PART IV: BEGINNINGS OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP
(Ginny's POV)
The Weasley kitchen felt strangely empty as Ginny, Fred, George, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley congregated by the fire the next morning. Percy had graduated, Ron would be arriving with the Grangers, and with a bit of luck, Harry's uncle would deposit him at the Leaky Cauldron. Fred and George were entering their seventh and final year at Hogwarts and seemed so much older all of a sudden. George had confided in Ginny that they had found a private investor for their company "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes" and would be opening up shop as soon as they graduated in June. Ginny was quite excited by this news, although she assumed that her parents - well, her mother anyway - might not be.
They arrived at the Leaky Cauldron by Floo Powder and checked all of their trunks into their rooms. Ginny would be sharing a room with Hermione when she arrived that afternoon. As soon as she was settled, Ginny ran down the stairs to the bar, trying not to look too expectant as she scanned over the wizards and witches in the room looking for Harry. Her mother and father were seated at the bar, chatting with Tom, the owner.
"Ready Ginny?" asked her mother brightly as she approached. Ginny cringed slightly. She loved her mother dearly, but since the terrible events of the Triwizard Tournament in June, where one Hogwart's student had been killed, and Harry very nearly so by Lord Voldemort, Mrs. Weasley had been extremely protective of her youngest child and only daughter. Ginny had begun to feel very trapped at the Burrow that summer, and had never been so happy to be returning to the relative freedom of Hogwarts.
Mrs. Weasley continued, "I have some errands to run first, but it should only take an hour or two, and then we can go get your books and things."
"Where're Fred and George?" asked Ginny hopefully, looking wildly around for her brothers.
"They've already gone to do their shopping."
"Can't I go alone?"
Mrs. Weasley looked extremely hurt and put out. "Why would you want to go by yourself?"
"No reason," murmured Ginny, and then added a little too brightly, "Perhaps I can just wait here until Ron and Hermione arrive!"
"They haven't arrived yet?" asked a very, very familiar voice behind Ginny. She spun around to see a slender boy with untidy black hair and spectacles grinning at her. Ginny caught her breath, but leaned against the bar for support and managed to smile back.
"Harry!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley delightedly, "You look well! You've grown a bit! Let me get a good look! Did your relatives give you any trouble this morning?" She held Harry at arm's length and surveyed him lovingly. "My, my, you're practically a man!" Mrs. Weasley's eyes became a bit weepy and Harry blushed pink.
Arthur Weasley clapped Harry on the back. "How're you doing, Harry?" he asked, obviously realizing that his wife was greatly embarrassing the boy, "glad to be back?"
"Yeah, of course," answered Harry politely.
"We were just making plans to go out and get Ginny's school things Harry. I was telling Ginny that I had to run a few errands first and she didn't seem to keen on accompanying me," began Mrs. Weasley in a tone that made Ginny feel both angry and guilty, "but now that you're here, perhaps the two of you can start out together. I don't want her going by herself."
Ginny felt her face heat up and she was unable to control herself, "Mother! I don't need a babysitter. Harry is only one year older than me - why do you trust him to go with me and not me by myself?"
Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips and looked from Harry to Ginny as if she didn't quite believe that Ginny was more than three years old. Mrs. Weasley's face was a bit red now too, "Fine. Ginny, go where ever you want. Just make sure you get your school things properly. Here's some money," Mrs. Weasley handed Ginny some gold coins, "that should be enough. Arthur - I'll be back in a few hours." With that, she turned on her heel and huffed out the door.
Mr. Weasley, now apparently somewhat used to these little spats between his wife and daughter, patted Ginny on the shoulder and said encouragingly, "Go ahead you two. I'll wait here, and when Ron and Hermione arrive, I'll send them after you."
Ginny looked over to Harry, knowing that she must be blushing. He hadn't even had a chance to say what he wanted to do. Maybe he didn't want to be stuck walking around with her. She gave him a weak smile and muttered, "you don't have to stay with me, I mean, if you've got plans or whatever…"
Much to her surprise, Harry grinned at her and answered, "I don't have any plans at the moment except to buy school supplies. Let's go - if we get done early enough, we can spend the rest of the afternoon at Florean Fortescues. I haven't had ice cream all summer."
~*~
Ginny and Harry walked out the back door towards the wall that held the secret entrance into Diagon Alley. After they pushed through, they walked in silence a few minutes, and then Harry asked, "where do you need to go first? I actually have to get some new robes. Do you mind going to Madame Malkin's with me?" Ginny nodded, wishing she could think of something interesting to say. She kept stealing little glances at Harry as they walked. He was definitely a bit taller, although not nearly as towering as Ron. As a matter of fact, Ginny speculated that the two chums might look extremely silly walking down the school halls - one long, lean, exuberant and red-headed - the other, small, slim, dark-haired, and serious. Ginny herself almost matched Harry in height. There was something different about him and Ginny couldn't quite put her finger on it. He looked thicker, more solid - what was it? Then Ginny gasped, "Harry! I've just realized…your clothes…"
Harry grinned at her, "Well, it was really getting ridiculous wasn't it? Having to wear all of Dudley's old clothes all the time? I decided not to stand for it anymore. I dunno, it seems to be easier to get things from them these days. I just insisted that they take me to the shop and they did it."
Ginny grinned back at him and followed him as he pushed open the door to Madame Malkin's shop. She greeted them both warmly and then ushered Harry up onto a stool to measure him for new robes. Ginny wandered around the shop, looking longingly at all of the expensive dress robes, returning more than once to gaze at a velvety one in sage green. Unconsciously, she picked up the sleeve and rubbed it against her cheek. She owned a pair of dress robes - they were plain and white and she liked them okay, but given a choice, she knew she would take those in a heartbeat. Before too long, she heard Harry's voice from behind her, "those are quite nice, aren't they?" She spun around and saw Harry grinning at her with a brown package in his arms. His hair was even more disheveled than usual after trying on the robes, and it took all of her willpower not to reach up and attempt to flatten it for him. She just smiled weakly and said, "yes, but I've already got dress robes, and besides, there probably won't be any reason to wear them this year, will there?"
Harry shrugged, "I don't mind about that at all," and Ginny instantly wanted to kick herself for bringing up the Triwizard Tournament of the year before. It must be very painful for him to think about it, even now.
"I'm out of money now. I have to stop at Gringotts. Do you mind? Where do you have to go? I hate to drag you around to all these places with me."
Ginny laughed inwardly. She had no problem being "dragged" anywhere with Harry. With a straight face she said, "I need to go to Flourish and Blotts of course, and the apothecary to stock up on ingredients for Potions. That's about it really. Mum bought new robes for Ron and me last month. Oh! And I'd like to stop and get a little something for Pigwidgeon - he's been such a dear to me this summer."
"Right," said Harry, nodding over towards the door, let's go then. We can get all that done before lunchtime I think!" And they headed out into the sunshiny street.
~*~
Ginny and Harry headed towards Gringotts' impressive London branch, with it's many steps and gleaming white columns. "How did Bill end up working for Gringotts in Egypt? Couldn't he have worked here instead?" asked Harry in a curious sounding voice as they walked down the street.
At once, Ginny felt restored to her usual talkative self. Bill was her favorite brother and she looked up to him with great respect. "I suppose he could've worked here in London," she answered thoughtfully, "but I think he kind of wanted to get away and live a life of adventure for a while. When he finished Hogwarts, he was top of his class and Head Boy and all of that, and Gringotts approached him about this opening in Egypt. He specialized in Ancient Runes and Charms at school and it seems that the Egyptian branch is one of the most active and important."
"It must have been fun to visit him there."
"Yeah, it was! His life is very exciting. He showed us all sorts of tombs that he had broken the curses for and they were incredibly complicated. Everyone thought I would be scared because of…"
Here Ginny stopped suddenly and looked down at the ground. She hadn't meant to bring up the Chamber of Secrets. She didn't want to remind Harry at all about her embarrassing first year at Hogwarts, when she had confided in an enchanted diary that turned out to be a powerful piece of dark magic. In the end, Harry had saved her life by rescuing her from a memory of Lord Voldemort, and Ginny didn't want to bring up those unpleasant memories. She still felt ashamed about the whole ordeal.
Harry seemed to sense what was going on in Ginny's mind, and as he had done so many times before, he steered the conversation around in order to keep her from feeling awkward. "Ron said that Fred and George tried to lock Percy in one of the tombs."
Ginny giggled and nodded her head, "They're so funny, as long as you're not the one who's being tricked. Mum was so angry with them. The real reason that they did it was that Bill told us a story of one of the cursed tombs that he tried to get into. It was owned by a powerful Egyptian wizard 3,000 years ago."
Ginny stopped. They had reached the steps to Gringotts, but Harry made no motion to go inside, so she continued, "this wizard was an advisor to the Pharaoh, and was very wealthy. In addition, this wizard was also a member of the Egyptian Council of Wizards at the time and the other members didn't like the advice that he was giving to the Pharaoh. You see, he would pretend to make predictions and things and then use magic to make them come true. Even then, the wizards wanted to keep their identities secret and they thought that this wizard was abusing his powers. They got together and voted to revoke his powers until he promised to be a bit more discreet. He figured out what they were going to do and pretended to go and hide in one of the tombs. Instead, he cursed it so that any wizard that entered would automatically lose their powers. Percy was really, really disturbed by that story and after that, he kept just hanging around outside the entrances to the tombs, pretending to be bored. Fred and George kept telling him that the curse didn't work on Head Boys and asking him if he wanted to test that theory. Mum was so angry."
Harry looked impressed. He smiled at her and said, "well now I'm afraid to go into Gringotts myself, but I guess I need to. Do you want to wait here?"
Ginny nodded and leaned against a pillar, watching the crowds stroll by as she waited for Harry Potter to come back for her. She didn't even notice Hermione leave the building from an entrance to her left a few minutes later.
~*~
Harry emerged from Gringotts about twenty minutes later, clutching a bag of money. Wordlessly, they headed down the steps and over to the apothecary to stock up on supplies for Potions. Then they headed to the owl store to pick up some treats for Pigwidgeon and Hedwig. Ginny confided to Harry that she wished that Pigwidgeon were her owl.
"He's so sweet, and I know he loves me, although not quite as much as Ron. Still, it was so nice of Ron to let me keep him when he went to stay with Hermione. I want to get him some special treats."
Harry laughed, "Pig is definitely unusual. I don't think Hedwig cares for him too much. When he arrived with your letter, Hedwig looked very annoyed. It's a good thing I had to reply quickly!"
"Oh!" said Ginny, feeling silly, "I'm sorry - I mean, if I'd known that about Hedwig, I would have just waited to see you and give you the article."
"Come on Ginny," replied Harry kindly, "that's Hedwig's problem, isn't it? Anyway, I'm glad you sent the letter. I always have this panic attack during the summer holidays before school starts and think that everything is just some sort of dream. It was nice to get a letter to jolt me back into reality, especially since I've been talking to Hermione and Ron all week on the telephone, just like Muggles."
"Have you?" asked Ginny, interested. "They let you use the telephone?"
"No, but Hermione and I worked out a system to trick my aunt."
"Did Ron sound like he was having a good time? He didn't write to me - only to Fred and George," asked Ginny, hoping she didn't sound too nosy. She was dying to know if Harry had received any more specific information about Ron and Hermione's summer activities than she had.
"Yeah, I was a bit jealous, actually - he learned how to play the guitar and got to go to the cinema, and to a rock concert. I live with Muggles and I never get to do any of that!"
"Well, I expect I'll hear all about it shortly. I wonder where they are? I haven't seen them yet," answered Ginny, craning her neck to look around the street.
Harry laughed, "if they have arrived, there's a very high probability that they are in Flourish and Blotts and that's our next sto -"
Harry had stopped speaking. They were in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies. In the window, standing upright atop a marble pedestal was the most beautiful broomstick that Ginny had ever seen. It's handle looked like it was made out of two different types of wood - one black, and one white, and the bristles seemed to be spun from gold. The simple sign below read "Pereginus".
"Woooowww!" gasped Harry, staring at the broom in awe. Several other boys were also staring at the broom through the window.
"I read about that in Fred and George's Quidditch Illustrated," whispered Ginny, grateful that she had been bored enough one afternoon to flip through a copy that Fred had left on the kitchen table. "They're custom made to order and are especially good for Seekers because they handle dives really well. I forget what the black wood is, but the white wood is silver birch and it's taken with special permission by the wood nymphs in an enchanted forest in northern Canada."
Harry looked impressed at what Ginny knew, and she asked, "Do you want to go in and have a closer look?"
Harry peered in the shop. There was already a crowd of what looked like first and second years, as well as many grown men. The shop owner would not remove the Peregrinus from the window and was simply extolling its good qualities from afar.
"No," he said sighing, shaking his head, "besides, I've got a wonderful broom already."
~*~
Ginny continued with Harry down Diagon Alley. She was a bit surprised that they had not run into Hermione and Ron yet. On the other hand, she didn't mind too much - she had now been alone with Harry Potter for exactly one hour and forty-five minutes and she was having a wonderful time.
As they strolled along and shopped, Ginny entertained Harry with stories of the way her brothers used to torture her (and still did at times) growing up. Harry had been interested to hear if Fred and George were still working on their joke shop and Ginny assured him that they were. She told him about some of their early experiments.
"….and one time Fred and George decided to trick me into tasting a 'potion' that they made. They said it would turn my hair black, but it turned out to be pumpkin juice with melted chocolate mixed in. It didn't taste half bad, but I sat around waiting all day for my hair to turn but it just stayed this color."
"I like the color of your hair," said Harry earnestly.
Ginny blushed and turned her head away, and as she did so, her eyes caught a glimpse of a shock of hair, similar in hue to her own, in the alleyway that they were passing. Ginny did a double-take, and realized, to her amazement, that the hair belonged to her brother Ron, and that Hermione was attached to his lips.
Without realizing what she was doing, Ginny stopped walking. Harry stopped as well. "What's wrong?" he asked good-naturedly, looking somewhat amused at the look of confusion on her face.
"Oh! Er, nothing," Ginny stammered, taking a few steps further so that Ron and Hermione would be out of view. Harry, however, did not move with her. Apparently he had also caught a glimpse of the hair, shook his head in disbelief, and was staring down the alleyway with his mouth hanging open in amazement.
Without making a step, Harry turned to Ginny in astonishment and gasped, "Did you know about that?"
"About what?" asked Ginny, trying to sound innocent.
Harry gave her a look as if to say, 'don't be stupid Ginny' and then took a few steps to stand with Ginny outside of Flourish and Blotts.
Ginny looked down at her feet, "Well, I suspected something, but Hermione didn't tell me anything yet. Are you upset?"
Harry looked at her, looked around back towards the entrance to the alleyway, and then at Ginny, his green eyes wide. "I'm not angry, but honestly, when do you think they were planning on mentioning this to me? I'm their best friend!"
Ginny shook her head, "Don't be too upset. I have a feeling that this only happened in the last week or so. I'm sure that they were planning on telling you about it when they saw you today. It's probably a bit awkward for them…"
"They didn't look awkward at all! As a matter of fact, they looked the exact opposite of awkward - they looked quite comfortable - and I just talked to both of them on the telephone two days ago - "
"Harry," pleaded Ginny, surprised by her own forcefulness, "just give them a chance to explain. If they don't say anything by the time we get to Hogwarts, then you have permission to be upset with them, because I will be also."
To Ginny's amazement, a small smile was forming around Harry's lips. "I've half a mind to give them a hard time about this. I'm sure that Ron wouldn't let me off easy if the situation were reversed."
"What do you mean?" asked Ginny cautiously. She felt the thrill of a plot about to hatch.
Harry looked once more towards the alleyway, "let's go buy our books and then go for some ice cream. My guess is that they'll be occupied for awhile - they didn't look as if they were going anywhere. I promise not to do anything too evil until we get to Hogwarts. If they don't tell me then, I'll think of something."
With that, Harry started walking again towards Flourish and Blotts, Ginny following, feeling very happy to be in on something with Harry Potter.
~*~
Harry didn't bring up the subject of Ron and Hermione again until they were seated with their bags of school supplies at Florean Fortescue's. Unable to bear the suspense any longer, Ginny asked, "Well, what's your plan?"
Harry looked thoughtfully at his ice-cream sundae. "I don't really have a plan so to speak," he began. "After all, I'm not a Weasley. What I was thinking is that we just try to find as many ways as possible to use the word "kiss" in the course of normal conversation."
"Oh!" said Ginny, looking a bit sad, "I would feel so terrible, Harry. I mean, Hermione is my friend and I know that she was going to tell me soon."
Harry shrugged, "Perhaps, but why not make it a bit more difficult for them? Hermione loves a challenge. Or maybe I could tell Ron in secret that I like Hermione and see how long he can stay in control without giving himself away - "
"Do you?" asked Ginny, a bit too quickly.
"Do I what?"
"Like Hermione? I mean, are you upset about - them?"
Harry shook his head and smiled good-naturedly, "Hermione is my good friend, but to be honest, I couldn't be around her all the time like that. When - when Ron and I were fighting last year, and Hermione was trying to smooth things over between us, well, I really wanted to throttle her most of the time. I shouldn't say that, because she really did help me. I think the two of them make a lovely pair - and maybe now they won't bicker as much."
"Or maybe they'll fight more," said Ginny thoughtfully.
Harry's gaze shifted to a spot directly behind Ginny. "There they are!" he said quietly, and then, with a yell, "Ron! Hermione! Over here!" They saw him, smiled, and rushed over to the table. Hermione hugged both of them and they all sat down to catch up on the events of the summer.