A ring has mysteriously appeared on Harry's left hand. Who does this belong to? Ginny's POV.
Disclaimer: I, regrettably, do not own Harry Potter.
Yes, I am aware that I make Ginny sound like a crybaby. I also realize that she is not necessarily like this. I just, in case you didn't know, don't like her. Also, I don't know why, but I always feel compelled to have people jump to conclusions constantly. Sorry about that.
Also, this is set during Harry's seventh year (Ginny's sixth) and is only compliant up to OOTP. Therefore, Dumbledore's alive, Slughorn was never their teacher, and the war is OVER, Harry having defeated Voldemort during his sixth year.
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So this is what it feels like to have your heart ripped out, Ginny thought bitterly. The rumor had reached her at breakfast by Lavender Brown, of all people. And Ginny, having better sense than to just believe every rumor about the Boy-Who-Lived (and goodness knows there were enough of those), especially something like this, had gone to confirm it for herself. And she had. It was true. Harry Potter did, as of this morning, have an engagement ring on his left hand. More than that, which was devastating enough for the young red-head, it was a wizards engagement ring. Which could only mean one thing: Harry was serious about this. He was going to complete a bond with wizarding vows with whoever it was he was getting married to. And that was serious.
Oh god.
At first it had felt like a slap to the face. Then, she pulled herself together, not wanting to slip into any depression-like state. Again. Once she was calm, she got to thinking. She would view this as a... challenge, instead of a surrender. There was no way in hell she was going to just give up on the boy she had been lusting over since she was ten years old, for God's sake. In the meantime, she would just need to figure out who the girl was who had gotten to him first. The she would take her down- using rumors, physical injuries, anything. With that, she gained a determined glint in her eyes as she set off to do some thinking.
A mere ten minutes later, she was in the library. She was immensely glad that it was a Sunday, and a fairly nice day out, therefore she didn't have any classes and the library was fairly empty. She pulled out some parchment, a quill, and ink and set them out on the table. She dipped her quill in the ink, and pulled the parchment closer, setting the point of the quill down at the top of the page. Before she had even started, she ruled out the girls who it couldn't possibly be. From her experiences and conversations with Harry in the past, she was almost one-hundred percent certain that it was not a Slytherin. He probably wouldn't have enough patience for a Ravenclaw, or maybe the Ravenclaws wouldn't have enough patience with him. Either way, she didn't think it was a Ravenclaw. It could be a Hufflepuff, she thought sceptically, but I'm guessing he'd want someone in his own house. I know I would, if I was going to be with them for the rest of my life. She therefore reviewed his Gryffindor options. There was Lavender, who Ginny knew wasn't the one, or she wouldn't have been spreading the rumor She would've wanted everyone to know about their engagement the second it had happened, anyway. Come to think of it, so would all the other possible Gryffindors, all except...
Hermione.
Tears immediately welled up in Ginny's eyes. Of course, she thought, they're so close! It makes sense. Why didn't one of them tell me? And it would explain why Ron looked so sour, too. Ginny couldn't decide whether to be hurt or angry, so she decided on a mixture of both. Which, she knew for a fact, was fairly frightening (An effect she wanted). She stood up, stuffed her books and quill in her bag, which she flung over her shoulder, and raced out of the library. She was managing to hold in the sobs, though she was shedding tears by now. She sprinted through the hallways, turning corners so sharply that if someone was turning the corner in the other direction, they would collide. Which was what happened. On the turn to the hallway that the Fat Lady's portrait was on, she stormed around the bend (having run out of breath a few corridors back), not paying attention. She barely had time to register a slim, black-clad chest and pale skin before she was sent sprawling to the ground, her bag flying off of her shoulder, hitting the floor, and splitting open at the seems, scattering all her things on the floor. She looked up to see Draco Malfoy looking down at her in distaste, frowning, a pale eyebrow raised. Ginny stared, no, glared at the boy for several charged moments, before standing up and crossing her arms in a way identical to the Slytherin before her. Her eyebrows knitted in confusion. What was Malfoy doing in Gryffindor corridor? She regarded him with suspicion for a moment before deciding to just ask him.
"What are you doing here?"
He looked up from studying his nails. "Pardon?" he asked in a much politer voice than she had thought was possible.
"What are you doing here?" she repeated. He had obviously heard her the first time.
"Oh, a little of this, a little of that," he replied cryptically. He was obviously enjoying himself.
"What the hell do you mean? 'A little of this, a little of that'? Seriou-"
But she was cut off by the sight of Harry Potter rounding the corner behind the blonde, and skidding to a halt. She was surprised when Harry looked at Malfoy and didn't accuse him or glare at him, or, well, anything. He just stood there, looking at him, while Malfoy looked back. After a moment or two of this, he looked away and saw Ginny. His eyes widened.
"Are you alright, Gin?"
I must look like shit. "I'm fine," she replied, dragging a sleeve across her still slightly damp eyes. Harry still looked dubious, but seemed to decide not to pursue that right now. He looked down, and upon seeing the books scattered all over the place, looked back up at Malfoy.
"What did you do?" He did not sound angry, but weary, and pinched his bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, closing his eyes.
"Nothing."
"Am I supposed to believe that?"
"Yes."
Harry raised his eyebrows and looked up at him.
"She ran into me."
Harry just looked at him, shook his head, and turned back to Ginny, who was now confused at how civil they were acting towards each other.
"Do you need some help picking this up?"
Despite Ginny fervently shaking her head 'no', he stooped down and started gathering her things. She sighed, and with another glare at Malfoy, who for some reason was still there, crouched down next to the Boy-Who-Lived. As she was picking scattered quills up and setting them in a pile, she happened to catch a glimpse of Harry's ring. She gasped and almost fell backwards. Harry looked up from his own stack of books, and seeing what she was gaping at, sighed. Ginny, meanwhile, was at a loss for words. Sure, she had gotten a glimpse of it that morning, but only a glimpse, and from a reasonably far distance. This... this was not what she had expected. The ring itself was, in fact, very beautiful. It looked as though the exact shade of green of Harry's eyes had been crafted into a steel string and wound with a dark, smoky gray string in an intricate woven pattern. This was lining the ring, which was a light silver. The woven edging came together at one point on the ring, weaving together to create a small basket-like hole in which a small, but very beautiful, diamond was inlaid. The very sight of it took Ginny's breath away. She felt another round of tears spring to her eyes. Stupid bloody hormones.
After gazing down at it somewhat lovingly for a moment, Harry looked up to see tears in Ginny's eyes. Again.
"Gin? You alright?"
Ginny shook her head slightly. "Harry..."
With that, she stood up and sprinted down the hall, leaving her things, and a very bewildered Harry, behind.
She ran past Malfoy and up to the Fat Lady. She took a deep breath and said the password, pushing past some second years who were giving her odd looks as they were leaving. She stepped into the common room and surveyed the scene before her, looking for Hermione's characteristic bushy hair. Not finding it, she hurried across the room, trying to be inconspicuous, for she had seen her brother, and if he saw her with red, puffy eyes, she would never get rid of him until he knew what had caused them. Most of the time she would just make up an excuse, but she was just too tired to deal with him today. She thought she had been successful, as she was almost to the girls' dorms where she knew Hermione would be. She was about to climb on the first step when she felt a hand on her shoulder, that she instantly knew to be her brother's. Shit. She turned around and faced him, crossing her arms.
"What do you want? I'm busy."
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, Ron, I'm fine. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go find Herm-"
"If this is about Harry, she's not going to tell you."
"Like hell she's not! I can't believe they would keep this from me! They can trust me! They didn't think I would find out, huh? Well, I did. And I'm pissed off."
Ron eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Gin... did Harry tell you who...?"
"No! That's part of the issue! I guess they thought I wouldn't figure them out! And I thought Hermione was supposed to be smart!"
"I... I'm not sure you know what you're talking about."
"Of course I know what I'm talking about. Hermione proposed to Harry! And he said yes!" at this, she burst into tears once again. "Umm... Gin. I... you..." he took a deep breath. "It's not her, Gin. Not Hermione." At this, Ron wrapped an arm around her shoulder, ignoring the questions that she was now firing at him. He stayed silent, and led her up to the seventh years' boys dormitory. "Wait here. I'll go get her. She's not gonna tell you, though." Ginny sat on Ron's bed, and tried to stop crying. Once she had taken a few deep breaths, she wiped a sleeve across her damp eyes and tried to organize her thoughts. Not Hermione... yeah, right. Nice try. A minute or two later, a concerned-looking Hermione jogged up the stairs, followed closely by Ron. Ginny looked, no, glared at her for a moment before demanding, "Well? Not you, huh? Then who? Tell me that." Hermione, for once in her life, looked genuinely at a loss for words.
"Ginny...," she walked over to where Ginny was sitting, and placed a hand on the other girls knee. "believe me when I tell you I would if I could, but I can't. Harry made us promise not to tell anyone, until they're ready to go public. Really, I wish I could tell you, but..." her face turned determined, "I won't."
At this revelation, Ginny's mind sprinted into overdrive. Not Hermione... who's left? Unless he's a flaming gay... Just then, understanding came to her. He is! He's a bloody shirt-lifter! "Hermione, it's a guy, isn't it? I didn't even consider it before. It all makes sense, though..." She stood up, looking somewhat detached, and walked towards the door, only to be blocked by an overly-excited Seamus, who had just appeared in the doorway, toting a serene Dean after him.
"Ginny! To what do we owe the pleasure?"
Rage filled Ginny like a balloon. He's so cheery. It's him. They live in the same room, for Merlin's sake! She turned so that she was facing him directly, smiled sweetly, and...
...punched him in the jaw. He went stumbling backwards, swearing all the way, and was caught by a shocked Dean. Ginny whipped her head around the room, glaring at everything.
"How dare you! Seamus, I knew you were a bloody pouf! You just had to get Harry, didn't you? You're," she walked over to where he was now standing in front of Dean and slapped the Irish boy across the face, "so," a punch to the stomach, "SELFISH!", a knee to the groin. Seamus cried out in pain, falling back into Dean again. Three seconds passed by in which everyone just stared at Ginny, and then...
"Ginny!"
"What'd you do that for?"
"What the hell?!"
"Are you alright, Seamus?"
After the initial outburst, and after they had helped Seamus, who was now sporting a black eye and a bloody nose, not to mention a very painful stomach and groin, over to a bed, Hermione rounded on Ginny.
"Don't just jump to conclusions! Get your facts straight! Its not him! Just because he's happy, like he always is, I might add, for goodness sake, does not mean he is engaged to Harry! And do not ever accuse someone of being gay, especially in such a derogatory way, without knowing! You could, and will, insult someone!"
Ginny just stared at her, expression blank, not showing any remorse or sorriness for what she'd done. It had felt good, even if the target was not guilty of anything. With a simple and insincere "sorry" directed in Seamus's general direction, she fled the room. Her brain was, yet again, going a mile a minute. Seamus is ruled out, so I guess Dean is too. It's not Ron, or Neville. Justin Finch-Fletchley in Hufflepuff? Ernie MacMillan or Terry Boot in Ravenclaw? Zabini in Slytherin, thought that's a stretch. He was, after all, a Slytherin. Ginny almost laughed, then smirked to herself. Pouf or not, there's one person who Harry would never love in any way. Malfoy. What a riot. By now she had made it out of the common room, and was headed to the place where her things still lay, abandoned by both Harry and Malfoy. She took her wand out, and cast a quick reparo on her bag, then packed her stuff in it once more. She stood up and shouldered her bag, jogging down the steps. Maybe I should just ask Harry... he might actually tell me instead of all of this fucking secrecy that everyone seems so keen of. Yeah, I'll do that. Now, where would he be? Somewhere outside, I'm guessing. Probably the lake or Quidditch field... she exited the castle, stepping out into a warm autumn day. A glance at the lake told her what she needed to know. The head of messy, ink black hair that was Harry's third most defining characteristic, the first two being his scar and startlingly green eyes, was just visible from this distance. He seemed to be just laying in the grass by himself. Once she had gotten closer, she noticed that his eyes were closed and he seemed to be talking softly to someone, though there was no one there. Not wanting to walk up to him without his noticing, she called out "Harry!" from about fifteen feet away. His eyes popped open, he murmured one last soft comment, and sat up, looking over to Ginny.
"Feeling better?" he asked, referring to the fact that she was no longer crying as she was the last time he saw her.
"I'm alright, I suppose," she replied, taking a spot next to him. They were quiet for a moment before Harry asked, "Do you need something? I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I was trying to get in a nap," he smiled apologetically.
"Well, it's just... Harry, who... who gave you that ring?"
He sighed. He had obviously known she was going to ask this. "Someone I love very, very much. We're just not ready to tell many people yet."
Ginny stared at him, shocked. "You're not going to tell me?" she asked in a small voice. This was not how this was supposed to happen. He was supposed to chuck the ring into the water and say 'Ginny, I love you! I've been so stupid and I don't care about anyone else! Marry me!' Obviously, that was not going to happen.
He shook his head. "I really wish I could, Gin, but I can't. H-they don't want people knowing."
"Hermione and Ron know!"
"Yes, but they're my best friends. It was necessary. Their best friends and my best friends are the only ones that know," he said, in a gentle voice.
Ginny just looked at him, knowing that if she tried to speak, she would snap and explode. Therefore, she just stood up and walked away from the man she loved for the second time that day.
She seemed reasonably calm on the outside, but on the inside she was decidedly not okay.
That evening, she decided that she had to know who it was. She wasn't even sure it was a guy anymore, despite the fact that she had been positive earlier. Therefore, she would follow Harry around tomorrow, and make a note of everyone he interacted with at all. There was only one problem. It was Monday tomorrow, meaning classes. There was no way she was waiting until next weekend, and there was no way to follow him without skipping classes. So that's what she decided to do.
At five-thirty the next morning, our heroine could be found drying her hair and getting dressed for the day. She slipped into a tight black shirt and low-cut jeans that were easy to move around in, and tied her hair up. She walked back into her dormitory and sat down on the bed. She would just tell her roommates that she wasn't feeling well... and then sneak out after they all left. She had, unbeknownst to Harry, borrowed his invisibility cloak, which she knew about from Ron a few years ago. She picked up her notebook and quill (which didn't require ink to write, thanks to Hermione), and flipped it open to an empty page. She wrote the day's date at the top of the page and underlined it. Underneath that she wrote in all capitals 'THE SUSPECTS'. That was where she planned to write the names of everyone, and she meant everyone, Harry interacted with that day. She heard a noise coming from behind the curtains of one of her roommates' beds, so she stuck the journal and cloak underneath her pillow and tried to look ill. A few moments later, her roommates were starting to get up. One noticed her and Ginny motioned her over.
"Hey, I don't feel very well..."
About an hour later, Ginny was up and moving. She wrapped the cloak around herself, and slipped on some quiet shoes. She left her dorm and traveled across the now empty common room, making her way to Harry's dorm. She knew for a fact that he and his roommates (including Ron) always left their dorm far later than everyone else, and were always late for breakfast. She crouched down outside their door, and put her ear as close to the crack in between the floor and the bottom of the door as she could manage. She heard fragments of many voices immediately
"... practice tonight? I have to..."
"...I thought she was going out with..."
"...detention tonight, lucky me, right? I hate Snape..."
"...stop! I just got that to look right, you..."
"... not a big deal, really..."
She sighed a little bit and tried to pick out Harry's voice from the other four boys. She pressed her ear even closer to the door. After a moment, she could hear him clearer, which was probably largely due to the fact that as now one of the two people talking. She thought the other was Ron. She concentrated on Harry's.
"Hermione is going to strangle me. I didn't finish that Transfiguration essay last night. Did you, Ron?"
Ron, who had been talking while Harry was, stopped talking.
"Huh?"
"Did you finish Transfiguration?"
"Oh! Umm... no... I... uhh, forgot about it."
Several people laughed.
Ron exclaimed "Hey! It's not funny! McGonagall is going to massacre me!" But he was laughing as well. Ginny rolled her eyes. She would never understand her brother. She was getting lost in her thoughts when she heard something that caught her attention. It sounded like Seamus and Dean.
"Ow! Damn it, everything still hurts."
"I can imagine so! Ginny gave you a right good beating there, last night."
The room was suddenly quiet.
"What?" Harry asked. "Ginny beat you up, Seamus? Why?"
More silence.
"Seamus?"
"Well, you see... she thought that your ring, y'know..."
"What?"
"Ginny thought that I was the one who gave you that ring."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"I'm really sorry, Seamus. I don't know what..."
"It's no big deal. I just need to get a pain potion from Pomfrey before breakfast."
"Are you sure? Is there anything I can do?"
Seamus laughed. "No, mate, I'm good. I do wish you were engaged to me, though." He was clearly joking, but a small surge of jealousy coursed through Ginny.
You could hear the smile in Harry voice when he spoke. "Right. I'm sure you do. I wouldn't marry you, though!" he was also joking.
Seamus made a fake offended sound. "Fine then, if you don't want my love..." the others in the room were chuckling. Then Seamus spoke again. "...Ron! You are my new love! Marry me!" he sighed dramatically. Ginny's brow creased. I never noticed how weird these guys are...
"Never, Seamus. I do have a girlfriend, you know."
"Well then, Harry, I'm afraid you are the object of my affection yet again!"
"Oh, Merlin." Harry sighed. He then yelled as something- possibly someone- crashed to the floor.
"Ow, Seamus! That hurt!"
"You're just so adorable!" Ginny's eyes narrowed.
Dean then yelled, "Stop molesting him! I'm sure his lover wouldn't like that." Ginny's eyes narrowed even more. Molesting?
"Yeah, get off! I am a taken man!"
Seamus sighed, and sniffed comically. "I may be forced to find someone else, then!"
Harry chuckled. "You do that. Now if you'll please..."
The boys resumed their loud chatter, and Ginny had to jump back to avoid getting hit by the door as they left moments later.
Ron left first, looking hungry. Then came Neville and Dean, still talking, with Harry behind them. Seamus was waking directly behind Harry and would occasionally blow on the back of the brunette's neck, ducking when Harry swatted at him. Ginny felt like punching him again, but did not want to give away her position. She followed them down the stairs, through the common room, and through the portrait hole. When they were in the corridor on the way to Madam Pomfrey's, she wrote the names Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, and Ron Weasley on her list. She decided not to cross anyone out of the list yet, choosing instead to do that tonight, all at once. They reached the door to the infirmary, and Seamus and Dean went inside, while Harry, Ron, and Neville waited outside. Harry and Ron were talking about Quidditch when there was a small break in conversation. Neville said, in a small voice, "Harry?" Harry looked up.
After a moment, Neville said, "I just want you to know that I'm really happy for you. You seem so happy these days. I'm sure whoever it is deserves you." he smiled slightly.
Ron snorted.
Harry shot his best friend a look before turning to Neville. "Thank you. That means a lot to me, it really does."
Just then Seamus and Dean returned, and Seamus announced that even though the potion had tasted like vomit and he suspected that Madam Pomfrey gave him the worst tasting one possible on purpose, he was now feeling much better. They set off toward the Great Hall, Seamus once again pestering Harry, this time by smacking his arse every few minutes. Harry would frown and swat his hand away before returning to talk to whomever it was he was talking to.
Ginny, meanwhile, was glaring daggers at the boy. How dare he do that to Harry? And why was Harry tolerating it this much? She wanted to cry out in frustration. After the fifth arse-whack, Ron looked over at Seamus and said, "God, you are such a flirt."
Seamus just grinned. "I know. It's fun." He demonstrated this by smacking Ron's arse, then Harry's again.
Ron whipped his wand out, half joking. "Don't touch me, Finnegan."
"Okidoke, Weasley." he stuck out his tongue at Ron briefly before turning back to Harry. "Haaaaarrrryyyyyy, can I have a piggyback ride? Pleaseeeeee?"
Dean and Neville just laughed as Harry sighed. "No, Seamus."
"Whyyyy?"
Ginny had her wand out and was about to curse the stupid git as a group of Slytherins walked by, Malfoy leading. Next to him were Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson. They seemed to hear Seamus whine about something, because Malfoy raised an eyebrow, and looked over just in time to see Seamus smack Harry's bum again. Ginny was too furious to notice the glare Malfoy was also sending toward the Irishman. Blaise and Pansy exchanged meaningful looks, which Ginny also missed. She did not, however, miss the lack of insults. She thought about this as her anger subsided (Harry had finally told Finnegan to stop smacking him or else suffer from many painful curses and hexes). She had, as had everyone else, noticed the fights between the two rivals over the entire course of their school life. Now that those were gone, she was left feeling confused. Hmm... maybe they just grew up? She mentally shrugged, and continued perusing the group of Gryffindors, adding Malfoy, Zabini, and Parkinson to the list just because. When they finally made it to the Great Hall, Ginny was relieved She could finally do what she had skipped today for. She followed the boys to the Gryffindor table, and stood behind Harry, making sure to jot down everyone who said 'hello' or 'good morning' to him (Hermione, Parvati, Colin and Denis Creevey, Lavender, and Romilda Vane). After the greetings, Ron spoke up, his eyebrows knitted together, and he said the words Ginny hoped she would not hear anyone say. She did not want to get caught.
"Where's Ginny?"
One of her roommates looked up at her name, and said, "Oh, she's not feeling well. She didn't feel sick enough to go to Madam Pomfrey, but she insisted on staying in bed. It was kind of suspicious, actually."
Ginny groaned a little. She had been suspicious? Damn.
Harry cocked his head to the side in a way that Ginny found quite cute. "I wonder what's gotten into her? She was very... emotional yesterday. She usually has such a strong hold on her emotions." Ginny almost snorted. Emotional? Yeah, right. I was practically in hysterics the whole day!
Hermione's eyebrows raised a fraction. "Do you really not know, Harry?"
Harry looked confused. Hermione sighed, then continued, "She fancies you, Harry. Always has, probably always will." Ginny blushed.
Harry face turned slightly pink. "Well, I- I'm getting married!" he lowered his voice when he realized he had nearly shouted that. "She needs to understand that she doesn't have a chance with me anymore. I just don't know how to tell her that I am in love with someone. Someone who's not her."
A few people shook their heads, looking truly sympathetic. Ginny, however, thought she was about to start crying. She hadn't heard him say anything like that before, say it so... cruelly. She knew he didn't know she was there, and he didn't mean to be hurtful, but she was still hurt. She sniffed louder than she had meant to, and Hermione's head snapped up. She looked directly over Harry's head, at the spot Ginny was standing in. Oh, shit. She heard me. Hermione stared, suspicious for a moment, then slowly went back to her food. Ginny sighed a little, very thankful that she had not been discovered- yet. She decided to be more focused in her effort to not be discovered. Feeling satisfied, she went back to listening to the conversation going on around Harry.
"So, Harry," Lavender said, drawing his attention. "When are you and your, uhmm, partner going to go public?" she giggled. Parvati rolled her eyes. "What she means is, when are you going to tell us who it is?"
Harry shifted in his seat. Ginny frowned. This was something she had wanted to know herself.
"Well- I'm not sure. I mean, we've discussed it plenty, but... we just can't decide. At first, it was going to be yesterday, when I... started wearing this," he held up his left hand for a moment, then et it drop back into his lap, "but we decided against it after some thought. I'm not really sure what the current plan is, but personally, I hope it's soon. I hate all this bloody secrecy, but they feel it's necessary, so..." he shrugged. Lavender frowned a little, but turned back to chatting with her friends. Ron, who was sitting next to Harry, leaned over and whispered something in the brunette's ear. Ginny moved closer, trying to hear, but the noise level in the Great Hall was too loud. The only words she caught were "not decided", which she deemed useless clues.
Breakfast moved quickly from that point on, with no more mention of Harry's engagement. When they were finished, Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way out of the Hall and toward their first class of the day- Transfiguration. Ginny was having trouble hearing what they were saying, but kept hearing the word "ring". She was very curious as to why they were talking about Harry's ring, but had no way to find out, as the hallways were so tightly packed and she was concentrating very hard on not running in to people or getting uncovered. She breathed a small sigh of relief when they reached the Transfiguration classroom. She thought she saw Hermione look around, but decided she had imagined it out of paranoia. Ginny followed the Trio to the back of the room, sidling between their chairs and the wall to stand right behind Harry. Before the sixth years in front of her could start whispering again, McGonagall waked in, and class started.
By the time their Transfiguration lesson was over, Ginny was bored stiff. It had not been a practical lesson, just one on information about transfiguring large mammals into furniture, and back again. Ginny hadn't found it very entertaining. She strained to hear where they were headed next, while writing down everyone who said "hi" to him in the hall. She learned that they had Charms next, with Ravenclaw. Hopefully this will give me more information, she thought. As they entered, Professor Flitwick looked up, and called Harry over. Ron and Hermione began to follow him over, but Harry just waved them over to a table. They sat down, while Harry walked over to the tiny Professor, Ginny following.
"Yes, Professor?" Harry asked, looking confused and a little apprehensive, like he thought he might be in trouble for something.
"Harry, m'boy, how are you?"
"I'm... alright, and yourself?" Harry told him, looking even more confused now.
"I'm fine. Well, Harry, the reason I called you over is because I, and some of my colleagues, wonder if you know what's the best path for your life to take right now." he said, being far to cryptic for Harry's taste. Flitwick then continued, seeing the look on Harry's face, "Your engagement to your... partner, Mr. Potter. We're concerned that you may be rushing into things. Now, I am aware that you may feel like we have no business in your personal matters- and we don't- but please heed our message, take it into serious consideration." Ginny's eyebrows rose. The teachers know who it it?
Harry smiled a little bit. "Professor, I know you mean well, but I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life. I appreciate your concern, and I promise to think about it, but... I highly doubt I will change my mind."
Flitwick sighed, seeming to have known this was the answer he was going to get. "Very well, then, Mr. Potter. You may have a seat."
Harry waked over to the table Hermione and Ron were sitting at, and dropped his things beside the seat in between the two. Ginny crept after him, thinking about the new information she had heard. She stopped in front of the three, and crouched down to hear what they were saying.
"What did she want?" Hermione asked. Ron nodded, looking over at Harry expectantly.
Harry sighed. "The teachers are concerned about my choice. They think I'm rushing into things, stuff like that."
Hermione nodded. "I suspected it was something like that. I mean, it was obvious that one of them would say something to you about it. A lot of them are in the Order, you know. They can't be happy about your partner choice. I was surprised when Dumbledore accepted it."
Ginny's mind was currently going lightning speed. The Order wouldn't like it...? But, the only people the Order doesn't like are Death Eater, and Harry would never marry a Death Eater, no matter what. Right?
Harry then chuckled, breaking Ginny out of her thoughts. He had apparently remembering something. "Yeah, I was too. He just did that weird twinkling eye thing, congratulated us, and then that was it."
Ron shook his head a little. "There is something off about him. I always knew there was."
Harry and Hermione laughed a bit, and Ginny stood up. She walked quietly over to the wall and sat down, as Flitwick had just started their lesson. She thought she saw Hermione glance in her direction again, but when she blinked, the older girl was facing the front of the room. I must be paranoid. I mean, I'm under the cloak!
This lesson passed without incident as well, it being another notes-only class. When it was over, Ginny was starting to feel the effects of no breakfast. She seriously regretted not thinking about that beforehand now. The seventh years passed by her then, so she hurried after them.
As Ginny was walking next to Harry, who was on his way to the Great Hall for lunch, she felt a jerk on the back of the cloak, and was then pulled sideways and into a nearby broom closet The door to the closet was slammed shut, and the cloak was pulled off rather roughly.
"Ginny! What do you think you're doing?"
:::
Well, I hope you like it so far!
The next part probably won't be up for a few days... I'm not sure, though.
Please review! :)