the next three years," she told him. "Will you please do this for me?"
Harry took a deep breath and chewed his lip. After about a minute, he spoke.
"Yeah, I'll do it. But it's not- it's not for real, right?" he asked hesitantly, looking at George. Ginny's stomach dropped a little at his obviously platonic feelings toward her.
"No, but you have to act like a couple. You know, go on dates, sit together at meals, study together, and-" George wiggled his eyebrows, "some action wouldn't be too bad."
Ron sputtered in anger. "She's only fourteen! I don't want her snogging my best mate!"
Ginny turned to him angrily. "But you wouldn't mind all the teenage boys ogling me when I turn up for the feast?"
Ron grumbled as he sat back down.
Ginny stood up. "Fine, but we have to take an oath. Nobody can speak of it outside of our group. Deal?"
Everybody nodded and gathered in a circle.
"Hermione, if you would," George said, gesturing to her wand. Hermione took it out and had everybody put their hands together, making sure they were all touching.
"Now, this vow isn't an Unbreakable," she said. "I found it in a book-"
"Of course," Ron muttered.
"-and the only thing that happens if you break it is you lose the ability to speak for however long this vow is for. In this case, about ten months. Everybody alright with this?" The group nodded, and Hermione placed her left hand in and put her wand tip on the top of it.
"Do you, Ronald Bilius Weasley, swear to never speak of Ginevra Molly Weasley and Harry James Potter's dare outside of this group?"
"I do," Ron said solemnly.
The oath continued as such, until all of the teens had been sworn to secrecy.
"Okay, now that that's over-" Ginny began.
"When do we start?" Harry asked, shifting uncomfortably next to Ron.
George grinned. "Right now."
Ginny stood nervously behind the kitchen door, listening to the sounds of dinner being prepared and adult voices.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Harry asked, standing close by. "I mean, I'm quite afraid of your mum."
Ginny turned to look at him, eyebrows furrowed. "Not having second thoughts, are you?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course not, I'm asking if you are."
"No, I'd rather do this than the other option." Ginny shuddered and turned to face the door again. "Ready?"
Harry took her hand, and electrical sparks flew through her body like a current. "Ready."
Ginny took a deep breath and opened the door. Her mum was standing by the open fire, stirring the cauldron that was in it while Sirius, Mr. Weasley, and the rest of the Weasley clan sat at the table, chattering amongst themselves. The twins turned to the door and grinned and when they saw the two holding hands.
Ginny glared at her brothers and sat down quickly, lest her parents see their hands. Unfortunately, Sirius happened to glance down at them right as they sat down, and he smirked when he saw their hands. Harry shook his head at him, and Sirius nodded.
"Oh, good, you two made it in time for dinner," Mrs. Weasley said, levitating a pot of stew onto the table.
A half an hour later, Ginny had still not told anybody about her and Harry. Apparently, her mother noticed her nervousness.
"Ginny, dear, why aren't you eating?" Mrs. Weasley asked worriedly. "Are you sick?"
"I- I'm fine mum," Ginny said shakily. She suddenly knew that this was the best opportunity to tell her parents about her and Harry. "Well, I do have something to tell you." She put down her fork and looked at Harry.
"We- Harry and I- well, we-"
Mrs. Weasley's face turned bright red while her husband's went pale.
"You what, Ginny?" she interrupted, a worried look on her face that slowly turned to something that looked more on the side of anger. "Please do not tell me all of the times that neither of you were to be seen this summer you-"
"Mum!" Ginny said, raising her voice above her mother's wrath. Mrs. Weasley stopped, her mouth still open. "Nothing happened. Harry and I were never much alone at all, for anything to happen." Mrs. Weasley visibly relaxed, her body sagging down to its normal height.
"Good gracious, Ginevra, you gave me a fright. What is it then?" Ginny gulped. She could feel everyone's eyes on her. She could practically feel Harry sweating beside her.
"Well Harry and I just wanted to let you know that we are, ah, dating," she managed to get out. She waited nervously for her mother's reaction.
Mrs. Weasley breathed a sigh of relief. "Well alright then I wish you could have just started with that! Although I do say you are a bit young, dear," she murmured, looking between Harry and Ginny. "Both of you."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "It's nothing serious Mum, don't worry." Her heart thumped nervously in her chest; after all, this wasn't serious, right? Just a stupid dare.
Mr. Weasley cleared his throat.
"Well, I think Molly has said all that would have needed to be said by me, so I will spare you the second lecture," he said, a twinkle in his eye.
"Well, that was interesting," Sirius said after a few minutes of silence. Everybody laughed.
"I knew it would happen eventually," he claimed, spooning up some stew. "Now it's Ron and Hermione's turn." He winked at the two teenagers, each blushing a brilliant red.
"I would like to speak to Molly and Sirius alone, if you wouldn't mind," Mr. Weasley said, addressing the minors in the room.
The Weasley children and Hermione and Harry bade the adults goodnight and headed up to their rooms. Harry stopped Ginny before she went into her room after Hermione.
"I'm sorry I didn't help you tonight," he said, running his hands through his hair. "I didn't expect you to drop the bomb like that."
Ginny smiled. "No, it was my fault I just blurted it out, then made it worse by not finishing it and letting my mother assume what I was going to say."
Harry chuckled. "I thought she was going to kill me, I swear. She had that fiery look in her eyes, similar to when you bat-bogey hex somebody."
Ginny laughed. "Alright, well, I'd better go to bed, Hermione's waiting. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay, goodnight," Harry said, turning to go down the hallway. Ginny opened the door to the room and slipped in quietly. She walked past Hermione to the wardrobe, tickled it to get the door to swing open and retrieved her night gown. By the time she had finished undressing and had brushed her teeth, Hermione was settled into one of the beds, a book propped open on her legs. She glanced at Ginny.
"Are you sure you are going to be able to go through with this?" she inquired as she read her book, trying to seem nonchalant but failing. "I mean, without getting hurt?"
Ginny rolled over in her bed.
"I don't know what you're talking about."