Why Do We Fall in Love?
Chapter Six: Dragon Dung Goes Nuts
The next day, I wait for Harry to come and talk to me but he just attaches himself to Hermione's hip. I can never find him alone; I try to corner him after Quidditch practice but he is always working late with some of the new members. It's almost like he's doing it on purpose.
Days turn into weeks and I learn to avoid the common room at night and hang out in the kitchens instead. Harry never comes looking for me anymore. Hermione is always bugging me to go talk to him but I can't do it. He must have a good reason to avoid me.
Do I smell bad? Does he think my face is deformed? Maybe I'll corner him after practice. Practice is the best time of the day. Maybe it's because I'm an awesome chaser or that sometimes, Harry uses me to practice his seeker abilities.
Halfway through practice I've already scored a bunch of times and am really pissing Ron off.
"It's okay Ronnie, I'm sure you'll save the next one," I taunt, highly doubting that he will. Quidditch is one of the few times he that he is detached from Lavender. Sometimes I forget he even has a face.
I come at him quickly and toss the quaffle in the left hoop.
"Really Ron, could you at least try to save some goals!" Harry shouts in his captain voice. Harry can be very bossy on the pitch. He's always yelling. I'm surprised he hasn't lost his voice, but it's only a matter of time.
It gets dark quickly and everyone starts flying down to get off their brooms and away from crazy Harry. I don't know what it is, but all Quidditch captains are psychos about winning. Harry tells us he'll save the pep talk for tomorrow and that we should all get some sleep.
I rush into the changing room and change back into my robes before racing off to the boys changing rooms to try to get a word in with Harry. As I rush in, I see something that stops me dead in my tracks. A shirtless Harry and Ron are hugging each other.
Oh man, where is my camera when I need it! I look closely at them through the crack of the door. Specifically, at Harry's well-toned body. I now have a new-found appreciation for Quidditch.
I glance at Ron and realize that he's in pretty good shape too, surprisingly. But I'd rather look at Harry. As I watch them both pull out of their hug, I leave quickly before they can see me and run toward the castle to tell Hermione about what I've just seen.
She is waiting in front of the castle, sitting on the steps with a book.
"Hermione! Guess what I just saw!" I scream, making her jump.
"What?" she asks, worried.
"Harry and Ron in a shirtless man hug!" I screech, giggling. Hermione's face lights up with the mental image.
"Details! How did you see this? Why were they hugging? How fine were the guys?" she chirps out question after question.
"Um, I'm not exactly sure why they were hugging to be honest, but I had finally worked up the nerve to talk to Harry and well, then I saw them and I didn't want to interrupt their erm ... moment," I say awkwardly, "and I'm not going to speak for Ron, but Harry was super fine without a shirt," I finish with a grin.
"Did they see you?" Hermione asks, giggling.
"I hope not because that's going to be an awkward conversation to have," I mumble, getting up from beside her and walking towards the door.
"Wait, Ginny why don't you eat dinner with me? It's been a long time since I've seen you in the Great Hall," she says sincerely. Well I am starving.
"Alright," I agree and follow her into the castle. "What about your man," I say with air quotes around the word 'man'.
"Apparently he's in the middle of a man-hug," she says nonchalantly. He'll probably join us soon but until then, I want to enjoy my Hermione-time since, by avoiding Harry for the past few weeks, I've been inadvertently avoiding her too.
"So how's your relationship going?" I ask while piling food onto my plate.
"Well, I think Ron is going to crack any day now, he hardly ever touches Lavender anymore. Oh, and the other day I caught him staring at me," she says, beaming.
"That's great Hermione! But who wouldn't stare at you when you're with the best looking wizard in the whole school," I say smiling.
"I'm not with Ron yet," she mumbles.
"That is not what I meant Hermione, that's gross," I jokingly yell. At least she's finally being honest about her feelings for Ron.
"So, have you found a dance for the date yet?" she asks me.
"What?" I say, confused. "What does that even mean?"
Oh sorry, I mean have you found a date for the dance?" she asks me, snapping out of her daydream. She must've still been thinking about shirtless Ron.
Swallowing my food down hard, I say, "Err, no, not yet, but I have plenty of time".
"Ginny, when was the last time you looked at a calendar?" she asks, annoyed. Um, that would be never. Sometimes I don't even know what day of the week it is and I end up going to the wrong classroom.
"Ginny, you realize the dance is in a week and a half and now all the good guys are probably taken," she scolds. Has that much time really passed? Man it's going to be really fun to find a date now.
I am saved from worrying too much when Ron and Harry show up and sit across from us. Then Hermione starts.
"Hey Harry-berry, how was practice," she asks Harry, smiling at him sweetly. Ron opens his mouth but closes it quickly once Harry starts talking.
"Oh, it was great, my Gorgeous Cupcake. I think we have a real chance at winning," he says in a sing song voice.
What? Harry-berry? Gorgeous Cupcake? What is this! Those have got to be the stupidest nicknames ever!
This is why I have been avoiding dinner. I can't take this. It should be me gazing at Harry and talking about Quidditch. Trying to stop this somehow, I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.
"Oh Harry, I came to talk to you after practice but you were uh, uh … busy with Ron," I say with a sly smirk. Harry and Ron both look down quickly and blush.
"It was nothing. So what'd you need Ginny," Harry asks, looking extremely embarrassed.
Crap. I don't want to bring up our almost-kiss with Ron right here. "Uh, uh I forget," I mutter looking at Hermione for help.
"Why were you guys hugging shirtless," she asks very loudly.
"No reason," Ron answers quickly, blushing. But he doesn't stop looking at Hermione.
"There wasn't a reason, we were just, uh, hugging," Harry mumbles.
Sure. There is no way that two guys will willingly hug each other shirtless for no reason. Maybe Ron told Harry about his love for Hermione.
"Ron, where's Lavender," Hermione asks curiously.
"Uh, I'm not sure. She isn't in here, so I'm guessing at the library or in the tower," he mumbles, clearly not interested in where she is.
"Come on Ron, can you walk me to the tower before these two start getting all coupley," I plead. He nods silently and leads the way.
"Thanks," I say quietly, before continuing up the stairs. "So Ron, how's it feel when you see them together," I ask curiously.
"Honestly Ginny, it really hurts. But it shouldn't. Because I'm with Lavender. And Hermione shouldn't affect me like this. I'm just going to have to get over it. She's happy with Harry," he says glumly.
Wow, I thought he would give me a sarcastic retort or tell me that it was none of my business, but he's actually really upset. This has got to be the first serious conversation I have ever had with him. For the first time in, well, ever, I feel the need to give my brother a hug.
"What? Ron, do you mean to tell me that you like Hermione?" I ask, trying to sound surprised. After all, he doesn't know that I know.
"Yeah. But I'll get over it," he says abruptly before telling the Fat Lady the password, "apple crumble". Man, somebody really needs to change that password.
Ron disappears towards his dorm and I take that as the end of our conversation. Why is he still with Lavender when he obviously feels something for Hermione? What did he mean when he said he'd get over it? I think about how strange my brother is until I go to bed. Then the nerves set in.
It's time to worry about the Quidditch game tomorrow morning. It's against Ravenclaw, and more importantly, against the last girl Harry had a crush on, Cho Chang. I'm going to crush her tomorrow. Maybe if I play exceptionally well, then Harry will fall for me. I mean, the guy does love Quidditch.
I let Quidditch and Harry fantasies lull me to sleep.
Suddenly, I am being shaken awake.
"Ginny get up!" Hermione screams in my ear.
"What? Why?" I mumble, rubbing my eyes.
"Ginny, you have to get to the Quidditch pitch! There's only an hour till game time! You should be glad I'm the one who woke you. Anyone else would've just sprayed water on your face," she chatters on while handing me my Quidditch robes, the ones with the giant six on the back.
I pull them on quickly and run down to the pitch. Hopefully I didn't miss too much.
When I get there, Harry is just giving one of his long arse speeches. Good, at least I didn't miss anything important. He'll just continually repeat himself. Most of it is for the benefit of the newbies anyways, so I just stare at Harry.
What shade of green are his eyes? They sort of shimmer in the light. They are so cute.
Suddenly I realize the rest of the team moving around me.
"Hey Ginny," Harry says from behind me. "Did you catch all of the speech?" he asks while walking next to me. Before I can answer, Ron suddenly grabs me from Harry's side.
"You guys can NOT stand next to each other like that," he yells.
"And why not?" I demand.
"Harry, your number nine, and Ginny, your number six, and when he's to your right it's just wrong. So walk next to me," he yells.
"Ron, I will walk wherever I want to walk! And right now, that's to Harry's left. So if you don't mind," I say, turning to Harry; but he's already to Ron's left, looking red. Is there something that I'm missing?
"Fine!" I yell and I stomp toward the pitch as Madam Hooch blows the whistle for the players to gather on the field.
Harry steps up to the middle of the field to shake the Ravenclaw captain's hand while the rest of us take our positions. Then I see it.
There in the stands, right in the very front row, is Lavender Brown, holding up the biggest sign I have ever seen. "GO WON-WON!" is written in large, flashing letters of all different colors. And even worse, it's blinking. It looks completely ridiculous. I look at Ron, but he hasn't seemed to notice it.
Suddenly, Madam Hooch blows the whistle and the balls are released. I set my sights on the quaffle that is in the arms of number two. It won't be there for long. I speed along and knock it out of his arms, catching it, and then turning around to face the hoops. The keeper doesn't know what has hit him when the quaffle flies in.
Out of the corner of me eye, I suddenly see Cho, racing towards a golden snitch, so I do the only logical thing a jealous girl would do. I go and shove past her, nearly pushing her off her broom.
Angry yells erupt from the crowd of Ravenclaws down in the stands, but a sudden explosion of noise causes a hush over the crowd as everyone looks around for the culprit.
Standing now next to the commentator's corner is none other than Dragon Dung herself, holding up her magical freak-show of a sign as it screams the words written on it so loudly, that Luna's commentary is drowned out.
Snapping out of it, the crowd and players go back to the game. As I look around, I realize that Harry has disappeared. Getting my head back in the game, I go back to scoring like crazy. I am in the zone. Suddenly, everyone stops.
I look down to see Harry holding up the snitch. I guess nobody heard the whistle because of a certain somebody's sign. Ron looked mortified. I look over to see Hermione's hands over her face; she probably thinks this is ridiculous.
The crowd leaves the stands and surrounds us on the Quidditch pitch. I look over to see that the final score is 340 to 70. Oh damn, we killed them! A rush of excitement and pride hits me. I wonder how many I scored. I lost count after twelve.
I land and am overwhelmed by the crowd. I try to push my way towards the rest of the team, but they are surrounded by hundreds of adoring fans. Giving up, I run off towards the castle where the party is already starting. I can probably catch up with the guys once the party dies down. That is, if it ever does. Some Gryffindor parties last days.
I find an empty couch and watch as the room fills. As people come in, they all grin at me and say things like "Great job out there!" and I just smile and nod.
After a while, I find that none of the team or Hermione have come over to me yet so I leave the sanctuary that is my couch in search of Hermione. Instead, I find Ron in a corner with Lavender. His face looks red and he's not smiling. Oh my Merlin. He's arguing with Lavender! Please don't let this be a dream!
"Did you like my sign, Won-Won?" she simpers.
Ron's frown deepens. "Uh, it was great Lavi," he says slowly. Then he pulls her into a snog-fest. What? No! What's wrong with him, he's Ron Weasley, he can get way angrier! Why isn't he angry? Gross, he's probably thinking about Hermione right now.
Disappointed, I turn to go to the opposite part of the common room but someone grabs my arm.
"Hey Ginny, great game!" says Harry, smiling and holding a cup of what I assume is fire whiskey.
"Are you drinking Mr. Potter? I don't think Hermione will approve," I say smiling and taking a sip. Yeah, it is definitely fire whiskey, it burns going down.
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," he says while gesturing for me to follow him. We go into a relatively quiet corner, for a party.
"So…" I say, taking another sip of my drink.
"Oh, um, I was just wondering when I could get my invisibility cloak back," he says casually while drinking more from his cup. Oh crap, I thought that he forgot about that! I had gotten so used to sleeping with it too, I'm not sure if I'll be able to sleep properly without it.
"Uh, I need it," I blurt out, blushing. Please don't ask why. Please don't ask why, I mentally chant.
"Why do you need it?" he asks, smiling. Noooooo!
"Uh, I've been using it to sneak around to the kitchens," I respond quickly. I mean, that sound like a perfectly reasonable response, way better than 'I can't sleep without it'.
"That's fine Ginny, but I need it to skip class so if I could maybe borrow it tomorrow?" he asks sounding shy.
"Harry, you don't have to ask to borrow your own cloak," I mumble, feeling ashamed at my selfishness.
"It's cool, you can use it at the end of the day. We'll trade off," he says before draining the rest of his cup. "Anyways, I'm going to get some more," he yells over the music that now seems to be getting louder and louder. I looked down at my cup and see that I am empty too. Funny, I don't remember drinking it all.
Staring at my cup, I suddenly feel another tap on my shoulder. This time it's Dean Thomas, a fellow chaser and a year older than me.
"Hey Ginny, great game!" he yells over the music.
"Yeah we really kicked their arses," I yell back, giggling. Dean is no Harry Potter, but he is kind of cute. Or maybe that's just the alcohol talking.
"So uh Ginny, I was wondering if you'd go to the Halloween Dance with me," he yells, looking at me hopefully. I am momentarily taken aback. Dean and I aren't good friends and we don't really talk outside of Quidditch, but Hermione did say that I needed a date. Plus, something inside of me, maybe the whiskey, is telling me to say yes.
"Of course Dean, I'd love to!" I say, beaming.
"Really? That's great! I think we'll really have fun!" he continues to mumble on, but I'm lost in my thoughts.
My plan is coming together. If Harry is going with Hermione, then I'm going to make sure that I am smoking hot and unattainable. That is where Dean comes in. Harry won't know what hit him.
A/N: Hello there! So, I know nothing much happens in this chapter, but I promise, some good stuff is coming up in the next chapter. So what did you guys think of Dragon Dung's sign? Why do you think Harry and Ron were hugging? What do you think of Dean? (Yes, I am trying to weasel out reviews here :P) Let me know what you guys think!
-M