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Chapter Two

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The day had been rather long. He had developed a first-day headache sometime in the afternoon from all of the paperwork he had to read over and sign. Especially since he had trouble concentrating with his mind reeling from the fact that he found out that he just met Ginny Weasly's brother… and seemed to be on the road to becoming fast friends with said brother.

He was forced to reread an entire document twice from his inability to concentrate.

He wanted to stay friends with Ron… He really wanted to stay friends with Ron. He was the first wizard that was Harry's own age that didn't stare at him like a goldfish. Believe it or not, that was a difficult trait in another person for Harry to come by.

But Harry couldn't help but wonder if Ron found out about Harry's fancy for Ron's own sister, then he wouldn't want to be Harry's friend, at all… Which would be a damn shame.

After some agonizing over the revelation, Harry lay in bed much later that night and stopped to wonder why it even mattered so much?

'It's not as though Ginny Weasley will actually be interested in me,' Harry reasoned with himself before he realised with a start that this sort of thinking had subconsciously made him believe that he was intending to actually meet Ginny Weasley.

Harry worried his bottom lip between his teeth before a slow grin started to spread across his lips. Of course he would get to meet Ginny Weasley! Ron wouldn't bring him to what he knew to be Harry's favourite professional team without introducing him to his sister who was on the aforementioned team.

Merlin's beard! He was going to meet Ginny Weasley!

His cock twitched in his pyjama bottoms before it started to elongate and harden.

Merlin's beard… He was going to meet Ginny Weasley…

Dread clenched at his chest. He was going to make a bloody fool of himself in front of her. He was sure of it. He was not practised at all in talking to any women… let alone women that looked like Ginny Weasley.

Stunning… Gorgeous.

Harry sighed as he let his hand drift down into his boxer briefs, grasping hold of his length. With his other hand, he wandlessly cast a spell that opened up his closet, which was conveniently right across from the foot of his bed. The poster of Ginny Weasley appeared, glued to the inside of the closet door with a sticking charm. The poster image of her smirked at him with those tempting pink lips and winked at him with those dancing, devious eyes.

Harry let out a long groan at the sight as his hand started to move up and down his length.

Suddenly, his worries over his newfound friendship with Ron and his nerves over meeting Ginny Weasley faded away… And at that moment, as he wanked at a furious pace, Harry found himself rather excited at the prospect of meeting Ginny in this current heated, lust-filled state.

But when Harry came with a guttural cry, the nervous dread returned in full force.

…

Saturday came quicker than Harry would have thought.

The entire week, a nervous anticipation had been building up inside of him that refused to go away. It made him anxious, antsy, but also a tad bit excited.

Perhaps he was over-thinking all of this. But no one could really blame him because that was something that Harry was trained to do. With any given situation, Harry had been taught to over-analyze every detail of his surroundings. Because if he missed anything that was important, it could mean the fate between life and death. If Sirius and Remus hadn't drilled that firmly into his head by the age of five, then surely Mad Eye Moody covered that by his endless speeches of 'Constant Diligence!'

But that didn't change the fact that he felt especially silly about it as he ate lunch every day with Ron…

The bloke was bloody nice and was a hell of a lot more entertaining.

All week, while laughing at Ron's impressions and jokes, Harry couldn't help but think, 'So this is what it's like to have a best mate…'

He realised that it was probably much too early to assume that he and Ron were best mates, but it almost felt as though they had been friends for years… or at least, that they were always meant to become friends.

"Our private box is over here," Ron called back to him over his shoulder. The noise level was rather loud and Harry had taken to walking behind Ron with a hooded cloak pulled over his head.

He didn't want to be recognised in such a large, excitable crowd. And it was much too crowded for the likes of his invisibility cloak, Merlin forbid if someone ran into his invisible form.. that might cause more attention than he wanted.

Harry nodded silently as he followed Ron to the restricted, VIP section - all the while, he side-stepped a group of bulky wizards that had their shirts off and letters written on their chubby stomachs.

From what Harry could make of it, the letters spelt out 'Weasley'...

Great. Harry had stepped right in the lion's den of Ginny Weasley's super fans.

But then… didn't Harry count as a super fan, himself?

He didn't have time to contemplate the notion all that much because at that very moment, he stepped through the doorway to the private box and was greeted with the vast sight of the grand pitch.

"Blimey!" Harry muttered with absolute awe.

He'd never been to an actual, professional pitch before. Never had the chance to. Hell, he'd never actually played a game of real Quidditch before in his life. The closest he'd gotten was the informal three-way games he would play with Sirius and Remus while growing up. He really tried not to begrudge the way that he was raised… he had a loving, cool Godfather who tried to give him as much as the circumstances allowed. But there was still a part of Harry that felt that he got left out of so many rights of passage…

Like going to school instead of training his arse off since before he could even remember.

Meeting friends instead of spending Friday nights watching Sirius get plastered off of Fire Whisky.

Sneaking his own very first Fire Whisky with said mates and getting thoroughly pissed while underage.

Having girlfriends. Snogging said girlfriends.

But… Because he didn't have these experiences, he was the first to admit that he was rather socially awkward. He was nearly Twenty years old and he'd never had a girlfriend before, let alone actually successfully talked to any girls before. He remembered fighting with Sirius when he had turned eleven, begging his Godfather to let him go to Hogwarts. But Sirius didn't budge.

'Sorry, pup,' His Godfather had said, and he really did look sincere in his apology, 'It's just not safe for you to be out there until the time is absolutely right.'

It took another six years for the time to finally be right.

And by that time, Harry had been eagerly anticipating his confrontation with Voldemort, the monster who had so brutally murdered his parents. But that wasn't the only reason why he'd been itching at the chance to finally end Voldemort…

Harry knew that once Voldemort was gone, he could finally step out and join the world. He'd never actually been free to join it before. Ever. Not once in his life before Voldemort was officially dead. Because his parents took him into hiding before he had even been born and Sirius had kept him in hiding well after that.

Thank Merlin for the Muggle telly and Sirius' pensieve, along with his memories. Without them, Harry wouldn't have had any view of the outside world.

"Mum," Ron suddenly spoke and Harry was snapped out of his thoughts. His attention was successfully turned from the pitch to the other occupants in the box, the majority of which had red hair. "Everyone, this is Harry. Harry, this is everyone."

All eyes were on him, but not in the gawking way that he was used to. They were all merely curious.

"Er… Hi… Everyone," He said with a delayed and awkward wave.

Smooth, Harry. Real smooth.

He was brought out of his own beratement of himself by the motherly glare that the older, red-headed woman shot at Ron. "Honestly, Ronald. Is that any way to introduce your family?"

Ron blinked before he huffed. "Fine. Takes about five bloody years to introduce everyone, though."

Harry couldn't stop the short laugh that escaped him.

Ron gestured to the woman. "Harry, this is my mum, Molly Weasley. My dad couldn't come today because of his work at the Ministry."

Harry shuffled forward to grasp the extended hand of the woman with such kind eyes. "Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Weasley."

"Same to you, Harry dear. I'm so pleased that you could join us to watch Ginevra play today."

There was a beat in Harry's mind. Ginevra? Was that supposed to be Ginny?

Harry swallowed. "Of course. Any excuse to spend a day watching Quidditch with good company, right?"

Mrs. Weasley sent him a beaming smile at that and before she could respond further, a tall, lanky man with red hair interjected. "It doesn't hurt to watch women playing the ol' pastime, eh Potter?"

Harry looked at him with something akin to panic. How in the name of Merlin was he supposed to respond to that?

Sensing his discomfort, the man spoke again, completely at ease. "The name's George. George Weasley, ol' chap. The most brilliant and handsome of the Weasley brothers."

Ron snorted indignantly next to him. "Fat chance of that actually being true."

George looked over at Ron as his eyes appraised him with a level of scrutiny. "Compared to the likes of you? I win hands down every time, ickle Ronnikins."

Ron sputtered indignantly. "That's not true! I'll have you know that plenty of witches find me attractive."

Something akin to a chortle managed to escape George's lips. "Is that why you still haven't managed to get Hermione Granger to go out with you yet?"

Harry watched with interest as Ron's face flamed. "It's not because of my looks that she won't go out with me…"

Curiosity piqued his interest as he stared at his best mate - or so Harry hoped. What was all this about? Ron fancied a witch that didn't fancy him back? Harry could certainly relate to that. Ginny Weasley probably didn't even know that he existed, let alone have the wherewithal to know to return his fancy of her.

Immediately, the need to console or help his friend overcame him as he asked, "What's all this about?"

Face still as red as his hair, Ron looked quickly between him, George and his mother - whose attention had been grabbed by one of the children that Harry could only assume was one of her grandchildren - before his gaze snapped to look down at his trainers.

"We'll discuss it later," Ron muttered in a rush out of the side of his mouth toward Harry.

Harry's eyes widened at Ron's sudden bashfulness but he still nodded. This was quite out of character for the Ron that he had gotten to know this past week.

The rest of the family was introduced after that. Ron was right, it did take a while to meet everyone but Harry also found with satisfaction that none of the Weasleys stared at him with anything akin to hero-worship. In fact, apart from Percy, there was a laid-back ambiance that exuded from the entire Weasley clan. Yes, they could be excitable but they also gave the sense that they tended to brush off whatever was thrown at them.

He liked them all immediately.

Finally, when Ron and Harry were able to take their seats, Ron handed him a Butterbeer as he took one for himself from the waitstaff that walked by with a tray. These box seats were pretty luxurious. There were also appetizers being served by the waitstaff and the seats were reclinable with a nice footrest. Harry selfishly hoped that this wouldn't be the only Harpies game that he was invited to, as it could easily become one of his favourite pastimes… sitting back in a comfortable chair while watching Ginny Weasley fly around in her tight uniform…

His cock twitched.

Yeah. It'd definitely become a favourite pastime.

They both uncapped their Butterbeers and took a swig before Harry turned to Ron expectantly with his brow raised. "So, who's Hermione Granger?"

Ron almost choked on the mouthful of liquid. And it took a moment for him to cough it out. When he finally settled, he turned and glared at Harry, who couldn't help but laugh and hold his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, mate."

At that Ron only glared at him for a second longer before he sighed and ran a hand down his face. "No, it's fine. She-She's, uh, a girl that went to Hogwarts with me in my year. She's also a Gryffindor."

Harry nodded along as he listened. "So, you must know each other pretty well then, huh?"

Ron shook his head and his cheeks turned a bit pink again. "Uh, no. Not really… You see, when I first met her in our first year, I was a bit of a prat to her. I'd tease her and make fun of how much of a know-it-all she is. I also used to call her names."

Harry appraised his friend before giving him a level stare. "So you were a bully?"

Ron nodded, the way that he looked down at the cement floor told Harry that he was ashamed. "It was all childish stuff. I was just jealous and angry about how smart she was and I didn't know how to handle it. But I know that I made her cry on more than one occasion up until our second year. Once in our third year, I stopped all of that and simply just ignored her… it-it wasn't until our sixth year when I started to notice her again…"

Harry stayed silent as he listened when Ron suddenly became very animated.

"It was just that one day, I saw her on the train platform and suddenly noticed that she was a girl! An attractive one at that. But I didn't start asking her out until our seventh year."

Harry could finally see where this was going. "But all she could remember of you was that you were horrible to her those first years at school?"

Ron nodded again, the dejected look on his face hit Harry deep. "I wish she would just give me a chance to show her that I grew up and changed, you know? She turned me down so many times to simply sit down and chat, where I wanted to tell her how sorry I am about how much of a prat I used to be to her."

"I'm so sorry, Ron…" Harry sat back in his chair and took a swig of his Butterbeer. "Where does she work now?"

"At the Ministry on the Wizengamot," Muttered Ron.

Harry shot up in his seat and stared at him. "So you see her often?"

Ron nodded.

"Well, this is perfect, mate!" Harry beamed at him, a wide grin on his face as he patted Ron encouragingly on the back. "We can still fix this."

Ron's face screwed up as he scrutinized Harry. "How?"

Harry wasn't exactly sure. He was the first to admit that he was no expert when it came to witches. But he did know one thing… "Did you ever hear of the story of my parents and how they got together?"

At Ron's shake of his head, Harry found himself rather glad to know that this information wasn't yet another private thing of his life that was public knowledge. He swallowed before he continued. "My dad was a bully and my mum hated his guts. But there is a fine line between hate and love, or so I've heard… both are passionate emotions, you know? So, uh, when my dad changed, I guess the shift from hatred to love was an easy one."

This caused Ron to turn contemplative but he also didn't look too hopeful. Harry hoped that Ron would think on his words and would agree to let Harry help him woo Hermione Granger. Sure, Harry would have to study up on the art of seduction, but he was sure that he saw a book on that in the library he could touch upon. And how hard could it be? Especially when it didn't involve him and his awkward muttering whenever he was close to an attractive woman.

Ron and Harry didn't say anything further until the announcer started speaking only a minute later. Trumpets started to blare and the sound of it swelled Harry's heart with bubbling expectation. He could barely contain it. It took everything within him to keep still and to stop shifting in his seat.

The other team's players were introduced. The Holyhead Harpies were playing against the Appleby Arrows of England, so the fanfare was rather mixed on which side was being rooted for the most.

"And now, put your hands together for the Holyhead Harpies! Starting with Captain Gwenog Jones!"

A good majority of the crowd went absolutely wild as the famous captain flew out from the ground entrance and waved around at the crowd. Harry was stunned by how star-struck he became when seeing her in person, but he reasoned that he shouldn't be too surprised by the wide amount of respect that he had for the woman and all that she created.

Other teammates were then introduced including Andrena Mektzie, Dezma Tettertwitch, and Thora Matterhorn, all of whom were veterans to the team and Harry had read up on quite a bit. Their statistics were excellent. It was after Thora was introduced, when the person that Harry came here specifically for was announced…

"And here comes Chaser, Ginny Weasley!"

She zoomed out of the ground entrance like a rocket, a blur of red sped past them as she made a mad dash around the pitch to uproarious cheers from the audience. The Weasleys went mad as they stood and cheered, hooting and hollering.

"That's my sister!" He heard George yell out to the crowd below.

Ron laughed, his earlier melancholy replaced as he leaned over and said, "He says that every game that he attends."

But Harry couldn't begrudge George, because deep within his own chest, he felt a burst of pride on Ginny Weasley's behalf - though for him, that emotion was unearned as he didn't even know her.

Then Ginny finally slowed down and settled next to her teammates, as she beamed and waved excitedly at the crowd.

Harry lost his breath.

He had to bite his lip in order to keep in a contented sigh that was bursting to release.

She was so damn beautiful.

Seeing her in person, with the brightness shining in her eyes after her flight around the pitch, the flush to her cheeks from the wind… she looked so much better than she did on her poster. It didn't even do her justice. And that was saying something.

The other two players of the Holyhead Harpies starters were introduced and then the reserve players. But Harry didn't pay them any mind. His gaze was completely transfixed by all things Ginny Weasley.

And finally, the two captains shook hands and the snitch was released. The Quaffle and the bludgers were released and a horn was blown.

And they were all off, zooming through the air like torpedoes. Harry was in awe. He'd listened to many Quidditch games on the wireless many times before but he had never been witness to a real game before. It was bloody brilliant.

The entire game, he was on the edge of this seat, gasping and booing and cheering at all the appropriate times. Whenever Ginny Weasley scored, he shot to his feet with the rest of the Weasleys and screamed like a madman.

He was having the time of this life.

So this was what he had been missing all of those years, hiding away? Never before had he found yet another reason to be glad that he had managed to kill Voldemort. Because this was certainly a life worth living.

They were two hours in and there had only been one sighting of the snitch and it hasn't been seen since. But the Chasers and Beaters were giving them plenty of entertainment in the meantime. Harry was currently watching Ginny as she made a dive for the quaffle that was thrown too low. She managed to catch it right out from under one of the Chasers from the Arrows. Harry let out a holler in victory at the expert maneuver.

But it was as she started her mad dash for the hoops, looking to score, that Harry saw an Arrows Beater out of the corner of his eye hit a bludger right at her…

"No!" Harry cried as he shot to his feet as he watched in horror as the hard object hurdled toward her.

But his concern seemed to be unnecessary, as Ginny somehow managed to sense it coming for her as she jerked the handle of her broom to a screeching halt and swung her handle at the orb like a swinging bat just in the knick of time.

His last conscious thought was that Ginny would be good at Muggle baseball… before he realised too late that the impact with her broom had caused the bludger to veer in a different direction…

Where it zoomed through the air towards the box he was currently sitting in… and impacted right with his face.

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A/N: Decided to return! Tell me what you think!

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