A Long Road Home
(The Wrath of a Woman)
(china)
"There were better people for the team, that's all," Ludo Bagman stuttered, his back pushed up against the wall; it was obvious that he was afraid of Harry, who was several inches shorter and much less imposing.
"Better people?" Harry snorted in reply. "Better people!"
"Katie Bell scored seventeen goals; your girlfriend only scored eight."
Animosity radiated from both men as they faced off. Harry's office desk, what with its clutter and numerous piles of paperwork, created a much needed barrier. Ludo Bagman's defensive nature meant that he hated being questioned, and he was just itching to attack Harry.
"That's all well and good," Harry said with a sigh, pushing his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. All this arguing about nothing was simply irritating, especially when he was already late for a meeting. "I just want to know what she has to do to get onto the team."
After a lengthy pause, Bagman responded.
"There's nothing she can do," he said, giving Harry an apologetic shrug, "I've chosen the team, and the Holyhead Harpies start training next week. I understand that it's been a long time since you played, but –"
"But I can still recognise a lousy couch and a lousy liar when I see one."
"What causes you to say that," Potter? If this is because of what I did to your little friends – those scheming twins – at the Quidditch World Cup all those years ago…" It seemed, to Harry at least, that Ludo felt like a caged lion: he was a wild animal with no way to escape the searing gaze of his companion, and he was wilting under Harry's gaze.
"Fine then," Harry said, "I'll pretend I trust you, while you pretend you trust me."
"Fine," was Ludo's begrudging reply.
"So why did Ginny not even make the reserves?"
"I told you, she wasn't good enough."
"How much training would be required for her to become good enough?" Harry could almost taste the venom that seeped into his voice, but he was determined to convince the portly man standing in front of him that Ginny was talented enough to make the team. It was obvious from his slouched demeanour and the longing in his voice that it was a long time since Bagman had been happy –either playing Quidditch or making money – and Harry could easily capitalise on that.
"Quite a bit, honestly," Bagman replied.
"In other words, she's not all that good."
"I didn't say that, not so much as that she needs a little more work."
Harry narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Ludo's dislike of him was one thing but, he reflected as he leaned over his desk for his coffee mug and took a grateful sip, there was no need to take it out on Ginny. All she wanted was a place on the team, a chance to prove herself as something more than 'the Weasley girl,' or 'Harry Potter's girlfriend,' and Ludo Bagman's pathetic grudge was doing nothing more than standing in the way of that.
He supposed he owed it to her to fight for her position in the Holyhead Harpies, anyway – he'd broken up with her, left her, abandoned her, and yet… and yet she'd still remained faithful throughout. It meant more to Harry than he could possibly express in a flurry of kisses, words and 'I love you's,' even two years after it had all happened. Call it penance, call it guilt, Harry was determined to see her onto the Holyhead Harpies.
Shaking his head slightly at his next move, Harry asked, "How much?" It was partially a rash decision, but he supposed that he'd always known this, always known that he'd do anything to make Ginny happy.
"Wha- it's not about money!" It was, of course, a lie. Harry could see the cold hard truth reflected in his eyes. Greed and Bagman went hand in hand, time had not changed that.
"Don't deny it, Bagman."
"Your girlfriend simply did not make the cut, and that's that. Don't think you can buy her a place on the team, Potter. No matter how many Triwizard Tournaments you win, you won't be able to afford it."
"You're changed a lot," Harry mused, scratching his chin in mock thoughtful ness and taking another gulp of his now lukewarm coffee. "Once, you would have been doing anything to bully or con someone out of a few Galleons."
"I-I-I," Ludo stuttered in return. He was clearly succumbing to the lure of the money, to the promise of better lodgings and better food than his current Gringotts account served him with. "I suppose we can make a deal," he said finally, bowing his head immediately so that he didn't have to look into Harry's eyes.
"Will two hundred Galleons be sufficient?" Harry asked quickly, his mind now less on convincing Bagman and more on the meeting that he had missed.
"That will be fine."
"Excellent."
Harry quickly opened his money bag, allowing a small scattering of Galleons to spill across the table. He surveyed them, his bright green eyes focused on counting them – five, ten, fifteen, twenty.
"I'll have the rest delivered to your bank account as soon as possible," he said, gesturing to Bagman that he should take the gold. Bagman scooped it up quickly, as though he was worried Harry would go back on his offer.
"Of course."
With a final disgusted glance at Bagman – he almost felt as though he should be disgusted with himself too, for such behaviour, but he reminded himself that it was for Ginny – Harry stormed out, his robes swishing behind him.
--
"How dare you?" Ginny screeched the moment Harry wandered in the front door that evening. Her eyes were blazing with fury as she stared them down; they held an anger that she could not express through mere words. As her voice died down to a breathless whisper, Harry could hear every single one of her emotions.
"How dare I what? It always helps when you explain things, dear."
"You know all too well."
Harry started, realising too late what she was referring to. His face turned a deep shade of red as he began to mumble, struggling to come up with a coherent explanation. In the heat of the moment, it had been so easy to turn that money bag upside down, to watch the coins fall like shooting stars and then watch Bagman grasp them eagerly, but he hadn't given any thought to Ginny's reaction.
"Look," he said finally, "I just wanted-"
"Just wanted an excuse to flash your money around and prove that you can change people for the better, I think." Ginny drew a sharp breath, blowing a stray lock of vibrant red hair from her face. She continued to glower, and Harry found himself wilting this time, melting away into a quivering puddle of confusion.
"That's the one thing I can assure you Ginny," Harry said. "I did it for you, not to make myself look better."
"For me?"
For a single moment, time seemed to stop still, Harry's utter confusion radiated from every inch of his skin: why was she so… mad, he wondered. He'd only been trying to help her, to show her what she meant to him.
"I didn't need your help, Harry," Ginny said. Her voice was quiet now, more refined, and yet it still shook Harry to his very core. "Right after Ludo flooed me, I got an owl from the assistant coach of the Tornadoes."
"And-"
"And they offered me a place on the term. Apparently they were so impressed with my final games at Hogwarts that they agreed to take me on without a trial, because Katrina Ellis is out for over a year with some weird reaction to a potion."
"I just wanted to help," Harry repeated again feebly. "I didn't know about the Tornadoes."
"Wrong move," Ginny hissed, her eyes seeming to widen even further with fury than they had before. "Did you think I was too useless to make it on my own? That I couldn't make it onto a team without your name and your money… Well I have news for you; you couldn't make it without me. I'm the one who got left behind, the one who you relied on so much in those first few weeks, and now… Men and their bloody money."
Harry made to respond, but had to rapidly duck, Ginny had snatched a plate off the table and swung it at him; he could feel the wall shake as it fell to the floor with a crash, shattering everywhere."
"Gin-"
"Don't you Ginny me. I've had enough. After all the shit you've put me through, you do this."
"Just don't take the job," Harry tried to reason. "Then no-one can comment." He ducked again, as a coffee mug come flying through the air, a deadly torpedo of floral china and absolute wrath.
"Just don't take the job! Of all the… You don't get it, do you?" she said, leaning against the table, her face was as bright as her hair and she was panting for breath – emotion had overwhelmed her. "It'll be all over the tabloids tomorrow, it won't matter which job I take, people will say that you helped me into it."
"Look Ginny, I'm sorry. I really didn't think."
"That's for sure," she shouted, taking his momentary lapse in awareness as a chance to throw yet another plate at her; this one shattered with a deafening crash, one of the shards landing right beside Harry foot. Hastily, he moved away from the wall, wondering if the open doorway would provide any more protection. He'd seen enraged women before – neither he nor Ron would ever forget Hermione's birds back in sixth year – but this was nothing short of insane.
"I really didn't mean to offend you," Harry said, staring her right in the eyes, imploring her to realise that he meant it.
"I know you didn't Harry, but… you still should have thought. Would you like people to buy your happiness?" She stared back with equal intensity, edging away from the table, which Harry found a good sign.
"Of course not. I… I just wanted to make it up to – after everything I put you through, I just wanted to apologise."
"There was no need for that. I know you didn't mean it." Anger still flittered through Ginny's eyes, but it was slowly subsiding, which made Harry a little more confident. He could see where she was coming from, and it had been at all possible, he would have demanded that Bagman return the gold and revoke her position immediately, but that was impossible, and he was going to have to live with the consequences. "I know that you were just doing the noble thing, and I understood that, after a while. At first… but eventually, I dealt with it, and now you've just screwed it all-"
She stopped short as Harry captured her lips in a passionate kiss, his hands entwined in her hair and her shirt. For a moment, she fought against it, before succumbing and allowing herself to kiss him back.
As they pulled apart, Harry still knew that he had to make it up to her somehow – he really hadn't thought any of this through, but for now, at least she wasn't throwing china any more.
--
As you can see, this one's a lot longer than the previous chapters - each one will be a different length. I'm not a major fan of the ending, but I like the meat of this chapter, and I'd love a review. ;)