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Chapter Four

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When she finally made it to room 114, Ginny burst into the hospital room and froze.

The blood in her veins ran cold.

She stared, wide eyed, as she took in the lone, unconscious figure laying in the hospital bed. His forehead was darkened with purple bruises and his glasses were nowhere to be seen but his face was unmistakable.

"Merlin's Beard," Ginny whispered to nobody in particular. "I think I almost killed Harry Potter."

She couldn't believe it. It was him? He was here?! How was he here?! No… she sent him here.

Guilt gnawed at the pit of her stomach, effectively killing the spurting butterflies that had burst forth at her first sight of him so close.

"And you would be the first who has ever gotten close," A smooth, low voice answered from behind her. Ginny jumped and spun on her heel, coming face-to-face with a man with shoulder-length, dark hair and tattoos all up his exposed forearms from underneath pushed up sleeves. He had a cup of steaming tea in a paper cup cradled in his hand and a sort of half-smile on his lips as his eyes appraised her. Oddly, he seemed rather impressed. "Not even Voldemort has ever managed to put him in a state quite like this…"

Her face flushed brightly as she looked down in guilt and shame.

"Hey," The stranger coaxed, an apologetic lilt in his tone. It reflexively caused Ginny to lift her head to look at him again. His eyes were soft as he met her gaze and she took an immediate liking to the man. "None of that. He'll be fine. Just has to sleep it off while the potions do their work, is all."

A sigh of relief escaped her as her shoulders sagged. She hadn't realised how tense she had been since she had first gotten the letter from Ron. That tension only amplified as soon as she had entered the room to find that she was directly responsible for landing Harry Potter in a hospital bed.

The stranger watched her relief as his smile grew. He extended his free hand to her in greeting. "Sirius Black."

Ginny just about gasped at his name. She had read it so many times in the one-time exclusive interview Harry Potter had given, where he had described his upbringing by his Godfather - one Sirius Black.

Of course he was here. Why wouldn't he be? His Godson was laying in a hospital bed. She should have known his identity immediately.

She had enough self-awareness at the moment to reach forward and clasp his hand. "Ginny Weasley."

Sirius grinned outright now and lifted her hand so that he could plant a kiss on the back of it. Her cheeks positively flamed. Sirius Black was rather… charming. "I gotta give my Godson some credit. He sure knows how to pick great company to keep around…"

"Oh! You're mistaken. Harry and I-"

"Harry and I?" Sirius interrupted with a raise of an eyebrow and an infuriating smirk on his lips.

Ginny ignored the undertone of innuendo to his interruption and continued on as though she hadn't heard him. "We've never met before. I just wanted to make sure that I hadn't killed the bloke that I landed in a hospital bed."

If anything, Sirius' smirk grew wider. "Then by all means, stick around until he wakes up so that I can introduce you."

She very nearly squeaked at the notion. Stick… around? Introduce her?

A sudden image of the described scenario popped into her mind's eye…

'Good Morning, Harry,' Sirius would boast as his Godson opened those bleary, gorgeous green eyes of his. 'Glad to see you're not dead. Here, I'd like to introduce you to Ginny Weasley, the woman who almost killed you.'

She shuddered to think of how he would react.

"Eh, actually…"

"I insist," Sirius said in a light, no-argument tone as he gestured to one of the chairs next to Harry's bed before he put a hand on her back and guided her to said chair. "Sit."

And oddly enough, she did as she was told as she stiffly plopped herself down in the chair, keeping her gaze focused on Sirius Black instead of shifting over to the devastatingly handsome man unconscious in the bed next to her. Sirius looked down at her, satisfied that she complied before he started walking out the door, calling over his shoulder at her, "Wait here. I'll get you a cuppa tea."

Ginny panicked slightly as she realised that he intended to leave her alone in here with Harry Potter. "Wait, don't-"

"Be back in a bit," Sirius called as he slipped out the door.

She stared at the open door, aghast, for a long moment before a heavy sigh escaped her and she fell back fully into the chair.

What sort of game did Sirius Black think he was playing? It's not as though Harry Potter wanted to meet Ginny Weasley. Hell, he probably had no idea that she even existed. It'd only been a year since she joined the Holyhead Harpies, so she wasn't all that famous… and she started off in the reserves. Gwenog only just gave her the opportunity to start as chaser last month.

Ginny winced as she thought of Gwenog. Her team captain was going to be bloody pissed off at her for missing the post-game team meeting. She hoped that she would understand that Ginny had to go and… and… see a stranger in a hospital bed.

She groaned as she closed her eyes, her hands went up to rub at her temples.

What was she doing? Why had she been in such a rush to run off to the hospital in the first place?

Perhaps she should just leave… before Sirius Black gets back and-

"Ginny?" A voice called to her, surprise thick in his tone. Her head snapped up to the doorway to find her brother, Ron, looking at her with a perplexed expression on his face. He also held a cup of hot tea… What was it about hospitals and tea?

"Ron," She responded in turn with a slight nod of her head.

"What are you doing here?" He asked with puckered brows as his eyes surveyed her spot in the chair next to Harry's bed.

Ginny turned her head away and bit her lip. The action caused her eyes to accidentally catch on a movement coming from Harry's prone form… and her gaze was suddenly transfixed on him.

The movement came from his chest as it steadily rose up and down, filling his lungs with air. At least he was breathing properly.

"I felt guilty…" Ginny finally answered her brother, "I wanted to make sure that whoever I hit was alright."

She knew that there was truth to her words but now that she knew it was actually Harry Potter that she had hit, why did it suddenly feel like a lie?

Speaking of it being Harry Potter…

She turned a sharp glance over to her brother and glared at him. "You could've told me that the 'poor bloke' that I hit was Harry Freaking Potter."

Ron staggered back a step, his face portrayed how bewildered he was by her scathing tone then confusion overtook his entire face. "Why does it matter?"

Sputtering a bit at the audacity of his question, Ginny sat up straight in her seat. "It-It just does, alright?! He's the bloody Saviour of the Wizarding World and I just landed him in a hospital bed! I wouldn't be surprised if I became Public Enemy Number One if news got out!"

She stopped her tirade by the sound of Ron's amused chuckle, to which he got a responding withering glare. Ron ignored the look. "I doubt that Harry would want this getting out. It won't look good for him at the office. Besides, he hates the attention."

Her eyes widened and snapped to stare openly at his face. "You know him?"

"Yeah…" Ron responded back, hesitantly confused as he stirred his tea subconsciously in his cup. "I met him last week on his first day in my department. We're mates."

He shrugged as though to emphasize that this was no big deal, when in actuality, it was the exact opposite.

Ginny stood abruptly, grabbed the cushion from the chair she had been sitting on and chucked it right at her brother's nonchalant face.

"Oi!" Ron cried out as the pillow hit him, causing some tea to slosh out of his cup and onto the floor. "What was that for?!"

"You could've told me!" Ginny hissed back at him, her hands planted firmly on her hips before she grabbed the other cushion and chucked that one at him too, for good measure.

"Whoa!" Sirius exclaimed as he rounded the corner, two cups of tea in hand as he narrowly avoided getting clipped by the cushion.

Her annoyance at her brother evaporated immediately.

"Mr. Black, I'm so sorry, that was so daft of me-"

But Sirius looked from her to Ron and back again before a slow smirk emanated on his lips. "Hitting one bloke with a flying object for the day not enough for you, Ginny?"

Ron burst out into laughter as her face flooded with heat.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Black," Ginny repeated.

He waved her off before stepping forward to hand her a cup, which she took, robotically with a meek 'thank-you'.

"Call me Sirius," He told her in a mockingly stern tone. "And don't worry about it. He must've deserved it."

"I most certainly did not!" Ron interjected. Sirius rolled his eyes good-naturedly and sent a wink Ginny's way. Despite herself and the situation, Ginny found that she couldn't keep the growing smile off of her lips.

"He did deserve it," Ginny agreed with Sirius with a nod of her own as she brought her other hand up to cradle the warm cup in her hands. "Besides Ron, I've got to keep my arm up by using you for target practice."

Sirius guffawed loudly as Ginny smirked and brought the cup to her lips to take a sip. The hot liquid felt nice on her throat after a long match of yelling to her other teammates on the pitch.

Ron merely quirked an eyebrow as he leaned casually against the doorframe. "Is that the same excuse you're going to give Harry? You use his face for target practice, too?"

The cup froze on her lips and she lowered it slowly without taking another drink.

But she was saved from answering.

"Of course she is!" Sirius interjected. "No one knows better than me that sometimes my Godson needs to be brought down a peg or two. Trust me, this is all good for him. Keeps him grounded, you know?"

She knew that he was only saying such things to help make her feel better and she was surprised to find that it worked. Sirius Black was so firm in his stance, that his mood was actually infectious. She sent him a grateful half-smile which he took in stride.

They were quiet for a brief moment. It seemed that Ron didn't know what to say to Sirius' rebuttal and Ginny was contemplative. She looked down at her cup. "You know, I think I need a cup of coffee instead. It's been a long day."

Sirius perked up. "You want me to get it for you?"

Ginny shook her head. "No, I need to stretch my legs. I spent most of the day on a broom."

Sirius watched her suspiciously as she made her way for the door. "You're not going to leave, are you?"

Ron sent a questioning look toward Sirius, genuinely confused.

Ginny paused at the door and sighed. Perhaps she should just leave… Sirius was entertaining and obviously wanted her here for some reason, but she felt that it wasn't her place. Sirius was Harry's Godfather and Ron was his friend. It made sense as to why they were here. But Ginny? She was a stranger to him.

But then, she looked back into the room and her eyes caught on the prone figure of Harry Potter unconscious in the bed. That was what swayed her decision. He deserved an apology, in the very least.

Her eyes flickered to Sirius for a brief moment before her gaze immediately found its way back to Harry. She didn't look away as she answered. "No, I promise. I'll come back."

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A/N: Please tell me your thoughts in a review!

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