All I Know
By Stargirl
Author's rambling: My deepest apologies for not updating sooner! Gods, it's been over a month! I'm a horrid person. BUT, to make up for it, this chapter is rather long! Hopefully that's a good thing. School and exams approaching forced me to put fic near the bottom of my priority list. And, like I said, for that, I apologize. Thank all of you SO much for not giving up in this fic. (You haven't, have you?! Please say you haven't!) However, because exams are approaching, that also means that I'll have more time of reviewing and less of actual homework, which also means more updates! Yay! I plan on having three or so chapters before Christmas. I desperately want to write a Christmas chapter, thus this fic will start speeding up, time-wise and moving to the school year. This chapter has its share of silly misunderstandings.
Dedications: To each and every reader who has read and/or reviewed my fic. Thank you for not giving up. (At least, I hope you haven't.) I dedicate this especially to Gaby, Bekah, Gabis and Jackie who helped me get this chapter off the ground.
Last thing: Review, as always! Your feedback helps me write and shape my plot a bit. Thank you so much! Enjoy!
Chapter Ten: When everything is you
Harry fell in step with his best mate. The two stopped walking to give each other a hetero-bloke hug.
Ron began as they continued walking, "Glad you could finally come—" He did a double take, "Wait…aren't you still supposed to be interning with Mad Eye?"
Harry shrugged nonchalantly, "Maybe I am."
Ron's jaw dropped, "You're skiving off pre-Auror training?!"
Harry chuckled at Ron's look of disbelief, "What if being here is part of my pre-Auror training?"
The redhead raised his eyebrows as they entered the house. "How is that possible?"
"That is classified information." The black-haired boy replied with a cryptic smile.
Ron rolled his eyes and punched Harry's arm, "Even from me? The bloke who's been your mate since the first day at Hogwarts on the train?!"
Harry sighed and cleared his throat as they entered The Burrow. Randomly, he said, "Y'know, Ron, other than Hogwarts, I consider The Burrow as my home…"
The redhead nodded with a quizzical expression on his face, "'s always been that way, mate."
They ascended the stairs and went into Ron's room. Ron sat atop his desk and Harry took a seat on the floor.
"Anyway, er, thing is…is that…uh, I don't know how to tell you this…" Harry suddenly became very occupied with untying and retying the shoelaces on his off-brand sneakers.
Ron squinted, still puzzled, trying to make sense of Harry's nervous behavior.
-O-
Hastily, Hermione followed Ginny upstairs to Ginny's room, which Hermione had occupied for the entire summer.
Ginny raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You've cleaned my room."
"Sorry," Hermione apologized, "I thought I'd take the liberty of tidying up a bit, since I've been using it for almost two months—"
Ginny smiled approvingly, "Mum would be pleased. My room hasn't been this clean since—well, ever."
Hermione rolled her eyes and sat in Ginny's chair beside her desk. Ginny flopped onto her bed.
"I vaguely recall you having to tell me something…something of utmost importance, if I'm not mistaken." Hermione repeated Ginny's words drolly, then snickered, "It's about Harry, isn't it?"
Ginny blushed and bit her bottom lip. She squeaked an almost inaudible, "Yes."
Hermione's brown eyes widened, "What happened?!" She threw a pillow at the youngest Weasley's head.
Ginny caught the pillow and buried her crimson face in it. "Well, it started last night."
The brunette raised her eyebrows, "Really… What happened last night?"
The redhead scoffed, "Miss Granger, unlike you, I am not cheap!"
"I beg your pardon, Miss Weasley! I'm not cheap." She rolled her eyes, "Your brother is."
Ginny shuddered, "Information that I'd rather have gone my whole life not knowing."
"Go on with your story."
"Right. Harry's been visiting Fred and George's flat ever since their party."
"What about his pre-Auror training work?"
"Well, he stops by after work since he Apparates everywhere now. Takes but a second to get from headquarters to their flat."
"Or so he says." The brunette rolled her eyes.
"Normally, he, twins, and I will have a nice chat while listening to music or playing Exploding Snaps. Actually, it's more like George, Harry, and I since Angelina and Fred are constantly sneaking away to Fred's room—"
"How long have they been together?" Hermione interrupted.
"Oh, for…about a year, I think. Probably more. Y'know, they're like you and Ron—they liked each other for years without either being aware of it." Ginny exchanged smiles with Hermione, then went on, "But anyway… Last night, Fred and George had some party to attend, so I was the only one who was at their flat."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Opportunely."
"I suppose." Ginny shrugged.
Flashback
Ginny sighed. It wasn't fair. Fred and George had all the fun. Once again, they had to attend yet another "business function". A "business function" was a party where prospective investors dressed formally, had a classy jazz band play, hired caterers to serve dainty foods and loads of alcohol. "Business functions" were an excuse for adults to get incredibly pissed in the name of entrepreneurship. Particularly in the entrepreneurship of young geniuses like the Weasley twins who were the most talked about under-twenty-five blokes in the joke shop business.
Fred always brought Angelina as his date and George would bring his flavor of the week "girlfriend". George's "girlfriends" were typically models whose names resembled food—hideous names with "creative" spellings like Kanndii or Muffie. Ginny didn't know why George settled for birds like that. She didn't know why he and Alicia Spinnet hadn't gotten together; they'd been "best mates" for years in the way Ron and Hermione (as well as Fred and Angelina) had been prior to their getting together.
Thus, Ginny was alone. She sat on a couch in the twins' living room, absentmindedly flipping through a magazine. Not finding any interesting articles, she got up and walked over to the twins' cabinet full of old records. They'd acquired the records and record player from a random thrift store in London. She thumbed through their extensive collection and decided on a record by The Doors. She blew dust off the record, put it on, and turned the volume up so that Jim Morrison's voice reverberated off the walls of the twins' flat. Ginny took her seat on the couch again and concentrated on her magazine. A slight breeze brushed a few loose strands of hair from her neck. Did I leave the window open again?
"Hello Ginevra…"
"AHHH!" Ginny screamed, threw her magazine in the air, leapt off the couch and clutched her heart. "Harry! What the bloody hell are you doing?! You prat! Where d'ya come off trying to frighten the daylights out of me?!"
Harry snickered from his spot on the couch, which was adjacent to hers, "I didn't mean to! I've been silently Apparating everywhere this summer. Even here, to the twins' flat. Thought you'd be happy to see m—er, to have company."
The youngest Weasley put her hands on her hips, "You thought I'd be thrilled to hear the deep voice of a bloke greeting me by my real name?! Good call, Potter."
Harry stood and stepped towards her, "Sorry, Gin. I had this mad idea that you might've been expecting me."
Ginny raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Well, not you particularly, but you and Fred and George, y'know since all of you live here—well, not you all year, but you've been living here since summer started and—"
It was the redhead's turn to snicker. "Harry, you're rambling."
The black-haired boy took hold of her elbows. His hands slipped down to her waist. "At any rate—terribly sorry for frightening you, and since you clearly don't want company, I'll leave you and Jim by yourselves…" He gave her a quick squeeze around the waist and was poised to Disapparate (with a rather sour look on his face), when she coughed.
Ginny cleared her throat, "I never said I didn't want company. I merely stated that you frightened me."
Harry's expression brightened. "Right. In that case, d'ya mind? After all, 'tis a bit boring without the twins."
They took their respective seats on the couch.
Harry serenaded Ginny, attempting to seductively stare at her, "Come on baby, light my fire…"
He wiggled his eyebrows, causing her to laugh uncontrollably. "I don't think I'll acquiesce to that request, Harry."
"So you think my voice is deep?" Harry asked archly.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "It's not as though it's like mine, thank Merlin."
"But you agree that my voice is deep."
"Yes…as opposed to squeaky…" She narrowed her eyes at him. She noticed he was wearing a black Beatles shirt, jeans, and those rather random off-brand sneakers he always wore. His legs were stretched out, his feet on the coffee table in front of them. The shirt's rather nice. Good band (one of my favorites), good fit—no! He's my mate. So what if his shirt is two sizes too small for his buff frame… Cough.
"I seem to recall a conversation you and Hermione had at the Commencement Ball…" He stroked his chin pensively. He loved her hair up in a ponytail; her hair wasn't blocking her face. She was wearing a green tank top and shorts. Her feet were bare and tucked underneath her.
"Which one?" The Commencement Ball was a blur…dinner and chatting with everyone, dancing to The Postal Service with him…
"The one where you were discussing singers' voices. You said that even a…not-so-handsome bloke like Barry White had the potential to be sexy solely because his voice is incredibly deep."
"Yours isn't exactly of Barry White caliber, Harry…"
"But d'ya reckon that I'm sexy?"
Ginny gaped at him. "I can't believe we're even having this conversation…ridiculous…"
"You're not answering the question, Gin."
She rolled her eyes. "It's my turn to ask questions. Do you have hordes of girls following you around at school?"
"Well, now that I think about it, I suppose?"
"Do you have a muscular—but not unnaturally so—build? And bright green eyes?"
Harry grinned triumphantly, "You think I have a nice build! And eyes!"
She ignored the comment and went on, "Have you recently seen yourself on the cover of Witch Weekly as one of the magical world's most eligible bachelors under twenty-one? With—and I quote—'hair that gives him a look of being perpetually shagged'." She held up the magazine she'd been reading.
"So you do think I'm sexy. And have shag-hair."
"Yes, Harry. I reckon you're rather handsome and, perhaps, a wee bit sexy. Not 'shag-hair', since that'd be like saying you've got a mullet." She sniggered. "But if you knew that I thought so, why'd you ask about your voice?"
"To see if that was what made you think so or if you thought so because I'm just as I am."
Ginny snorted, then feigned seriousness, "D'ya reckon I'm sexy?"
"Gin, do you even have to ask?"
"I mean, is it just because I've got a femininely high voice or—"
He shoved her playfully, "You're mocking me."
"Me? Mock you? Never!" She shrugged, "Okay, maybe a bit. Now, since you thoroughly enjoyed my detailing why you're a sexy prat, why don't you return the favor to me?"
"Sure." He mirrored her shrug. "I noticed that while we're playing Quidditch—"
"Ladies and gentlemen, the secret to getting Harry Potter's attention is through Quidditch!"
"—you're a lithe thing on your broom—"
"You think I'm sexy because I can handle a broom?"
They both blushed at the unintentional double entendre.
"Er…ahem, uh…you've got a girly figure with slight curves but you're toned because of, er, Quidditch. You're the resident heartbreaker of blokes in all houses. All you've got to do is jokingly bat your eyes at me and I do anything you ask. And you've got a porcelain complexion—a good blush-detector."
"You enjoy making me blush?!" Ginny asked, almost indignantly.
Harry raised his eyebrows mysteriously and leaned mere millimeters away from her. "Maybe."
Ginny blushed.
He smiled, "See? You look positively lovely."
After a few moments passed, Harry whispered, "Gin."
"Yeah?" She whispered back.
"Let's say—"
"First, why are we whispering?"
"It gives what I have to ask you more importance." Or it's an excuse to get close to you.
"Go on, then."
"Right. Let's say you want to tell someone something. But you don't know how they'll take it. What would you do?" Harry looked at her pointedly. Like tell a girl you like her. Particularly, one who has six—well, five brothers who could beat you to a pulp.
Ginny's head snapped up and she stared straight at him. "Tell them. Definitely tell them." Or her.
Harry paused and coughed, "'Cause Moody—" Chicken. You bloody chicken!
"Mad Eye?" Ginny half-sighed. How could I think he was going to ask me…something…else… Bah. He's seventeen and I'm fifteen, it's not as though I wanted a marriage proposal! Maybe a date—no, er, of course he was going to ask about how to tell Moody something.
"Yeah, he always sings 'The Yellow Submarine' extremely off-key and never remembers all of the lyrics—"
"An incredible offense." Ginny interjected.
"I agree. So I should tell him?" Harry half-smiled almost apologetically at her.
"Yeah. Tell him." Ginny shook her head exasperatedly and went back to reading that Witch Weekly rubbish.
End flashback
Shouts came from downstairs. The girls poked their heads out of Ginny's bedroom to find the twins laughing.
"Oy, children! You whole lot!" George called up the stairs.
Hermione turned to Ginny, "You do need to tell me the Harry story after this."
"I shall." Ginny nodded. It's still vividly playing and replaying through my head, after all.
The blokes poked their heads out of Ron's bedroom. "What is it, George?" Ron yelled agitatedly.
"Post is here! Hogwarts letters are with it!" George shouted back.
Hermione flew down the stairs.
Ron turned to Harry and said, "We'll continue this chat later?"
Harry nodded emphatically and smiled weakly. He, Ron, and Ginny exchanged glances and descended the stairs.
Harry whispered to the youngest Weasleys before they reached the twins and Hermione who were standing in the kitchen, "As though she had any doubt she'd get Head Girl. If Dumbledore made anyone else Head Girl, Hermione would have a nervous breakdown!"
"As soon as she'd regain her composure, she'd hex the girl." Ginny added with a smirk.
Beside the stove, Hermione furiously tore at the seal. "Blah, blah, the usual rubbish…" She muttered and skimmed down the letter. She found nothing out of the ordinary. Her mouth was slightly agape contributing to her expression of utter confusion.
Ron approached her cautiously and slipped an arm around her waist. He squeezed her side playfully, "What's wrong, love?" Dumbledore can't possibly be mad enough to make someone else Head Girl…
Harry and Ginny winced simultaneously, expecting the worst—a Hermione meltdown, complete with human waterworks, loud nose blowing, and hiccupping incoherent sentences.
"Oh, um, nothing. Nothing a'tall." Hermione forced a smile. Her doe-like brown eyes began to water. She blinked quickly and focused on her bare feet. It's not the end of the world! Think happy thoughts. Ron and I are together, 'tis still summer, and I'm going to be a seventh year!
"Lemme see…" Before she could reply, Ron took the standard Hogwarts letter from her loose grip. "Aha!" He pried another piece of parchment that was stuck behind the supplies list. "Miss Hermione Granger, I would personally—"
Hermione's curly head snapped up. She snatched the attachment from Ron and read aloud, "Miss Hermione Granger,
I would personally like to congratulate you on obtaining the position of Head Girl at Hogwarts this year. As though it wasn't obvious you were a shoo-in for the job! Honestly. You are the witch with the highest marks in your year, as well as the entire school! You are, perhaps, the smartest witch that has ever graced Hogwarts' classrooms and corridors on night patrols.
Enjoy the remainder of your holiday.
Albus Dumbledore
P.S. Say hello to Misters Weasley (Ron, Fred, and George), Mr. Potter, and Miss Weasley for me, will you?"
"One." Ginny began counting with a blasé look on her face, "Two, thr—"
"I got Head Girl!" Hermione squealed, throwing her arms around Ron's neck and bouncing up and down. He wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her around.
The twins snorted. Fred slipped each boy's Hogwarts letter in his respective back pocket and left Ginny's on the kitchen table.
Fred said drolly, "Had you worried for a minute there, eh, Hermione?"
"Oh, bugger off, Fred!" Hermione snapped, then turned to Ron.
"Did Hermione just tell me to bugger off?! I'm positively shocked! Our ickle Ronniekins is rubbing off on her…" Fred teased.
"In more ways than one." George added.
Hermione appeared deaf to the twins' teasing. She preoccupied herself by rewarding Ron with a lingering kiss. "Thank you for detaching the pieces of parchment for me, darling."
Ron grinned, "Couldn't have you being distressed, now could I, love?" He gave her a slightly longer kiss and his grin grew wider, "Head Girl."
Ginny batted her eyelashes at Harry and feigned swooning, "Oh, Harry! Sweet pea! You're my hero! You pried a piece of parchment from the back of my standard Hogwarts letter!"
Harry puffed up his chest exaggeratedly and struck a pose with his fists on his hips, "All in a day's work, Gin! Honeybunch!"
Ginny threw her arms around Harry's neck.
He literally swept her off her feet and carried her in his arms. She giggled. Harry stared straight into her hazel eyes and faked valiance, "What say you, honeybunch? Shall we ride off into the sunset on my Firebolt?"
"Oh Harry! You're so romantic!" Ginny pantomimed fainting and inadvertently nuzzled Harry's neck. Both giggled nervously.
Ron huffed and stopped spinning with Hermione, "We're nothing like that!"
Hermione frowned and turned away from Ron to face Ginny and Harry. She leaned backward, against him, and rested the back of her head in the crook of his shoulder. "Oh, honestly! I'm not a swooning damsel in distress!"
"And I'm not a pseudo-knight!" Ron tightened his hold on Hermione's waist. She rested her arms over his.
"Your roles are reversed, then? Ron's the damsel and Hermione's the knight?" Fred asked jokingly. Hermione glared at him, so he suggested, "How's about a celebration? Dinner in London tonight?"
"And tomorrow, Fred and I shall chaperone you lot to buy school supplies." George raised an eyebrow at Harry and Ginny who were still giggling. "I reckon you should put our baby sister down, mate."
"Oh, er, right." Harry obliged.
"I'm not a baby, George." Ginny pouted.
"Which is why you're pouting like one." Fred quipped. "Anyway, all of you—go upstairs and change. In an hour, we'll meet you down here so we can take the new car that Dad got from the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department before he became surrogate Minister of Magic."
"Who's driving?" Hermione asked.
"I reckon you are, Hermione," Ginny replied. "You're the only one who can drive legally."
"Oh." Hermione shrugged and turned to exit the kitchen. "Wait! The rest of you didn't open your letters! Harry, Ron, what if one of you got Head Boy?"
"Doubt it." Harry rolled his eyes, "Bet Draco got Head Boy. His marks are exponentially higher than ours."
"Speak for yourself, mate." Ron joked.
"C'mon, Hermione. Let's see what I can do with that hair of yours—" Ginny grabbed her letter off the table and tugged on Hermione's arm.
"Leave Hermione's hair alone!" Ron called to their retreating backs as the girls scurried out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
As though in a trance, Harry followed them. Ron threw his arms up exasperatedly and ascended the stairs, as well. Fred and George were the only ones left in the kitchen.
"Glad we're out of that awkward adolescent-love stage, eh, Twin?" Fred asked.
"I agree." George nodded, "If only Harry and Gin would get together…"
"Kind of like how you and Alicia should." Fred mumbled.
"Didn't catch that." George narrowed his eyes and cracked his knuckles loudly.
Fred laughed nervously, "Heh, heh. I'm off to Angelina's! Be back in an hour!"
With that, Fred Disapparated.
Upstairs, in Ginny's room…
Ginny shut the door behind her as she and Hermione reentered her room. The door swung open an inch.
"What I was going to tell you about earlier was—" Ginny began.
"Wait! Can you hear that?" Hermione cupped her hand around her ear.
"Hear what, Hermione? Are you going mad?" Ginny's eyes widened apprehensively and she began inching backward towards the door.
"Listen, Gin. I can hear Ron and Harry—only, it's coming from the floor…" Hermione got on her knees and crawled towards the sound.
Ginny rolled her eyes and knelt down on the floor beside Hermione.
"Aha!" Hermione cried triumphantly. Her mouth dropped open in horror, "Extendable Ears! What…what's it for?"
Ginny feigned innocence, "Oh, dunno." She shrugged, "Who can we hear, anyway?"
Hermione held one up to her own ear, "Ooh! It's Ron and Harry!"
"Give me one!" Ginny demanded.
Meanwhile, in Ron's room…
Harry paced back and forth in front of Ron's desk, wringing his hands, as Ron watched from a cross-legged position on his bed. The door was slightly ajar.
"Like I was saying earlier…" Harry didn't meet Ron's gaze, which followed him as he walked from one end of the room to the other, and back again.
"You seemed to be saying a load of nothing earlier, actually." Ron rolled his eyes, "And now you're just pacing."
The black-haired boy tossed Ron a look of desperation. "I'm nervous! I—I want to tell you…but I don't know how you're going to take it."
"O…kay…" The redhead nodded slowly, still perplexed.
"I have to get it off my chest; it's been bugging me for quite sometime—"
"Then get the bloody hell on with it and stop stalling!" Ron roared impatiently.
"Alright! Alright!" Harry held his hands up in surrender. He sighed, "It's just—I don't know how to tell you this. This thing, it'll greatly alter our friendship."
Once again in Ginny's room…
Ginny and Hermione held their breath. They pressed the Enhanced Hearing Extendable Ears onto their own ears tightly.
Harry finally said, "It's—crackle—you—crackle—I'm in love with."
"WHAT?!" Ginny and Hermione shrieked.
Hermione dropped her Extendable Ear in shock. Even if the Extendable Ears crackled, it was quite clear that Harry was in love with Ron. Her boyfriend and their best mate Ron! Ginny's brother Ron! How could this have happened? How did she miss that?
Ginny gaped, Extendable Ear still dangling between her fingers. Furious, she threw down the Extendable Ear, crossing her arms across her chest. How could this have happened? All the rot about her being sexy and blatant flirting! She paused and thought a moment. His words echoed in her mind. Let's say you want to tell someone something. But you don't know how they'll take it. What would you do? He hadn't meant her at all! He meant Ron. Inhaling deeply and squeezing her eyes tightly to calm herself down, she plastered a smile on her face and marched to Ron's room.
Hermione paused. "Why were there Extendable Ears on the floor, anyway?" Her brow furrowed, "Was Ron spying on me?!" Like you were spying on him? "Or was it part of some elaborate plan…or a bet?!" Equally furious now, she stomped into Ron's room after Ginny.
What really happened…
Harry finally said, "It's that, you know, it's—Ginny, I'm in love with."
Ron's mouth dropped open. He beamed, "That's great, mate!"
Ginny appeared at the door. "RON! What the bloody hell are you doing?! You have a girlfriend—"
"Who is quite angry with you!" Hermione huffed with a stony glare.
Ginny glanced at Hermione. They nodded and closed the space between them and the blokes. Ginny stood across from Harry. Hermione faced Ron.
"Harry, I don't know where you come off trying to play with my emotions—" Ginny's voice wavered.
"Gin, I have to tell you something—" Harry grabbed for her hands, which she snatched out of his reach.
Ginny shook her head. "I know, Harry."
"You do?" He squeaked. "What do you think?"
"I think it's horrible!" She exclaimed. "How could you lead me on—"
"What're you talking about, Gin?" Ron interrupted.
"Harry's gay! And in love with you!" Ginny and Hermione shrieked simultaneously.
"Harry's gay?!" Harry and Ron yelled and exchanging bewildered glances.
"You see! You both admitted it!" Ginny's eyes brimmed with tears, "I'm off."
Ginny ran into her room, grabbed her broom, and flew out of her window.
"Look what you two did!" Hermione scolded. "Actually, I don't blame you, Harry. Ron's quite dashing—"
"Hermione…" Harry moaned miserably, "I'm not in love with Ron! I'm in love with Ginny!"
"It's alright, Harry—" She paused. "What?!"
"I said…I said that I'm in love with Ginny." He did a double-take, "How did you two hear Ron and my conversation, anyway?!"
"That—" She poked Ron in the chest with a vindictive stare, "—is what I'm angry about. Ron, how could you set up Extendable Ears—"
"Enhanced Hearing Extendable Ears." Harry corrected her.
"Right, Enhanced—" Hermione stopped again to transfer her glare to Harry. "How did you know about the—"
"I didn't set up anything, love!" Ron held his hands up. "Honestly, accusing me of—what were you accusing me of?"
She ignored him, "Harry, how did you know what kind of Ears they were?!"
"I set them up."
"You what?!" Hermione gasped.
"Part of pre-Auror training, y'know, to protect the surrogate Minister of Magic's home and such." Harry stated matter-of-factly.
Hermione groaned, "Ron, do you expect me to believe that you weren't any part of this and it wasn't part of some elaborate bet—"
"Actually, there was a bet—" Harry began.
With that, Hermione rushed down the stairs and ran out the door. Merlin knows she was shite with brooms.
"Look what you did, Harry!" Ron cried and shoved Harry. "Now, because of your stupid Ears, neither of us has a girlfriend!"
Harry opened his mouth to defend himself, but found Ron's shaking fist in front of his face. Wisely, he chose to shut it.