Author's Note: Boy have I been dead a long time. But I'm back!!! Hopefully my writing style has improved and my mistakes have been rectified. Of course, comments, advice and reviews are gladly accepted! Also, if you would like me to do a chapter of the 'missing moment' describing what happens on their walk around the lake, please ask. I just need a little bit of motivation!
Summary: Ginny's point of view of that fateful chapter in Harry's sixth year when he listens to his inner monster. I think you know what I mean.
Disclaimer: Okay, I admit it. Of course I'm Joanne Rowling. Not.
The Antidote
"You Okay?"
Ginny started, turning to look at Demelza. Ginny's class mate and friend smiled encouragingly. Ginny stopped her agitated rubbing of hands. "Yeah," Ginny croaked. "It's just - it just feels weird being Seeker. I prefer being Chaser, and well, I'm not as good as Harry is at being Seeker. It's like the natural order of things has been disrupted."
Demelza grinned in sympathy. "Hmm, I agree. Dean's great, but he hogs the ball." She paused. "I know it's been a bit since - well, you know, your break up, but well..." Demelza glanced away, then back to Ginny again. "If it helps, I never thought he was enough of a match for you." Ginny smiled weakly. "You'll be okay to play, right?"
"Yeah, of course," Ginny said, forcing a laugh. "He's not going to be a distraction at all. I'm over him." She rubbed her hands over each other again, glancing at her watch. "Not long, should we go get the boys?"
Before they went onto the pitch, the boys thumped each other on the back in a way Ginny thought must be painful, and the girls gave each other half-hugs around their broomsticks. Then their team was announced and they marched onto the field.
The Ravenclaw team looked exceptionally happy at the absence of Harry and Ginny mustered all her glaring power into the look she gave their Seeker, her rival, Cho Chang.
At the word go, Ginny shot off. She'd enough of Cho's flying to know the silken haired girl preferred to stalk the other Seeker so close that they came to distraction, making them stressed enough to find the Snitch quickly, at which point Cho would snatch it. With that in mind, Ginny coaxed her broom into a wild roller coaster ride around the other players, making sure she was either too fast of unexpected for Cho to cut her off.
Soon Ginny had settled into a path that was erratic enough to unsettle the Ravenclaw Seeker. Cho had given up the chase, settling into her own route. Ginny's eyes flicked around the stadium but she let part of her mind wander.
She wandered how Dean was. He seemed to be ignoring her which suited her just fine, and he was flying without a care. She got the impression that give him a few weeks and he'd be over the whole thing. They'd parted for good, and Ginny wandered if he'd be asking out anyone else out in the near future. Ginny herself admitted to not being overly worried about flinging herself into another relationship any time soon. She didn't feel like chasing after anyone, but also knew she wouldn't mind one bit if, by some fluke of fate, some unknown boy admitted a crush on her. As it stood now, Ginny was willing to go with the flow.
Beginning a broad loop of the pitch, Ginny wandered what awful punishment Snape had thought up for Harry. It was an absolute act of cruelness on Snape's part in stopping the Gryffindor Captain from even attending the match. It just solidified Ginny's opinion that Snape was an insufferable git who took pleasure from other people's discomfort, and Snape seemed to have a particular soft spot for causing Harry pain.
There was a shift in the crowd, and Ginny glanced in the direction everyone else was, to where Cho had begun a steady descent.
Ginny smirked. Cho's badly performed Wronksi Feint had fooled the crowd but not her.
"GINNY!" Dean hollered at her as he flew past, Quaffle under his arm. Dean was obviously too busy to see that Cho was faking.
Ginny rolled her eyes and flipped after Cho. "I know you're faking!" she yelled over the whistling in her ears. Cho glanced over her shoulder, looking thoroughly pissed off.
Cho swerved sharply, and Ginny shrugged. Pushing her broom to follow Cho, she mimicked Cho's actions from previous games.
Half an hour later and Ginny took an alternate direction from Cho. The other girl's rhythmic swerves and dips were making Ginny giddy with boredom. Ginny rose high above the stands, eyes scanning.
Cho was cruising along, making a show of looking, up, down and around. A flicker of gold caught Ginny's eye and she squinted.
"Yesss," she breathed.
The Snitch was fluttering almost lazily behind Cho. Ginny's hand tightened on the wood of her broom, and her broom shot like a rocket towards Cho's intended path. The Snitch somehow realised the danger it was in, and began to speed up again.
It was mere inches from Cho's nose when Ginny felt her hand close around tiny gold ball. The wings beat feebly against her knuckles as she continued to shoot forwards. Ginny whooped, using her hand which was still on the broom to perform a flip. She sped towards her team, which had gathered in the middle of the stadium.
Ginny saw Cho's red face as the announcer seemed to realise at last what had happened.
"Ginny Weasley of Gryffindor catches the Snitch! One hundred and fifty points to Gryffindor. Gryffindor wins!!!!"
Ginny soon found herself bound for the Castle on the shoulders of Gryffindor House. Between bursts of Weasley is Our King and vigorous handshakes Ginny was told that someone had gotten their hands on two crates of Butter Beer and other assorted party foods. When Ginny asked Hermione who, the girl glanced away with pink cheeks, muttering about "Someone willing to break the rules, obviously."
In the common room the celebration hit off almost as soon as the players had been deposited on the ground. Ginny laughed and cheered but kept an eye on the doorway, wandering when Harry would come back. She couldn't wait to tell Harry all about the match. She was sure he'd be proud of her.
And hour had nearly passed when there was a rise in shrieks, and Ginny turned from a conversation with Colin Creevy to see Harry standing near the portrait hole looking fairly shocked but happy. People were cheering, and Ginny muttered "excuse me," as she watched Ron accost Harry, brandishing the newly won silver cup under his friend's nose. Ginny rushed forward, running across the common room to get to Harry as quickly as she could before the crowd enveloped him.
Without thinking, Ginny flung her arms around Harry, pressing herself against him. His arms encircled her immediately, tightly, pulling her closer, and Ginny opened her mouth to tell him again that they had won and it was all thanks to him, really...
She never got the chance. Her head had been angling away so her chin could rest on his shoulder, but somehow his hands had grasped her cheeks and full her face to his. Time seemed to slow as those hands of his - unbelievably warm - pulled her lips to hers. His lips crushed against hers, hot, burning with something that wasn't quite heat.
After several long moments - or it might have been half an hour - or possibly several sunlit days - they broke apart. Ginny was immediately aware of the silence, then several people wolf whistled and a large number giggled. Ginny gazed up at Harry, unsure if what she'd just experienced had been real. Certainly, if someone had told her this morning that Harry Potter was going to kiss her in front of the whole house she would have told them that they were at least several sandwiches short of a picnic; and possibly a rug, and a basket, and a thermos flask …
Harry was glancing about the room. Ginny did so too, seeing that Dean looked like he'd either been punched or would really like to punch something himself. Romilda Vane, a girl in the year below Ginny, looked like she'd really like to punch Ginny. Apart from that, most people had suppressed smiles, not including Hermione who was beaming openly.
Then there was Ron, who looked like Ginny felt. Shocked, unable to believe what he'd just seen. Harry and Ron locked gazes and must have communicated something, because then Harry turned back to Ginny, smiling. One of his hands flopped in the direction of the portrait hole.
Ginny caught that hand in hers, a smile finally creeping onto her lips and into her eyes. Then she pulled Harry out the portrait hole.
She wasn't sure what they were going to do exactly or where they would go, but Ginny thought that a walk around the Lake seemed to be in order, where, if they had the time, they might discuss the match.