Hair Tie
A/N will be at the end
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Harry paced the room of requirement. He's watching the DA members practice their shield charm. Most of the members had a partner and were trying to shield themselves from a tickling charm. All but Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger.
They were standing close together speaking rapidly, with their hands making wide gestures all around them. Harry excused himself as he slid past a pair of Ravenclaws and walked toward the arguing girls.
As he got closer he could hear Ginny say, "I know the tickling charm is supposed to make practicing nonlethal, but it gives us a lack of motivation to actually shield ourselves!"
"Well, how do you propose we practice the shield charm? We can't throw dangerous curses at each other," Hermione retorts.
"Dual with me. No Unforgivables and nothing that doesn't have a counter curse," challenges Ginny.
Harry stops walking and watches as Hermione nods her head. Both girls turn their backs on one another and take five paces before turning again. Hermione gets in a dueling stance and Ginny takes her hair out of her loose ponytail.
Harry watches as she bends over and flips her hair over her head. Her hair is long and so many different shades of red, Harry's sure it would take a lifetime to look at them all. Harry had been observing Ginny from afar a lot more recently. She wasn't at all what he had thought she was. She wasn't the shy, blushing, little girl he had first seen. She was loud, pretty, outgoing, and so many other things that he didn't previously know. He figures her getting over her crush on him had something to do with it. Harry thinks they could become friends.
Harry glances at Hermione and silently critiques her dueling form. Her knees are bent too far and she will have a harder time dodging the beginning curse. He'll have to point the flaw out after the duel. For now, though, he'll let her try and fix the mistake herself. Learn from it.
His attention returns to Ginny. She's running her fingers through her hair, smoothing out the previous bumps. Harry wonders what she's doing. If she were dueling a boy, he might understand, but he doubts Hermione will get distracted by Ginny's hair and lose her focus. After Ginny gets rid of a satisfactory amount of bumps, she gathers her hair and flips it back over before she starts to ties it off with a hair tie.
Harry's mesmerized by the motion and doesn't understand why a simple task, like putting her hair in a ponytail is so time-stopping. Harry shakes his head and wonders if he was perhaps a bit dehydrated.
Ginny gets into her stance and waits for Hermione to count them down. Harry glances around to see if anyone else was watching the display and found that at least half of the DA had stopped to watch.
When Hermione finishes counting down Ginny sends two stunners at her, one after the other. Hermione barely dodges the first spell and quickly erects a shield for the second spell.
Their dual was civil for all of a minute. Their curses and jinxes started to get more creative and were thrown wildly. Harry watches a full body bind hit Colin Creevey sending him to the floor. Everyone else pulls out their wand, learning from Creevey's mistake, getting ready to shield themselves if necessary. A new shielding drill creates itself in Harry's head and he smiles. At least something good came out of this.
Harry quickly steps away when Ginny barrel-rolls to dodge a curse. She stands up quickly and her hair whips his face. He hears a small snap and is confused. The snap was too quiet to be a bone. Harry quickly surveys Ginny's body, trying to find the source of the sound. Harry watches her hair fan out and understanding washes over him. Ginny's hair tie snapped.
The duel continues. Ginny and Hermione continue to throw spells at each other, Hermione seeming to get the better of Ginny. After every dodge, Ginny would take the time to move her hair so she could see. It left a small opening for Hermione and she was taking advantage of it. Harry briefly wonders if Ginny knew what gymnastics were. She would throw herself into a roll and come out expertly. She'd be really good.
Hermione used a shield more than she would try to dodge spells and it seemed to be taking a toll on her magic. The fight would have to end soon. Either from Hermione's magical exhaustion or Ginny's distracting hair.
After an expert roll, on Ginny's part, Hermione sneaks a stunner while Ginny flips her hair to the side in what can only be, annoyance. Ginny flies backward, Hermione's spell hits its mark. The DA members clap and cheer while Harry quickly revives Ginny.
Harry helps her up and ignores her muttering about her hair. He gestures for Hermione to step forward which she does, and he does the same to Ginny. When they've stepped forward the DA members clap again.
"Ginny makes an excellent point," Harry says loudly, "learning the shield charm is vital, and using a tickling charm as an attack spell, gives us a lack of motivation to get better with the charm. A shield that can only stop a tickling charm is no good. I have a new way to practice the spell, so try and practice as much as you can outside of class to get prepared," Harry smiles at the members and excuses the meeting for the night.
Harry tries to smile at everyone as they pass. Most of them talk excitedly about the duel and the shield work they were doing. It made Harry happy to see people so excited about learning Defense. Harry looks around to see if he should talk with anyone else before he leaves and spies Ginny and Hermione arguing again.
"If my hair tie didn't break I would have beaten you," says Ginny with obvious frustration.
"That's an excuse, Ginny. I beat you, fair and square," Hermione looks at me and gestures to Ginny, obviously wanting me to tell, Ginny that she had a point. Ginny turns to me and puts her hands on her hips. She reminded him of Mrs. Weasley.
"Hermione's right, Ginny, she won fair and square. Was the reason you lost because your hair tie snapped? Yes. Does that mean you would have won if it didn't? No. You both did really well though," says Harry quickly, noticing Ginny's glare.
"Thanks, I'll talk to you guys later," Ginny says bitingly. She excuses herself and leaves the room, steam practically coming out of her ears.
Harry watches her go and wonders if he didn't say the right thing. Hermione rolls her eyes and looks back at Harry.
"Sometimes you just need to take Ginny's personality with a grain of salt. She'll apologize and be back to normal in fifteen to thirty minutes," Hermione says. Harry doesn't know why she's telling him this, but he's grateful for the knowledge.
"Can you guys repair hair ties with magic?" Harry asks Hermoine curiously.
"You can, but only a couple of times. The repairing charm repairs only the broken part of the elastic, the rest of the elastic will still be as weak as before and will break again soon. It's a pain so I always make sure to buy extra before school starts," Hermione says, as she starts picking up the cushions they had used at the beginning of the meeting. Harry helps her while he thinks.
Harry didn't know how much hair ties cost, but he doubted Ginny bought extras as Hermione did. She probably repaired the same hair tie until it wouldn't last an hour in her hair. Did other girls have this problem? Did their hair ties break and it was just a nuisance for the rest of their day? What if it broke during quidditch and they couldn't find it again?
Harry was glad his hair never got to the point of needing a hair tie. It would drive him barmy trying to keep up with it, much less trying to put it into a ponytail or bun. Harry had never been more grateful that his hair was too stubborn to be any other length.
Harry followed Hermione out of the Room of Requirement and down the seventh-floor hall. Hermione must have noticed his concentration and kept to herself. He didn't know why hair ties were getting to him, but they were. They seemed like such a useless thing, but they're anything but useless. Harry goes through his memories of the day and tries to count how many girls had had their hair up, using hair ties.
After just one day he'd counted twenty-seven. Hair ties seemed to be a must-have.
When they reached the common room, Harry told Hermione he'd stay up for Ron's detention to finish so Hermione could go to sleep. She smiled and left Harry alone in the common room. It was almost curfew and most of the students were already up in their dorms. With a new resolve, Harry sat in front of the fire and came up with a plan to sneak into Hogsmead so he could buy some hair ties. Who knows when someone will need one! They're at war!
What if someone were in an actual duel and their hair tie snapped? They'd die because they couldn't see? The thought is almost laughable, but Harry won't take any chances. Not after what happened to Cedric...
When Ron finally came back from detention, Harry walked with him up to their dorm room where Ron promptly collapsed and fell asleep. Harry quickly checked to make sure his other dorm mates were asleep before he quickly grabbed his invisibility cloak and the marauder map.
He would go buy some hair ties! He remembers how many girls had their hair up and his resolve hardens. Lots of hair ties...
Quidditch against the Slytherins was always an exciting game to play. The rivalry left an exciting buzz in the air and the anticipation from everyone at Hogwarts was tangible. Because the Slytherins played extra dirty with them, on average two players are injured during this matchup. At least that's what Hermione told him.
Harry waits for Angelina to finish her captaincy duties before asking a question that was on everyone's minds.
"Are you feeling alright?" He asks with concern. Angelina had been feeling sick since she ate breakfast that morning. Harry was pretty sure it was sabotage from the Slytherins. Those sneaky gits.
"No, but the game must go on, right?" Angelina tries to smile but goes a little green. Harry wonders if she's going to throw up.
"We have reserve chasers for a reason, Angie," one of the twins says.
"You even said that Ginny would make a great chaser next year!" The other twin says.
"So why not let her take your place?" They finish together. Harry shakes his head in amusement. He has no idea how they did that.
"I'm fine rea-" Angelina promptly throws up in front of them. Harry scrambles backward trying to dodge the projectile vomit, succeeding thankfully.
"I'll go find, Ginny, for you," Harry says quickly. He did not want to stay in the room with throw-up. He has to deal with that stuff at night when his scar gets too painful. He doesn't want to have to deal with it during the day too.
Harry runs out of the lockers and up towards the stadium seats where the reserves usually sit. Harry quickly scans the area and spots Ginny's red hair. He rushes over and tries to keep his breathing in check so he doesn't look completely winded when he reaches her.
"Gin, Angelina's sick and we need you to fill in as chaser," Harry says in one breath, which was harder than he thought. He really should be in better shape considering it's this late into the quidditch season.
Ginny's eyes light up with excitement and Harry loves the way her face instantly brightens at the thought of playing quidditch.
"Awesome! I mean... shoot is Angie okay? She seemed fine at breakfast this morning?" Her words sound nervous, but Harry's pretty sure she's not nervous about playing. He'd seen her on the pitch. She was a natural.
"Slytherin definitely did something to her, which is why we need you to come to play for her," Harry gestured for her to stand up so they can get to the locker room.
"Bugger I don't have a hair tie... Does anyone have a hai-" Harry thrusts a hair tie at her, which she takes slowly. Harry can feel himself flush all over.
"I bought some after your duel with Hermione in case anyone - during the war effort - would need one. They're pretty useful for other things too. I mean my hair isn't long enough for me to use them in that way, but that hardly matters because it's useful in other ways. Like now! You didn't have one and I did, so now we can go play quidditch and won't be late, I mean if you think about it, they could be turned into a portkey or I'm sure they could-,"
"Harry breathe," Ginny laughs at him as he takes a calming breath, trying to control his returning flush.
"Sorry, you ready to go?" He asks, his cheeks reddening despite himself.
"Yeah, I'll race you," Ginny takes off with a laugh, whooping in excitement, and Harry's caught between endearment and embarrassment. That girl was something entirely different.
Harry watches Hermione push her hair out of her face as she studies for the seventh time in the past five minutes. Harry kept telling himself that he's going to run out of hair ties before they have the chance to be used in the war effort, but if he has to watch Hermione huff and push her hair out of her face one more time he'll break and leave before she can help him with his potions essay.
"Take this," Harry takes a hair tie from his wrist and places it on her textbook.
"Why do you have a hair tie?" Hermione asks with wide eyes. Ron gives him a weird look from the other side of the table and Harry shrugs.
"They're dead useful and everyone seems to always be needing them," he shrugs again and continues, "I thought they'd be needed during the war. They seem to disappear as soon as you need them you know?"
"Exactly! The only problem is, this hair tie is too small. My hair will make this tie snap so fast you'll get whiplash trying to comprehend it," He'd never thought of that. He assumed they would work with every type of hair. They were stretchy for a reason, weren't they?
"Can't you just magically make it a certain way so it will work?" Harry asks confused. He wouldn't know a spell for it, but surely Hermione would. Right?
"I never thought about trying that," Hermione mutters to herself as she grabs her wand. Two minutes later and a few snapped hair ties, Hermione had transfigured the band to be thicker and bigger. Harry was going to need to buy some more hair ties. He'll have to remember Hermione's spell just in case he needs it in the future.
"Harry mate, why are you acting like such a girl?" Ron asks. Hermione glares at Ron and Harry flushes. He seemed to be doing that a lot more lately.
"I'm not acting like a girl. They're fun to play with, see," Harry grabs his last hair tie and slingshots it at Ron's face. The hair tie hits him in the eye making him yelp, and Harry laughs. Hermione giggles too and soon Ron and Harry were shooting the hair tie at each other making a game out of it.
"Okay I admit they're kind of fun to play with, but maybe disillusion them so you don't look like a girl," Ron says, pointing to Harry's wrist where he'd placed the tie. He did find it kind of weird when he saw himself with multiple hair ties on his wrist when he looked in a mirror.
"That's a good idea, I should probably teach that spell to the rest of the DA too. It's wicked useful," Ron gives Harry a high five and Hermione rolls her eyes. Boys will be boys.
"Harry, can I borrow a hair tie?" Ginny asks at the dinner table.
Forks pause in midair and all the adults turn to Harry. Harry flushes and grabs a hair tie from his wrist and hands it to Ginny.
"Thank you."
Harry stares at his lap as everyone continues to stare at him. He's distracted from his embarrassment, however, when he sees Ginny stand so she can put her hair up. In fifteen seconds she has her hair in a messy bun on the top of her head. Harry always liked it better when Ginny's hair was down, but he'd never tell her that. Watching her put her hair up was great too.
"Do you always carry a hair tie on your wrist?" Molly asks. Her voice is curious and Harry can't blame her. He's the only guy at Hogwarts that carries hair ties with him at all times. At least that he knows of.
"Yeah," Harry answers, he picks at his food hoping they'll drop the subject. He should know better though because the twins both go on and on about how all the girls talk to Harry asking for hair ties. Harry rolls his eyes. They make it sound like he's using the hair ties as an excuse to pick up chicks!
"I used to carry a hair tie or two on me," Sirius says with a smile, "I of course didn't let other people borrow them very often, because they were for me!" He laughs loudly and everyone else joins him.
"You obviously don't need any advice with the ladies Harry, I wish I had thought of it myself!" Harry's godfather fries at Harry wickedly.
Harry rolls his eyes. If there was a subject at school that he needed to know more about, the subject of witches would be at the top of his list. They could have a seven-year course at Hogwarts and Harry's sure he still wouldn't know a thing.
"There was this one time at Hogwarts, it was my sixth year and I started fancying this witch the year above me. She was the prettiest girl, the school had seen in probably a century. Of course, she was nothing compared to Ginny and Hermione here," Sirius pauses his story to wink at the two witches, making them both blush.
"I had it bad! James told me if I didn't watch myself around her I'd end up falling in love and becoming like him! Ha, as if! Nobody had it as bad as, James! Anyways, it was around Christmas that I decided to put a plan into motion! I'd start by saying hi in the hallways. I'd do that for two days before I'd start chatting her up and flirting. Then after three days of that, I'd have her under my spell and into a broom closet!"
Harry snorts along with all the other boys in the room. The girls all roll their eyes, Hermione's and Molly's being the most exaggerated. Ginny seems just as amused as the boys, but of course, found his plan slightly ridiculous.
"The first five days were as easy as snogging. Effortless, enjoyable, arousing, and addicting. She had long blonde hair, blue eyes, curves like you've never seen and she wasn't too short either. I flirted so shamelessly that fifth day, I thought I'd have her a day early," Sirius chuckles and shakes his head at himself.
"Then he got a detention because he was caught snogging a Hufflepuff after curfew," Remus says with a snort. The twins howl with laughter at Sirius' indignant, "Hey!"
"This is my story Moony!" Sirius whines. Everyone continues to laugh and Sirius waits for them all to quiet down with a fake pout on his lips. Molly has a disapproving frown on her face, but Harry sees her lips twitch with amusement. She thought it was funny! Harry's laugh lasts longer than the rest because of his realization. There was just something about Molly trying to hide her amusement that makes everything funnier.
When his laughter finally stops Sirius gives them a look and says, "Are you finished taking the mickey out of me?"
"For now," is all Remus says.
"Finally! The day after my detention, the day I was going to finally snog the prettiest girl at Hogwarts, I decided to wear my luscious locks in a bun at the base of my neck. I didn't want anything getting in my way of snogging that girl. I flirted with her every chance I got and finally, classes were over and I could see her for longer than five minutes," Sirius rearranges his silverware causing a small amount of suspense to hang in the air.
"I was so excited! I had been so patient and delicate with this plan! It was the longest I had spent trying to seduce a woman before snogging her. I usually would talk for one day and then flirt and snog the next. It was a seamless plan, it even worked on the Hufflepuff, but I knew this girl would take more time and effort to seduce."
"I asked her if she'd take a stroll with me in the castle. She of course accepted my offer. I offered my elbow like a true gentleman and started leading her to my favorite broom closet. It's on the fifth floor, spacious, and it has a bench," Sirius winks again, and the twins' wolf whistle.
"Before I had the chance to pull her into the broom closet, she asked me if I had another hair tie. I was caught off guard but I hoped it meant she wanted nothing in the way of our evening together as well. I gave her my backup hair tie and watched as she flipped her hair to put it in an updo."
"My anticipation grew as she slowly did her hair. I could smell her fruity shampoo and perfume. I was ready to swallow her whole! She had my nether regions stirring before we had even begun,-"
"Sirius Black! Not in front of my children!" Molly cried. Harry watched as all the Weasleys tried to hide their laughter. They were not unfamiliar with these 'stirrings'.
"The children are almost adults they're fine, now where was I? Ah, yes, I could practically taste her. She flipped her hair back and pointed her finger at me, curling it in a, come hither fashion. So aroused by watching her put her hair up, my knees locked up, and... I fainted," Harry snorts in unbelief, and then seeing that Sirius wasn't joking, starts to laugh louder than he ever had before.
Everyone joins in, including Sirius.
"I never," hahaha, "never," hahaha, "let a girl," hahaha, "borrow a hair tie," haha, "before we snogged again!"
The laughter makes the room vibrate and Harry can't remember ever hearing a funnier story. The laughter takes away some of Grimmauld Place's gloom.
It's a good thing Harry was almost immune to watching girls put their hair up. The only girl that could still have any effect on him when they did their hair up was Ginny. There was a feeling of anticipation whenever she put her hair up and Harry had to remind himself that there was nothing to anticipate. He'd get used to it eventually, he was sure.
Harry had never been more furious in his life. Umbridge had no right to ban him from Quidditch! Draco had started everything as always! Harry stormed through the castle in a blind rage, no destination in mind, only a need to blow off some steam. (I know he was banned after his first match in the books but I hate how he was only allowed the one match his fifth year)
Harry had somehow made it all the way to the Ravenclaw tower before someone tried to stop him.
"Harry, can I borrow a hair tie? I've got practice in an hour and don't want to try and figure out the common room riddle," Cho asks, oblivious to Harry's rage.
"No, you can't borrow a hair tie," is Harry's crisp reply. He continues to storm his way up the tower until he's cornered himself with nowhere else to go.
"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Cho asks. Harry spins around and glares at her. Why had she followed him?
"Umbridge just banned me from quidditch!" Harry seethes.
Oh..." Cho breathes out. She wrings her hands together suddenly looking uncomfortable.
Yeah, oh," Harry kicks the wall next to him and curses. That bleeding hurt!
"Why are you still here?" Harry asks her when he looks up and sees she hasn't moved.
"Why are you still here?" She asks with a small smile. Did she seriously just ask that? How did Harry manage a whole date with her?
"Because if I go back down I have a higher chance of running into people," Harry says. Wasn't that obvious?
"Well coming up here wasn't the best idea either. Our common room is literally down the corridor," Cho raises an eyebrow at him and Harry wants to hex it off.
"Harry! There you are!" Harry watches Ginny race up the corridor and silently seethes some more. How did she find him?
"What do you want Ginny? Do you need a hair tie too?" His sarcastic remark is slightly rude and Harry instantly regrets it. Too late to take it back though.
"Why would I ask for a hair tie while you're in the middle of a rage? If I really needed one I'd have just taken it from you," Ginny smirks at him and Harry tries to process her statement.
"Take it from me? And how would you do that?" Harry asks with a huff.
"Like this," Ginny mutters. She flips her head over and starts to gather her hair. Ginny's flowery shampoo takes over his senses and his anger melts away as he focuses on the pleasant smell. When Ginny's finished gathering her hair she stands upright again and walks up to Harry until she's right in front of him.
"I'm just going to take a hair tie okay?" She says more than asks. Ginny holds her hair in place with one hand and steals a hair tie with the other. She finishes tying her hair up and smiles at Harry. He comes out of his trance and stares at her in shock. She did not just do that to him!
"Thanks for the hair tie, Harry! It will make eating lunch easier! Speaking of lunch, that's why I came to find you! We can't have you brooding on an empty stomach!" She grabs his wrist again and tugs him down the corridor. Harry has no other choice but to be strung along; he doesn't think he can put two and two together right now.
"Bye, Chang! I think your practice is starting soon! You might want to put your hair up and get down there!" Harry almost snorts out loud at her remark. Harry didn't know Ginny disliked Cho. Interesting.
Harry wasn't the biggest fan of being stuck on the sidelines. He liked to be in the middle of the action. So when it was time for Gryffindor to play Ravenclaw Harry wasn't in the best of moods. So after breakfast when Angelina was freaking out about losing her lucky hair tie, Harry didn't want to hear it.
He was about to ask her to take it somewhere else when Ginny came over with the biggest smile on her face.
"Don't worry about it, Angie! I always steal one of Harry's hair ties before a game or anything important and I always have great luck! Besides who else to get quidditch luck from then Harry? He's only lost once, and that was because of Dementors!" Ginny's grin is infectious.
"Harry, you wouldn't happen to have a hair tie I could have, do you?" Angelina asks.
"And of course one for me?" Ginny asks.
Harry sighs exaggeratedly and holds out his wrist to Ginny.
"Go on and take it," he says, rolling his eyes. Ginny smiles and says finite incantatem. Four hair ties pop into existence and Ginny's smile widens.
"How do you go through them so fast?" Harry asks Ginny.
"I have a knack for losing things," Ginny says with a shrug.
Harry's eyebrows raise and Angelina laughs.
"She's not joking Harry. I went to their house at the beginning of last summer and I swear she would ask her mum where she put something or other at least twice a day!" Harry wonders why he never noticed?
He thinks back through all his time at the burrow and then he remembers the jumper incident before his second year, Molly had said it was on the cat, didn't she? And then when they were trying to get to King's Cross they had to turn back three times! Ginny was definitely one of the people who forgot something.
"You do lose things, don't you?" Harry asks with a small chuckle.
"That's an understatement. I lose everything!" She flips her hair over and Harry is once again overcome with Ginny's flowery fragrance. Harry breathes in deeply and his body starts to relax. All of his tension leaves him and a small smile settles on his face.
Ginny has her hair in a high ponytail when she's finished. Harry checks out of Angelina and Ginny's conversation as he watches Ginny pull her hair to the other side of her head, exposing the creamy white skin of her neck. Harry gulps and quickly excuses himself from their conversation.
"How did you guys get out of Umbridge's office?" Harry asks, turning to Ron and Ginny who had just run into them.
"Ginny got a hold of Draco's wand and got him with a bat bogey hex! It was brilliant! The DA took control easily after that," Ron was looking at his sister proudly. Harry had never seen Ron look at his sister like that. It was... refreshing.
"So, how can we help?" Ginny asks with a wide smile. She was practically glowing with pride at her brother's praise.
"You've all done more than you should have. Thank you, but I'll take it from here," Harry starts walking up to the Castle trying to come up with a plan on how to get to the ministry. He could fight his way to Umbridge's floo, or he could fly his broom to Hogsmead and use a floo there?
"Harry! What do you mean? We want to help save Sirius!" That voice is Ginny's.
"Harry, how do you plan on making it to the ministry?" That one is Hermione.
"Harry, I've been by your side for the past four years! I'm not being left behind now!" That one was Ron's.
"I guess the DA meant nothing then," that one was Luna... Harry pauses.
"Let me borrow a hair tie," Neville says. Harry turns around and raises his eyebrow.
"Neville, you want a hair tie?" Harry looks at his wrist and his panic starts to rise again. He'd wasted way too much time. Neville grabs his wrist and pulls on a hair tie. Instead of pulling it off, he lets it flick back down, causing Harry's wrist to sting.
"Ow that hurt!" Harry exclaims, rubbing his wrist.
"Good! We're coming with you. We were all a part of the DA! You taught us all defense for a reason. We're ready!" Harry had never heard such determination from Neville.
"Fine, but Ginny, Luna, you guys have to stay. You're too young!" Harry would make sure at least they stayed safe.
"Oh, no," Ron mutters. Harry glances at him, a question on the tip of his tongue, but Ginny beats him to it.
"Young? I'm one year younger than you guys! I'm three years older then you were when you kicked Riddles are in your first year! I'm one of the best fighters in the DA! If Ron's going, then so am I! Stop being a bloody fool, Harry. You need as much help as you can get!" Harry raises his hands in surrender. She starts to advance on him, and Harry tries to back away. She didn't lie when she said she was one of the best fighters in the DA.
"Okay, okay! You can come!" She doesn't stop advancing on him. Harry decides to just take whatever she's going to give him, so they can leave. Harry closes his eyes, ready to get punched in the face. It never comes. Instead, he feels her body, closer to his than ever before. He keeps his eyes shut and breathes through his nose shallowly. Her flowery scent fills his nose and his mind focuses on it and it alone. She enchants him and she doesn't even know it.
Ginny takes his arm and snaps a hair tie against it as Neville had done earlier. Harry's full-body enchantment ends abruptly and he winces. Ginny pulls a hair tie from his wrist and whispers, "Can't go without my good luck charm."
"What happened to your last one?" Harry asks with a scowl, "Didn't you take one yesterday?"
"I used up all the luck and I didn't punch you just barely! I think that earns be a hair tie," Ginny says with a shrug, stepping away from him. A sense of warmth he hadn't recognized, leaves him.
"And how could you possibly use up all the luck in one day?" Harry asks. He shakes his head at himself. Why was he still asking questions? He needed to save Sirius!
"Cho was too busy glaring at me to see where she was going and tripped," Ginny snorts and then waves her hand in a don't bother asking gesture. Harry doesn't, instead, he turns to the rest of his friends.
"Okay, well, how do you guys purpose getting to the ministry?"
4 hours later in the hospital wing at Hogwarts...
"Harry, are you awake?" A soft voice asks from the side of his bed. Ginny.
Harry tries to stay as still as possible, hoping she'll think he's asleep. Harry feels the bed shift under a new weight and Harry hopes she doesn't plan on staying there for long. He just wants to be left in peace. Just for a little while. Everyone was asking questions and saying how sorry they were about Sirius...
Tears start to fill Harry's eyes and he silently wills them away. Harry never cried. He had learned from a young age that crying never got you anywhere. And if it did, it only got worse. When Cedric died, the closest Harry ever got to crying was the hysterical blabbering he'd done when he returned from the graveyard with his body. No tears fell. He was frozen, just like he had been when Voldemort had said, 'Kill the spare.'
Sirius was different though... he was the only family he had left, and he only had him for two years...
"Harry I know you're awake," Harry almost startled when Ginny spoke again. He forgot she was there.
Harry sighs and opens his eyes. Ginny is wearing the standard hospital dressing gown, her hair is down and the darkroom makes it look a few shades darker. It reminds him of blood. Harry shudders and closes his eyes again. Ginny and blood should never mix.
He almost made them mix...
Fenrir had grabbed her when the Death Eaters had surrounded Harry. That beast had his teeth at her throat... he'd pulled on her hair, he'd-.
"Harry, thank you," Ginny whispers. Harry's eyes open and this time he makes eye contact with Ginny. Had she just thanked him? She'd almost been killed because of him!
"What?" Harry's voice cracks and he winces. He sits up in bed and watches as Ginny's eyes follow his every move.
"I said, thank you," she repeats.
"I heard that, but why are you saying thank you? I almost got you killed!" His voice raises to a level not appropriate for the middle of the night and is harsher than he intended.
"You saved me when Bellatrix and Lucius had us cornered in the room of prophecies. You tugged me out of the way of a spell. I could've died if you hadn't been there," her voice is small and almost awed.
"You wouldn't have been there in the first place if it weren't for me," Harry shakes his head at himself. Why did he let her go?
"I would have followed you, you know," her voice pierces Harry's soul. What if she'd followed him and he hadn't been there?
"So do I need to keep you with me at all times so you don't get into trouble?" His voice is sarcastic. It's also scratchy, and his throat is dry. Is there any water anywhere? Harry looks around and suddenly a glass of water is in front of him waiting. He looks around to see where it came from, but all he sees is Ginny.
"There's no ice, sorry," Ginny says with a shrug.
"How did you know I wanted water?" Harry asks perplexed. This girl literally just read his mind! Could she always do that?
Harry must make a funny face because Ginny laughs softly.
"You, Harry Potter, have a sixth sense when protecting people, I have a sixth sense for what Harry Potter needs," Ginny shrugs her shoulder like she'd just told him she preferred apple turnovers more than treacle tart.
"And what do I need?" Harry asks.
"A hug, and since you don't accept those, I figured the next best thing would be to sit with you," Ginny looks at her lap and wrings her hands together. Harry stares at her and wonders how on earth she could possibly know anything about what he needed when he didn't even know what he needed.
"How do you know these things?" He asks. If he's being honest with himself, Ginny knowing what he needs scares him more than Voldemort.
"When you're too shy to talk to a guy, you usually just watch him from afar. I learned a lot about you during my first two years of Hogwarts. I stopped paying attention my third year though. Figured out that I was acting like a stalker, wised up, and moved on with my life," Harry stares at her not knowing how to feel about the new information.
Instead of saying anything, he just watches her for a second. She bows her head under his scrutiny and shifts her back like she's in pain. Harry wants to hit himself. She'd just gone through a fight with a whole bunch of death eaters. She probably needs a backrest!
Harry pushes the covers off of him and scoots over. He pats the bed as an invitation for Ginny to move next to him which she accepts with a grateful nod. When she situates herself next to him, Harry shuts his eyes and leans his head back. He should thank her for keeping him company. It was hard to think about anything but her when she was this close to him.
"I'm sorry," Ginny says, breaking the silence.
"Sorry for what?" Harry mumbles tiredly. Her scent was relaxing him more than a calming drought.
"I lost another hair tie. This time I know where it went too!" The bed shakes and Harry assumes she's shaking her head.
"Where did it go?" Harry asks curiously.
"Fenrir yanked it out of my hair before he disapparated. I'm positive he was trying to yank me with him, but he only got my hair tie. Those things are luckier for me than Felix Felicis could ever be," Ginny laughs softly while Harry freezes with horror. Fenrir was going to take her with him? How could she laugh about that?
His soul fills with guilt and he can't believe he'd been so foolish. He'd almost lost everyone close to him, and he did lose his godfather. He should have known better! Why didn't he try and get a hold of Remus or Arthur? Why didn't he remember his mirror?
"Harry, lie down and try to get some sleep," Ginny whispers.
"I don't want to," Harry whispers back.
"Okay."
Ginny doesn't push him and he couldn't be more grateful. Ginny grabs his wrist where the hair ties lie and starts to play with them.
"You can take one if you want," Harry mumbles tiredly. He wanted to sleep, but if he slept would he dream? Would he relive his living nightmare in his sleep?
"I'll let you keep them. For luck," Ginny kisses his cheek and leaves his bed. She disappears under the covers of a bed on the opposite side of the hospital wing. Harry stares at the mold of Ginny's body under the covers and blushes. She kissed his cheek.
Harry watches Ginny leave to find Dean with a tightening chest. They'd been writing to each other all summer according to Ron. Harry thought that maybe Ginny might still like him, but she obviously didn't have any feelings for him, I mean she's going out with Dean!
Harry starts walking to find a compartment with some people he knows. He looks into a compartment to find Ginny taking a hair tie off of Deans' wrist. The sight confuses him to the point of freezing up in the middle of the half-opened door. Dean does not carry hair ties on his wrist...
"You good Harry?" Dean asks, spotting him at the door.
Harry clears his throat, "Yeah, yeah, I just thought I saw something weird. I'll just be leaving," Harry looks at Ginny with eyebrows raised before he closes the compartment door. So much for his hair ties being lucky.
He stands outside the compartment door for a few seconds before leaving to continue his search for a new compartment. His thoughts are on Ginny, though. Harry knew he fancied her, he knew as soon as he got out of the hospital wing last summer, that he fancied her. She's everything he could possibly want in a witch. He messed up though. He was so stuck in his own world that he missed the chance to be with her.
He'd lost his godfather and he needed him now more than ever. Who else could he possibly talk to about all of this? It seems he only has himself to blame, for everything.
Harry's the one who got Sirius killed, he's the one who didn't recognize he fancied Ginny, he's the one who carries around hair ties! Last year, Dean said carrying hair ties was stupid! Hypocrite! Dirty rotten, good for nothing, DORM MATE!
Harry finally finds a compartment with Neville and Luna which he promptly joins. They greet each other and all sit in silence. Harry knew he made it awkward but he didn't know how to undo it!
"Uh, thanks for coming to the ministry with me last year... your support meant a lot. I'm sorry about your dad's wand Neville," Harry wrings his hands together in his lap, avoiding eye contact with them.
"Anytime, Harry! I learned a lot and I finally got my own wand! I've only used it a couple o' times but it's worked really well! My grandma even said she thought I was more like my dad every day!" Neville had a happy smile on his face and Harry was happy for him. Neville deserved some happiness.
"And I got to explore the Department of Mysteries! I didn't see the crumple-horned Snorkak but I'm sure they're in there somewhere! Now I don't have to go through those rooms again!" Luna's voice is airy and aloof. Harry doesn't know whether to say you're welcome or to say he's sorry she didn't find the mythical creature.
"Um, better luck next time, right?" Harry looks to Neville who just shrugs.
"Thank you, Harry," Luna says happily.
Harry's glad they weren't mad at him for that disaster. He had the hardest time confronting Mrs. Weasley after the incident. He didn't want her to be mad at him. Of course, she just hugged him and fussed over the rips in his shirt.
"So, did you guys hear about the new potions professor?" Neville asks.
"Yeah, I met him! He's the size of a walrus and a bit of a nut job," Harry laughs and gestures outside the compartment.
"I think he's on the train,"he says. Neville groans.
"Potions will always be such a pain! Why can't we have a good potions master?" Neville asks. Luna pats his arm and pulls out the latest edition of the Quibbler.
"Have you seen Dean?" Harry asks Neville.
"No, not yet," Neville says, surprised.
"He's wearing hair ties on his wrist now," Harry smiles and Neville laughs. Dean had made a big deal out of it last year. He hadn't been as quick to accept the hair ties as Ron had.
"How did you find that out?" Neville asks when he's done laughing.
"He handed one to Ginny," Harry mutters with a scowl.
"Hahahahahaha! He stole your number one hair tie stealer huh?" Neville laughs longer and harder than Harry had ever seen.
"What's so funny about it?" Harry grumbles. Harry crosses his arms over his chest and shrinks in his seat.
"You guys only became friends because Ginny always lost her hair ties! I always thought you started wearing them for Ginny, but when you never asked her out, I thought I'd read the situation wrong. It turns out I didn't though! You're jealous!" Harry's scowl deepens and even Luna chuckles at him.
"Who's jealous of what?" Harry turns to the compartment door to find Ron and Hermione standing there.
Harry looks at Neville with a desperate look. He could not tell Ron and Hermione! He makes a cut-it-out gesture with his hand, but Neville just smiles evilly.
"Harry's jealous of Dean because he gave Ginny a hair tie," Ron snorts and Hermione grins happily. Harry stares at Neville in unbelief.
"Who are you and what have you done with the real Neville?" Neville just shrugs and Harry sighs. Great.
"Don't worry about it Harry, your hair ties are lucky remember?" Hermione says.
"Speaking of hair ties, can I borrow one Harry? I forgot to take one out of my trunk before I got on the train," Hermione smiles when Harry hands her a hair tie, already transfigured.
"Thank you," Hermione flips her hair over and Harry hears Ron sigh. Harry almost laughs, Ron has it so bad for Hermione.
At the Feast...
"What happened?" Ginny asks appalled.
Harry sits down next to her and ignored her question.
"What did I miss?" Harry asks taking a sip from his goblet.
"Auditions to be the Bloody Baron happened a couple centuries ago mate," Rons says with a snort.
"Do you have a hair tie, Harry?" Ginny asks.
Harry nods his head quickly, causing his nose to throb. He holds out his arm which Ginny grabs. She pulls on a hair tie and lets go causing it to snap against his wrist.
"Ow! It's poor manners to injure the injured, you know!" Harry takes the cloth that was held up to his nose off and rubs his wrist. Hair ties are dangerous!
Ginny grabs the bloody cloth from him, cleans it, and casts auguamenti. She then holds the cool, wet cloth to his nose. Harry sighs and leans toward her unconsciously.
Ginny cleans off the remaining blood from his nose and then cleans it again. She puts some ice in it and holds out her hand to Harry.
"What?" Harry asks cautiously.
"Hair tie?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.
Instead of offering his arm like he usually does, Harry takes it off his own wrist and hands it to her. Ginny must understand why he hands her the hair tie himself because she smirks and finishes tying off the ice into the cloth. She hands it back to him and Harry wishes she'd hold it on his nose for him.
Harry sets the ice on the table and grabs some food so he can eat. His nose was fine.
"Don't be such a baby Harry," Ginny chides. She grabs the cloth and holds it to his nose. Harry wasn't expecting her to hold it to his nose and bumps into her hand harshly.
"Bloody buggering hell!" Harry hisses. His eyes water and he blinks trying to clear them.
"Merlin, Harry, I'm sorry," Harry waves her off and grabs the ice from her hand. He'd do it himself if she was going to torture him in every possible way imaginable today.
"Harry, what happened?" Hermione prompts.
"Draco's what happened," Harry mutters.
"What happened? Did you ask him for a hair tie and he said he'd rather have one of Deans'?" Ron laughs and Hermione giggles. Harry kicks Ron under the table causing him to yelp.
"What?" Ginny asks.
"Nothing," Harry says quickly, glaring at his friends, daring them to say anything.
"Right..."
"I need you at the top of your game Ron," Harry paced in front of his team. He was giving them the game plan before he had to leave for his detention.
"Ravenclaw's chasers cut through Hufflepuffs defense like butter! Since Ginny isn't playing chaser they'll try to take advantage of Dean's lack of practice. I need you to be careful with that, Ron. They'll slice through Dean's defense and have their pick of hoops to shoot at!" Dean was glaring at Harry while he spoke, but Harry didn't care. Dean was mediocre at best, but he didn't have another player with any experience!
"Jimmy, Ritchie, I need the bludgers away from Ginny. She needs to be able to focus on the snitch and the snitch only. Plus, those Ravenclaw chasers need to be distracted. Katie, Damelza, I need you guys to pick up any slack. You need to play, a tight defense and an even tighter offense. Losing Ginny was a big hit to our offense!"
Harry continues to pace and tries to think of any other things he needed to bring to their attention.
"Katie you're acting as captain in my place. You have the most experience and I can't have Ginny or Ron distracted. That means I need you to make sure everyone is doing their jobs and you're in charge of giving the pre-game pep talk," He pauses and turns to the team. He thinks he's hyperventilating because Ginny stands up from her spot on the couch and pulls him until he's sitting in her place.
"Breathe Harry! It's not our first quidditch match," she looks at him worriedly and takes a seat on the arm of the couch.
"You're acting like Wood," Katie says with a snort.
"I'm glad you brought that up, Katie," Harry tries to stand up again, but Ginny grabs his shoulder and pulls him back into a sitting position. Harry scowls at her, but she crosses her arms over her chest unperturbed. Harry follows her movements and quickly pulls his eyes back up to her face. He tries to see if she noticed his staring, but all she does is raises an eyebrow at him.
"Ahem, you were saying Harry?" Katie asks. Harry whips around to face the rest of the team to find Katie smiling knowingly at him, Demelza giggling, Dean glaring, Jimmy and Ritchie were staring at him and Ron... Ron looked like he was thinking very hard about something. Better stop him from getting anywhere.
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Harry shouts. Everyone jumps and Harry watches as everyone quickly forgets about his staring and instead, try to calm their now racing hearts.
"Stay vigilant on and off the pitch," Harry checks his watch and scowls. He needed to leave for his detention.
"Good luck on the pitch. I reckon I won't see you until after the game has been over and won. I expect the cup to be on this table when I get back," Harry looks at each player individually and gives them all a nod.
"Dismissed," Harry mutters. The team all get up, most of them giving him pats on the back. Ron pulls him into a manly hug and claps him on the back with enough force to knock Hagrid forward three inches. Which is a real feat if you think about it.
Everyone leaves to other various spots in the common room except for Ginny. She stays in her spot on the couch arm. When Harry finally turns to her, she stands and walks over to him. Harry watches her carefully. She had been sending him mixed signals lately. She'd been simultaneously acting angry and nice all week. Longer than that actually... She'd been acting like this since she broke up with Dean.
Harry just really wanted to kiss her, but she always seemed to get angry at him as soon as he thought about making his move. Of course, her being angry at him, frankly, turned him on, but he didn't want them to get together while she was angry at him!
Ginny wraps her arms around Harry's waist in a hug that has Harry's knees go a little weak. He wraps his arms around her back and lays his head on her hair. Her scent washes over him and his body relaxes and tenses simultaneously. She has him feeling all sorts of things.
"The team will be fine," Ginny mumbles into his chest.
Harry pulls away from her, aware of the fact, that they were in the middle of the common room. He keeps her close and stares at her face. She looks determined and a little nervous.
Harry's eyes drop to her lips and he wonders if it would be romantic if he gave her a kiss good luck. Would she even kiss him back? His eyes go back to hers to see her staring at his lips too. His throat goes dry and he shakes his head. They are standing in the middle of the common room. Now is not the time. Plus he's already late for his detention.
"Do you want a hair tie?" Harry asks with a small smile. He gives himself a mental fist bump. No voice crack!
"Someone once told me they were good luck, and I haven't died since I put them on so, they must be. Right?" Ginny smiles widely at his comments, and Harry swears that the common room gets five times brighter.
"You read my mind," Ginny says. She trails her hand down his arm, taking ahold of his wrist. She takes her time choosing which hair tie and when she does choose one, she pulls it off slowly and squeezes his hand before she pulls away to fix her hair. Harry glances at his watch, he needs to leave right now, or else he'll have detention on Monday too!
He opens his mouth to say goodbye but when Ginny flips her hair over and starts putting her hair in a high ponytail he swears time freezes. If time is frozen he doesn't have to leave quite yet right?
"Don't you have somewhere you need to be Harry?" Ginny asks distractedly. She wraps her hair in a messy bun and conjures a pin to put in it.
"Yeah," Harry breathes out. He blinks a couple times and tries to clear his head. There's something about Ginny's hair that could enchant him. The smell, the color, the length...
Harry grabs her right hand and kisses her palm. He tries to come up with something romantic to say, maybe just say good luck? Instead, he says, "Catch the Snitch or die trying."
Ginny laughs and pushes him away, good-naturedly.
"Go before he makes it worse," Harry smiles at her and leaves the common room. As soon as the portrait swings shut behind him he tries to remember if he told the beaters to make sure Ginny didn't get hurt...
After Harry's Detention
Harry almost runs out of the dungeons when Snape finally dismisses him. He had missed lunch and dinner, but his hunger was easily forgotten. He needed to get back to the common room! Who won? Did Ginny catch the snitch? Was anyone hurt?
When he realized nobody was out and about the castle, he started running. Filch, be damned, he needed to know who won! Detention had been absolute torture! Snape had him doing mindless work that had let his imagination come up with a thousand scenarios where Gryffindor lost and Ginny was in the hospital.
When Harry finally reaches the Gryffindor tower he yells out the password to the Fat Lady. He's out of breath and his hands are on his knees. The Fat Lady gives him a disapproving look and slowly opens making Harry's nerves short circuit.
When the portrait hole is finally open Harry is hit with a blast of noise and he rushes in. The noise stops suddenly when Harry enters the common room. Harry looks to the table in front of the fireplace where he told them to put the cup. His eyes zero in on the silver cup and a broad grin lights his face. People cheer and clap, seeming to start their celebration over.
People pull him further into the common room and Harry hears Ron yell, "We won! We won! Four hundred and fifty to one hundred and forty!" Ron lifts the cup in triumph and Harry quickly glances around the room, trying to find Ginny.
There she was, running towards him, a hard blazing look on her face. She throws herself at him and he catches her, spinning them around with her momentum. He places her on the floor and without thinking, without planning it, without worrying about the fifty people watching, he leans down and kisses her.
Harry can feel her smile into the kiss and it makes his heartbeat three times faster. He presses his lips against hers harder and dips her backward before pulling away. He grins down at her and pecks her lips again before he looks up.
People are cheering and whistling but his eyes search for Ron's. He ignores the glares from Romilda and Dean, ignores the cheers from Neville and Seamus, ignores Hermione's clapping and smiley face, and finally, he finds Ron.
Ron seems to snap out of his frozen state and gives him a small nod as if to say, 'if you must.'
Harry smiles widely and looks back down at Ginny who's still in his arms.
"You better not lose that hair tie, it's the luckiest one yet," Ginny throws her head back in a laugh and Harry can't believe his luck. His team won the quidditch cup, he finally kissed Ginny, and Ron wasn't going to beat him up!
"I'll make it a little shrine in my room I swear," Harry laughs, and because he can, he kisses her again.
"Would you let me escort you on a walk through the grounds?" Harry asks, holding out his arm.
"That would be lovely," Ginny says, taking his arm.
As soon as they leave the portrait hole Ginny has him pushed up against a wall.
"I've been waiting way too long for you to kiss me," Ginny says, her eyes boring into his, setting his soul ablaze.
"And how long have you been waiting exactly?" Harry asks cheekily.
"Months, Years, Eons," Harry laughs and pecks her lips.
"You've had two boyfriends missy. It didn't matter how long I liked you for, you kept being stolen from me," Ginny snorts,
"Yeah right," she mumbles.
Harry presses his lips to hers and really kisses her this time. His lips set the pace in a slow deep kiss, that has his brain-melting. When the kiss starts to speed up, Harry flips their positions so Ginny's leaning against the wall and Harry can get a better angle. When Ginny's tongue glides along his lower lip his brain short circuits and his hands pull her by her lower back, closer to him. He just wants her closer. There's not enough contact.
They continue to snog and Harry swears he doesn't know how it happened, but soon Ginny's hair is falling into his hands and her hair tie falls to the ground, snapped.
They stare at it and Harry almost wants to cry. He really liked that hair tie.
"I guess I was getting a bit too lucky," Harry says with a small laugh. Ginny's laughter joins his and he pulls her close.
"I was going to take you for a walk wasn't I?"
"Doesn't walking mean snogging in some foreign language?" Ginny breathes against him.
"I'm sure it does..." Harry murmurs, before pressing his lips to hers again.
"How do you, think we should do it then?" Harry asks Ginny.
"I say, we do it in a broom closet and a whole lot of locking charms," Ginny replies with a shrug.
"Shouldn't we try to make it romantic though? The first time should be romantic! Maybe let's clean up one of the old classrooms," Harry tugs on Ginny's hand so she doesn't run into the other students in the corridor.
"It will feel like such a setup if we do it that way! It should feel as natural as possible, just get in there and bam!" Ginny lets go of his hand to clap her hands together in exaggeration.
"This has been in the works for years! As soon as puberty hit! Maybe before then. You can't rush the soul like you can the body! Or in this case, you can't rush the body like the soul!"
Harry and Ginny stop in front of McGonagall's classroom and Harry takes her hands in his. He loves how her hands are smaller than his. Her hands are small in comparison to his, but to other girls, her fingers are actually longer. Harry wonders if anyone else noticed. It makes being a chaser easier for sure.
"It's easier with the broom closet, I say we just do it to get it over with!" Ginny swings their arms and Harry wonders how he ever lived without Ginny. He wasn't big with touching or any sort of physical contact, but Ginny... Ginny demands physical contact no matter what relation you have with her. She is big on physical contact, and Harry loves it.
"Are you guys planning where you guys should have sex for the first time?" Luna asks, joining them by the classroom door.
Harry chokes on his spit, sending him into a coughing fit and Ginny flushes redder than her hair.
"Merlin, no," Ginny exclaims. Harry coughs a few more times, bending over, trying to hide his own flush. Teary-eyed he looks at Luna who seemed surprised they hadn't been discussing making love.
"Oh, then what do you mean by, 'do it in a broom closet,' and 'the first time should be romantic,'? Are they code words?" Luna tilts her head and ignores the big bell, signifying their tardiness.
"We're trying to decide where we should lock up Hermione and Ron so they can snog and forget about us!" Ginny laughs and Harry's glad at least one of them thinks it's funny because he's mortified!
"Oh, how lovely! I'll just leave you guys to it then!" Luna goes into the classroom and Harry falls back against the wall.
"That was mortifying," Harry mumbles. Ginny laughs and steps so one foot is between Harry's and the other is on the outside of them.
"Luna is usually pretty perceptive, I'm surprised she didn't figure it out," Ginny plays with Harry's tie as she speaks. Harry wishes they could stay like this forever. Her hair glows while the sun shines on it through the window, and her chocolate-colored eyes melt in this lighting. She is beyond description.
"I'm not surprised. We did make it sound like we were talking about making love," Harry caresses her cheek and catches her eye. The thought of making love with Ginny is simultaneously terrifying and exciting. They're nowhere near, ready, but one day...
"It's just... even if we were discussing having sex, wouldn't people know that we'd just gotten together and wouldn't be ready for that?" Ginny gives him a look and he doesn't know where this is going.
"Most relationships start with people having sex nowadays Gin," Harry gives her a look and he wonders why she's acting all eighteenth century. She's usually the crude one!
"You just said sex! You never call it sex!" Ginny laughs and Harry can feel his cheeks go pink.
"The word sex is so vulgar, it should always be special and it should mean something," Harry doesn't like the topic of sex nearly as much as some of the other boys he knows. It's private and as he said, special!
"Anywayyyyys, everyone knows we're not ready for that yet! You're so eighteenth century and, a complete gentleman!" Ginny smiles and tightens the tie around his neck, smoothing it down with her fingers causing a shiver to run down his spine.
"Have you been telling people we're not ready yet?" Harry asks with furrowed eyebrows.
"Of course not, that's private," Ginny looks offended so Harry quickly takes her hand and kisses her fingers.
"I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm just pointing out that unless you've said something, people will assume things. We got together in a very public way and honestly, we're pretty public with our relationship as it is. People could come up with all sorts of things," Harry stands up straight and wraps his arm around Ginny's waist, bringing her closer.
"And they'll continue to come up with things if you don't get to class," Harry caresses her cheek and leans in slowly, catching her lips in a tender kiss. He pulls away with a small smile and drops his hand. Ginny, instead of moving back, presses closer to him and kisses him again.
This kiss is different than the last, and Harry quickly replaces his hand on her cheek while pulling her closer with the other hand on her back. They catch a rhythm that they had been 'practicing' a lot lately. You'd think they'd had years of 'practice' with how familiar they were with each other's lips.
Their kisses are shallow and quick and Harry nips at her upper lip before gliding his tongue across it to soothe any tingling. Her hands run down his chest and around his lower back pulling him impossibly closer. If they don't slow down Harry will have to wait an extra ten minutes to calm down before going to potions class.
Harry's hand drops to her neck and slides to the back of her hair as she nibbles on his lower lip. His breathing becomes heavier and he slows their kisses down so they stay together longer and the kiss deepens with a pressure that makes his toes curl. His hand runs through her hair and pulls out her ponytail. He glides his fingers through it and her flowery scent envelopes him.
Pure bliss. Euphoria. Ecstacy. He'll remember this kiss for the rest of his life. The time they'd talked about making love without actually talking about making love. The time they forgot about everything but each other.
"Mr. Potter! Miss Weasley! You both have classes! Five points from Gryffindor each! Get to class and don't make this a habit. I don't want to miss out on the house cup!" Harry and Ginny break apart and stare wide-eyed at McGonagall, who gives them a stern look and disappears inside of her classroom.
Harry looks at Ginny and chuckles lowly. He did not plan on that happening! He runs his hand through her hair quickly, trying to fix the mess he'd just created.
"I got it, can I have my hair tie back?" Ginny starts to gather her hair and Harry pouts.
"I want to keep this one though!" Ginny laughs at him and grabs a different one from his other wrist.
"Fine, but you better head to class, we were kissing longer than I thought," she pecks him on the lips before throwing her hair up and walking inside McGonagall's class. Harry stands transfixed. She was something else.
Harry couldn't get Ginny out of his head. Usually, that wasn't a problem considering she was on his mind all the time. This time, however, Harry could not be distracted. He would leave tonight with Ron and Hermione to hunt down the other Horcruxes. His seventeenth birthday was yesterday and Harry could finally perform magic outside of school without being tracked.
Harry untied his tie and starts over as he stares into the mirror. He tied a tie, every day, for three hundred days, of every year, for seven years, and today he was struggling. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He couldn't get the kiss out of his head! He'd be thinking about where he and his friends should head to first and then he's sees Ginny in his mind, beckoning him into her room.
Harry's positive that he's in love with her... and he broke up with her a little over a month ago. It tore at him, every day, and sometimes Harry wonders if it was worth it. He'd lay awake at night, remembering this one kiss they shared or something flirty she'd said in front of the Gryffindor house, or just walking with her!
"Harry!" Harry startles at the loud voice and almost groans when he recognizes who called him. He forgets about his tie and leaves it untied around his neck as he leaves the attic and leans over the stair railings to look down. Standing against the railing, two floors down, was Ginny, in all her glory.
"Yes?" He asks.
"I need these two braids tied together in the back. Could you transfigure one of your hair ties smaller and come bring it to me?" Her voice is sweet-sounding and Harry knows, her face looks too innocent for her not to be up to something.
"Yeah, I'm coming," Harry pushes off the railing and takes the stairs two at a time. The wedding should be starting in an hour and Molly had sent them all to finish getting ready before guests started to arrive. Harry would need to take a polyjuice potion so he could look like a cousin and not be recognized by any guests.
When Harry reaches Ginny she holds out her hand. Harry quickly transfigures one of his hair ties and makes it smaller. He hands her the hair tie and watches as she pulls the two small braids together. She then conjures white flowers to put in her hair.
"Will you help me put them in? They need to look like a crown," Ginny's voice is soft and Harry wants nothing more than to take her into his arms and hold her close.
"Shouldn't you be asking your mom or Hermione for help with this?" Harry asks quietly.
"Mum is getting ready and Hermione is watching, Fleur for me while I finish getting ready," Ginny stays nonchalant, but Harry can imagine she's distracted both Hermione and her mum so she could get Harry alone.
Harry grabs one of the flowers she'd conjured and places it right above her braid so the stem could entertain with her hair and hold steady. Being this close to Ginny was dangerous and Harry had to work on keeping his mind off of her scent so his body didn't get any other ideas.
"Are you leaving tonight?" Ginny asks, whispering so no one else can hear.
Harry doesn't know how to reply. So he ignores her question. She wasn't supposed to know anything. He figures he hadn't been too subtle about it. The whole family knew they's leave, but most of them thought the trio would stick around for longer.
Harry and Ginny finish putting the flowers in her hair in silence. The silence is welcome but tense. For Harry, it was tense because he knew this would be his last chance to be with Ginny, maybe for forever. How should he go about saying goodbye without having to actually say goodbye?
Ginny answers his question by pulling him into a fierce hug.
"Promise me you won't leave without saying goodbye," Ginny whispers in his ear.
"I can't promise you anything," Harry says regretfully. He can't promise that he'll see her again soon, or promise to be okay. The only thing he can promise is that he'll love her until the day he dies, and he can't tell her that.
"Just try," Ginny says. Her body shakes and Harry can tell she's trying not to cry.
"I will," Harry whispers into her hair. He kisses the top of her head and pulls away. Ginny blinks a few times to dispel the tears in her eyes before grabbing ahold of his tie. She starts tying it for him and Harry wishes she could be doing this for him in their future. A future Harry doesn't know if he'll get to have. A future where he's late for work, brushing his teeth while his Ginny his wife does up his tie.
Ginny tightens it around his neck and brushes imaginary dust off of his shirt front. Her hands stay at his chest and Harry debates over kissing her. It could be a goodbye without him having to say goodbye or it could be the reason he can't take hold of his destiny. It's a tough decision.
Ginny seems to be having a similar argument with herself because her eyes are shut and her hands are shaking on his chest.
Once again Ginny decides for him. She pulls on his tie and stands on her toes to kiss him. Harry wraps his arms around her and forgets everything else. If he needs to leave tonight and risk never coming back, he would kiss the love of his life if he wanted to!
He pulls her closer and kisses her desperately, feverishly, unthinkingly. His hands run down her sides and he breaks away from her lips to run his hands all the way down to her exposed thighs so he can lift her up. She wraps her legs around his middle and Harry sets her on the railing.
They were in a very public spot, anyone could spot them, but Harry didn't care. His hands itch to run through her hair, but he didn't want to mess up what they had done earlier. Ginny leaves his lips and starts pressing open, hot kisses down his neck. Harry groans and grabs her face with one of his hands, bringing her lips back to his.
Harry slows them down and deepens their kisses. Harry burns this memory, this feeling in his brain and he knows he'll conjure the image of them kissing while he's gone.
"Ginny!" They break apart and Harry stares at her swollen lips. He shifts in his pants uncomfortably and tries to readjust himself without Ginny noticing. Ginny smirks at him and he knows he was unsuccessful.
"Yes?" She calls. Her voice is unwavering and Harry wonders how she can manage it after a snogging session like they just had.
"Fleur needs you!" Ginny sighs and unwraps her legs from Harry's middle. Harry steps back so she can get off of the railing. Before she leaves she turns to him, her mouth opening like she's going to say something. Instead of speaking she gives him a sad smile and turns her back on him.
Harry's chest immediately starts to hurt when she turns her back. Leaving was always going to be difficult. But knowing Ginny would be here, without him, made leaving that much more difficult.
"Your hair is getting so long," Hermione says absently, twirling her wand.
"I'm going to grow it out I think," Harry says lowly.
"Won't it just get in the way?" Hermione asks.
"Sometimes I wonder why you act like such a girl and then I remember all the times you've gotten completely covered in muck and all thoughts of you being like a girl go out the window," Ron's voice comes through the tent flaps, amused.
"Thanks for that one, mate," Harry mumbles loud enough for Ron to hear. Ron barks out a laugh and Harry grimaces.
"I'll pull it back into a ponytail as soon as it's long enough," Harry plays with the hair ties on his wrist before pulling off the only one on his left wrist. It's the hair tie he pulled out of Ginny's hair that one day in the hallway when they'd been talking about making love. Thinking about that conversation still made him blush.
"Why do you carry that hair tie on your left wrist?" Hermione asks suddenly. Harry realizes he'd been staring at the hair tie like it was the answer to all of his problems.
"I pulled it out of Ginny's hair," Harry mumbles quietly. He didn't want Ron to hear, he was still mad at Harry for 'breaking Ginny's heart'. Hermione looks at him with a frown and Harry realizes he sounds pathetic, but he can't help it!
"Is that why you want to grow out your hair?" Hermione asks curiously.
"What?" Harry asks. What was that supposed to mean?
"Do you want to grow out your hair, so you can wear that hair tie," Hermione clarifies. Harry stares at her. That's the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard.
"No! I'm not that pathetic," Hermione gives him a look and Harry's offended. He's serious!
"Really! I want to grow out my hair for a couple reasons, the first being, Ron's hair looks awful. You can do all of your practice on him. Second, It will be easier to hide behind, you know make a good disguise. Third, I always thought long hair looked cool. Now that I'm older maybe I can pull it off," Harry's mind flashes to some of the people he knew with long hair. Bill looked so cool with long hair. And Sirius was always able to pull it off.
"Besides," Harry mumbles, barely audible, "I can't risk losing it."
Hermione nods in understanding and Harry sighs. He should really focus on the task at hand. He puts the hair tie back on his left wrist and turns to Hermione.
"Enough about my hair..."
A couple of months later...
Harry stares at the marauder's map and stares at Ginny's dot. It's in the Great Hall surrounded by lots of other names. Hers is easily spotted amongst the others. His eyes are accustomed to spotting the name, easily filtering through all the students' and professors' names.
Harry scratches his thick stubble and wonders what Ginny would think of it. When he told Hermione he wanted to grow out his hair, he meant all of it. Hermione told him he should shave because she felt like she was living with a thirty-year-old man. Ron said it was the perfect disguise considering he, didn't even know he could grow facial hair and he lived with him for almost half of his life.
He'd looked at himself in a few mirrors and he could honestly say that he didn't recognize himself. His beard made him look older, and his long hair gave him a very wild look. Harry didn't know how he felt about it. It was almost fitting, having his hair long and having a beard. He felt more mature and even a bit wild. It felt like a whole bunch of symbolism to him and he was oddly always surrounded by symbols.
His hair came in wavier than he had thought it would. He kept it in a ponytail most of the time and Harry hated combing it out. It was always tangled. He didn't want to cut it though... it symbolizes his life on the run extremely well. Plus, it was still a good disguise.
He takes his hair tie out and shakes his hair out. His hair tie was worn and looked like it would break soon. He definitely didn't want it to happen in battle, so Harry pulls the hair tie in opposite directions, easily snapping it. Maybe this is why Ginny always took a new hair tie. She wanted to be prepared.
Harry reties his hair with a different hair tie and closes the marauder's map after one last look at Ginny's name. Back to business.
Harry's decision to grow out his hair turned out to be one of the best decisions he ever made.
"Are you sure it's not Potter?" Lucius asks, one more time.
"Positive, Potter couldn't grow facial hair if his life depended on it," Draco's smirk is irritatingly familiar to Harry and he wants to laugh. His life apparently did depend on his facial hair!
Harry watched, horrified as Bellatrix demanded he and Ron be taken to the dungeon leaving Hermione with her. Ron's yelling, demanding that Bellatrix take him instead and all Harry can do is watch. Ron desperately tries to get out of Dolohov's grip. He looks like an animal faced with death.
He struggles against Greyback and tries to come up with a plan. Why didn't they use polyjuice potion or, wear a glamour bracelet! Why weren't they more cautious?
Greyback ties Harry's and Ron's hands with rope and tightens them to the point where Harry can feel blood running down his wrists and pooling in his open palms.
Harry looks around trying to assess the situation.
"Luna?" Harry whispers.
"Hello, Harry," Luna smiles softly and Harry wonders if there's anything that could possibly bring her down.
"We need to get our hands untied! Hermione she-," Harry stops horrified when Hermione's screams filter into the dungeon. Ron starts screaming again, demanding he be taken instead, crying out for Hermione.
"I have a nail!" Luna beams at him and starts cutting away at the ropes. As soon as they're freed, Harry unwraps the pouch hanging around his neck. He grabs the broken two-way mirror and urgently makes a request to be rescued. A light blue eye stares back into his own and Harry startles. Dumbledore?
"Harry?" Luna asks quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Do you have a hair tie? The nargles easily get caught in tangled hair and I really don't want them hanging around," Luna's voice is so serious Harry suddenly feels like having hair ties was the best idea he'd ever had. It probably was...
Harry hands her a hair tie and she quickly ties her hair into the messiest bun Harry's ever seen. She has bumps everywhere and it looks crazy! Luna smiles so widely Harry wouldn't be surprised if she'd done it on purpose.
"Now that the nargles are gone we can escape!" Luna tugs on Ron's arm pulling him away from the bars.
"Here's the plan!" Luna spouts off a wild escape plan centered on a house-elf revolt and some hair ties. Harry had never felt so helpless and hopeful before. Luna may spout off absolutely ludicrous things, but there was always wisdom in her words. Her hope made him hopeful.
Then Dobby appears and Harry can't help but think, maybe we can actually have a house-elf revolt!
Harry bursts into a room with high ceilings and hammocks everywhere. Neville announces Harry's arrival and suddenly he was engulfed in hugs. He was patted on the back by so many old classmates Harry could imagine it as a classmate reunion instead of a meeting before the battle.
People were talking to him excitedly. Many of the girls seemed surprised by his long hair and beard. The only person who seemed to not care about his hair was Michael Corner. Ginny's ex. Harry ignores the pain in his chest and moves on.
"What is this place?" Harry mutters to Neville. There were banners of every house but Slytherin hanging on the walls.
"The Room of Requirement. The remaining DA members have been holed up here for two weeks to hide from Snape and the Carrows. The room created that passage when we realized we needed food," Neville answered.
"Everybody, listen up," Harry calls loudly. People quiet immediately and look to Harry, "Voldemort is on his way here. We need to be prepared for a fight."
"I've already contacted the old DA members to get here," Neville says proudly. Harry nods at him in thanks. Neville had really grown. They all had.
"Does anyone know about old artifacts from Ravenclaw?" Harry's question seemed to throw many people off.
"Anything from Rowena Ravenclaw?" Hermione picks up for him.
"Harry!"
Harry whips around to see the twins grinning at him from ear to ear.
"Fred! George!" Harry laughs at their polka dot ties, happy to see that nothing had changed.
"Ronnie!" They yell in unison. They pull Ron into a hug and while they're all laughing Harry notices some happy tears fall. The scene brings Harry a sense of calm he hadn't expected. This is why he fought. So families could be together.
Luna mentions the diadem and Harry knows that it must be the last Horcrux before Nagini. He's about to leave to find the diadem when he notices the Patil twins. Both have their long hair down. That will not do.
"Before I leave, does anyone need a hair tie?" Harry automatically hands one to each twin before glancing around to see if anyone else had their hair down.
"I'll take one," A voice says behind him. Harry freezes. That voice...
"Ginny! How'd you get out of Aunt Muriel's house?" Fred and George demand.
"You guy's left booby traps. You guys are getting predictable," Ginny mutters. Both twins put a hand on one another's hearts and gasp dramatically. Harry can see the twins out of the corner of his eye, but he's afraid to turn around. What if this was just a cruel trick his mind was playing on him? It wouldn't be the first time.
"I could use all the luck I can get Harry," Ginny whispers.
Harry finally turns and he swears everyone else disappears. Her hair was longer than the last time he'd seen her, and Harry never thought he could miss a shade of red so bad. He looks her up and down, not finding any injuries or imperfections. She's perfect, always so perfect.
"Hello?" Ginny waves a hand in his face and Harry blinks. He takes a deep breath realizing he'd been holding his breath and is instantly assaulted by her scent. Ginny.
"Hi," Harry says. His voice cracks and he hears the twins chuckle. He brings himself out of his trance and takes a step back. Clearing his throat he looks around. Right, he needed to go find that diadem.
Harry hands Ginny a hair tie and tries to focus on all of the tasks he needs to complete. Ginny flips her hair over and Harry's mind blanks once again. He'd missed her so much. Ginny flips her hair back up and ties it off. Her eyes have a blazing look and Harry can't help himself.
"I missed you," he breathes out. Ginny looks almost startled by his omission and Harry instantly starts doubting himself. What if she'd moved on?
"I missed you too," Ginny's eyes mist up and Harry blinks furiously, trying to clear up his own fogged vision.
"Harry," Hermione urges. Harry looks at Hermione and Ron and his mind zeroes in on its tasks.
"Right," he mumbles. Harry turns his back, ready to finish what he started all those months ago.
"Not yet you don't," Ginny mutters. She grabs his shoulder and turns him around. She presses herself against him and reaches up to kiss him. Harry makes a startled sound against her lips before tugging her closer desperately.
People wolf whistle and cheer but Harry doesn't care. Ginny, Ginny, Ginny. Their mouths are frantic against each other and Harry wishes he could do this for, eternity, but he can't. His hands are on both of her cheeks and he tries to brand the feeling of her lips into his mind. She felt so good.
He pulls away and takes deep breaths. They stare into each other's eyes and Ginny's hand reaches up to cup his jaw. Her thumb rubs over his beard and Harry sighs. He needs to leave.
"The facial hair is dead sexy, but it also makes you look tired," Ginny whispers randomly.
"This is you can wake up," Ginny starts kissing the bottom of his neck and slowly works her way up. Harry wants to groan but he suddenly remembers where they are. He's definitely awake.
He pulls away and grabs her hand, kissing her palm. He should tell her he loves her. Or maybe that would make things worse?
"Before you leave to be the hero again, let me do something," Ginny pulls out his ponytail without a second thought. She runs her fingers through his hair before walking around him to retie it for him. Her fingers brush against his neck and he shivers.
He wouldn't be able to leave if he tells her a thing.
She pulls away and grimaces. Harry understood the feeling. He kisses her cheek and turns his back, walking out of the room before he could quit right before the finish line. He had to do this.
At least he got to say goodbye.
Harry watches underneath his cloak as the Weasleys gather together for a long-awaited family hug. Harry watched as tears fell down each of their faces. The newly formed hole in his chest throbbing painfully. The Weasleys gave him everything and all he did was take. He took their son and brother from them.
Harry pushes a strand of hair out of his face with a huff. His cloak was rubbing his hair making it frizzy. He needed a haircut. He didn't need a disguise anymore. He didn't need to look older to be followed into war. He didn't need any reminders of what happened.
Harry exits the hall and heads to the Gryffindor tower. He lets himself in, noticing it was cracked open already. He climbs the stairs to the boys' dormitories and opens the seventh-year boys' dorm. Harry notices that his bed is still waiting for him, exactly where it had always waited for him.
Harry mindlessly heads to the bathroom where he finds a razor and shaving cream. The school, while partly destroyed, still had enough magic to provide toiletries. Too bad it didn't have enough magic to save the students. Harry starts shaving.
Harry doesn't know why he never had to shave before he left to find the Horcruxes. He'd always had some control over his hair, whether to grow it back or to stop it from lengthening more. He cuts himself and watches the blood, stream down his chin and neck.
Harry almost laughs at the sight of it. He was dirty and he had blood all over him. Most of it was his own but not all of it. He had burns on his arms from fires, cuts, from cutting hexes, missing flesh from bludgeoning spells, and just about every other wound known to mankind caused by all sorts of different magic. And now he's out himself!
Harry strips down and turns the shower on, turning the handle so the water will be lukewarm. He takes out his hair and places the hair tie back on his wrist.
Harry steps into the shower and mechanically washes. His whole body stings as the water pours over him, but it's nothing compared to the gaping hole, still in his chest.
Suddenly exhausted Harry sits down. He lets the water continue to pour over him as he fiddles with the hair ties. He has three left. Two on his right wrist, used for himself and others. He also has one on his left. The one he'd taken back from Ginny.
He knows he'll cut his hair as soon as he gets some scissors, so what will he do with the hair ties? He won't have many uses for them anymore. The war will be over, his long hair will be gone, and he won't be at school surrounded by girls all the time.
A secret fantasy comes uninvited into his mind. He sees himself older, handing Ginny a hair tie as she leaves to go play quidditch, he sees himself handing Ginny a hair tie to put into their daughter's hair. He sees a future where the hair ties won't be needed as often, but for some reason when he looks into his future, he always has them on his wrist.
Maybe he'd keep one or two on his right wrist, just in case, but he would never take off the lucky one that stayed on his left wrist. That hair tie will follow him to the grave, he'll make sure of it!
Wow! This one-shot was only supposed to be 10k words at the most! I hope you all enjoyed this as muchas I did! I'd love to hear your opinions on it (good and bad) so, leave a review!
For those of you wondering about my Saved By The Moon series, I hope to bring it back up, I've just decided that I'm taking it mostly off of canon and changing the whole plot! So, sorry about that!
Cheers!
Follow, Favorite, Review, and have a great day!
-Ace
