Crazy for this girl, a harry potter fanfic

Crazy For This Girl

Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters, names, and locations belong to Warner Brothers and JK Rowling The song 'Crazy for this Girl' belongs to Evon and Jaron (sp?).
She rolls the window down

And she talks over the sound

Of the cars that pass us by

And I don't know why

But she changed my mind.

Harry headed for Professor Odana's driving class. It was a new policy that sixth- and seventh-years had to learn to drive, to prepare them for life the Muggle world. For the first three months all Professor Odana had done was tell them about how automobiles worked, and the laws, and so on. But now it was well into the term and they had actually started driving.

It was- interesting, to say the least, watching how people did. Hermione, for once, wasn't the best in the class. Malfoy was- he grimaced at the thought- actually pretty good, although of course he always sneered about how he didn't need to learn to use this 'stupid Muggle machine' since the Malfoy's had their own chauffeur. Everyone else was pretty good, even Ron. And once Neville had gotten over his initial panic, he turned out to be one of the best drivers in the class.

He found that while he had been thinking his feet had carried him to the field where the magic had been nulled out, so the cars would work. He was early, and the sixth-years hadn't quite finished their lesson yet. A car pulled up next to him and the window rolled down. Ginny Weasley sat in the driver's seat. "Hi, Harry," she said cheerfully. "Hey, Ginny," he replied absently. He looked at the girl in the car near him. She wasn't really a girl anymore- she was a young lady. Her freckles had faded and her hair had deepened in colour from fiery red to deep auburn. She was no longer skinny and gangly, but a self-assured person with a very attractive figure. How had he not noticed it before? He was deaf to the sounds of the cars whizzing past him, looking only at her.

Would you look at her?

She looks at me

She's got me thinking about her constantly

But she don't know how I feel.

When she carries on without a doubt

I wonder if she's figured out

I'm crazy for this girl?

Crazy for this girl.

That wasn't really right, he told himself, he had noticed it before, he just hadn't cared because he was going out with Cho. He gritted his teeth, thinking about her. She had broken up with him at the beginning of last year, said he was too young, that she didn't want to always be seen with a guy who was one of the most famous wizards in Britain. He remembered coming back to the common room, crying, to find Ginny reading by the fire. No one else was there. She had hugged him while he cried and railed at the world, told him it would be all right.

She was the one to hold me

The night

The sky fell down

And what was I thinking when

The world didn't end?

Why didn't I know what I know now?

He hadn't realized it then, but that was when he had started to love her.

"Harry?" she asked suddenly, snapping him out of his reverie. "Are you OK?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure I'm fine." She gave him a look like she didn't quite believe him, then shrugged and said "OK, then, I've gotta go, I've got Transfiguration next and McGonagall doesn't like latecomers."

She got out of the car, grabbed her bag, and jogged toward the castle, hair streaming behind her. Harry stared after her, until Hermione poked him in the shoulder and whispered that class was starting.

@@@

Christmas was approaching, and with it, the Yule Ball. Harry had been hanging out with Ginny more over the past months, but hadn't had the nerve to confess his feelings. He asked Ginny to go with him well before anyone else could, and she agreed. She and Neville had gone out briefly, but they had both agreed that it wasn't meant to be. Harry was relieved that she had accepted. He had a lot of preparations to make. But before he did anything, he had to talk to Ron.

He headed into the common room, where Ron and Hermione were playing chess- or at least pretending to, they were really too busy staring at each other. "Ron can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure. Hermione, do you mind?"

"Oh, no, I have to work on an essay for Charms anyway. Just let me get my books." She clattered up the stairs to her dormitory, then out the portrait-hole.

"OK, Harry, what's up?" Ron asked him seriously. "You've been acting really weird lately."

"Well, I- it's just, I wanted to- to ask Ginny to marry me, but I figured I'd better see if it's all right with you first."

A huge grin spread across Ron's face. "Of course it's all right! You're my best friend, and practically a part of the family already, why wouldn't it be? You have my blessing! I hope you're very happy together."

"Thanks," Harry said, and held out his hand. Ron shook it firmly. Then Harry went to the Owlery to send some letters. He needed to look at a ring catalogue. He wanted Ginny's ring to be perfect. He would pay for it using the money his parents had left him.

He smiled, thinking of his parents. He knew they'd approve of his choice. The Weasleys were good people, and Mrs. Weasley had treated him like a son from the first. There was a Hogsmeade weekend before the Yule Ball, which was good, since he needed to buy Ginny a corsage, and himself some new dress robes- he'd outgrown his old green ones some time ago.

@@@

It was the eve of the Yule ball, and Harry was looking around the dormitory nervously. He had bought himself some new dress robes- a darker green than his old ones- had used a Charm he had learned recently to allow him to see without his glasses and was now trying to comb his hair. He finally gave it up as a lost cause, and ran through the checklist in his mind one more time. He was dressed and ready, wearing a hint of cologne. Ginny's corsage was in a box on the table. He felt the small velvet square in his pocket, which held the ring. He had asked advice from Ron and Hermione, and Seamus and Dean had given him suggestions, but when he had seen this ring he knew it was perfect. A thin gold band, which would just fit her slender finger, with a medium-sized princess-cut diamond. That's what she was to him, the princess of his heart.

He walked out into the common room, where Ron and Hermione were sitting. Ginny wasn't down from her dormitory yet. They both whispered "Good luck," and Ron, seeing how pale he was, slapped him on the back, telling him it would be fine.

He felt a presence behind him and turned around. Ginny was standing there, looking stunning in robes of chestnut brown. Harry managed a stammered "You look great." She smiled up at him. She was only about three inches shorter than him- he had grown in his time at Hogwarts, but so had she. "So do you." He fumbled open the box that held her corsage, and almost pricked his finger as he pinned it on her.

"Relax, Harry," she said gently. "Everything will be fine." She took his arm and led him down to the Great Hall, which had been decorated with a dozen Christmas trees, everlasting icicles, and of course, clusters of holly and mistletoe above every doorway. Ron and Hermione followed and, looking behind he saw Hermione stop Ron underneath one, tap his elbow, and point upwards. She grinned as he turned redder than the holly berries, but he kissed her, to the applause of the other couples dancing or drinking punch. Harry smiled. They looked like they were having a fabulous time, and Ron had told him he was going to surprise Hermione with a ring on her birthday on January fifth.

Harry danced all evening- he had begged Hermione for lessons before the Yule Ball, terrified of doing something stupid like stepping on Ginny's foot. He stole a dance from Hermione near the beginning, while Ron danced with Ginny.

"I'm so nervous."

"It'll be fine," Hermione assured him. "You're dancing very well, and Ginny looks like she's having the time of her life." Harry looked over at her. Ginny was dancing pressed up against her brother's shoulder, her cheeks pink and her hair ever so slightly mussed. Harry thought she looked enchanting. She caught his eye and smiled. He smiled back.

The dance had ended, and Hermione went back to Ron with a whispered "Good luck." Now Ginny was looking tired, so he motioned her to a table and pulled out her chair. "Do you want some punch?" he asked her. "Yes, thank you."

Harry headed over to the refreshment table, his mind in a whirl. Tonight had been magical, but it was almost over. He had to work up the nerve to ask her soon. What if she rejected him? That was a question that had been hovering near the back of his mind ever since he had decided to propose to her. "Don't be silly, Potter, she's having a great time," he scolded himself. "True," replied another part of him "But a date and marriage are nowhere near the same thing." "I love her. It's a chance I'll have to take." he said out loud, drawing a strange look from Seamus, who was standing by the snack table with his Ravenclaw date.

He headed back to the table with two cups of punch and a small plate of cookies. "Thanks," Ginny said as he handed her the punch. "Are you having a good time?" Harry asked her, nervously twisting the hem of his robes. "The best time in my life," she replied. She and Harry sat in silence for a few minutes, before Professor Dumbledore announced the last dance of the evening. Harry stood up, and held out his hand. Ginny took it, and he led her out onto the dance floor.

As they danced, Harry tried to relax his shoulders, which had knotted up. It was now or never, he told himself, this is the last dance, you made all these preparations, don't blow it...

The lyrics of the song filtered slowly into Harry's distracted mind.

Right now

(Right now)

Face to face

(Face to face)

All my fears

(All my fears)

Pushed aside

Right now

I'm ready to spend the rest of my life

With you.

"Ginny?" he asked her.

"Yes, Harry?" she dreamily replied.

He gulped, and then started the speech he had so carefully rehearsed. "Ginny, I- I know I've been a jerk to you, and I'm sorry. I only could see Cho, and she wasn't anywhere near as special as you are. I must have been blind, not to see what was right in front of my face. And- well- I don't want to spend my life with anyone else..."

Everyone had stopped dancing and was looking at them. He gently released Ginny and fumbled the box from his pocket. "What I'm trying to say is..." He knelt, took out the ring, and held her hand.

"Virginia Cai Weasley, will you marry me?"

He froze looking at her, waiting for her response. She looked shocked at first, but then replied, "Oh, Harry, of course I'll marry you!"

Limp with relief, Harry slid the ring on her finger, to the thunderous applause of everyone in the Great Hall. He stood up again and looked at Ginny. Her cheeks were pink and she was crying. She's never looked more beautiful than at this moment, Harry thought, as he gently wiped away her tears.